Any court, even a lower state or federal District Court, can find a federal law that is relevant to a case or controversy before that count unconstitutional, if the court has a rational basis for making such determination. These cases often end up being petitioned to the US Supreme Court for a definitive answer.
State and federal: the US Supreme Court is head of the Judicial branch and the highest appellate court for federal questions (federal law, US Constitution); each State has its own Supreme Court (or its equivalent) that is the final venue for state constitutional and legal issues.
A plaintiff or defendant in a federal court case (or in a state court case where a Federal Constitutional issue is in dispute ) who wants to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States may ask for a writ of certiorari. The U.S. Supreme Court is obligated to take certain cases on appeal (for example, capital murder cases) but has discretion to take or not take certain others. The writ of certiorari is the Supreme Court's written agreement to take one of those discretionary cases on appeal.
The Judicial Branch has the power of Judicial Review. They have the ability to review decisions made by the other two branches of government, and they have to measures to allow or prevent them from occurring.
The term "supreme court" is used in both the state and federal judicial systems. Every state has a state supreme court, or a differently named equivalent, which is the highest appellate court within the state system. State supreme courts are typically located in the state capital. In at least one state, New York, "supreme court" refers not to the highest court of appeals, but to the trial court in which cases are initially heard.Every state is also a part of the national federal court system and its federal regulations, starting from district, appellate, and finally, the U.S. Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in both federal and state systems for preserved questions of federal and constitutional law. The US Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over individual state laws or state constitutional issues.Generally, when people refer to "The Supreme Court," they mean the Supreme Court of the United States, or (colloquially) SCOTUS or US Supreme Court. When referring to a state supreme court, a person usually identifies the state first, as in Ohio Supreme Court, Alabama Supreme Court, etc.
It really depends, but for crime it is interstate, or if somebody is suing the national government. This is not a complete answer.The simple answer is, in any of the following conditions:Whenever a Federal criminal statute has been broken.If, in a civil case, the Civil Law in question is a Federal one (e.g. Maritime law regarding salvage rights)When there is a possible violation of Constitutional Rights (e.g. Habeas Corpus)When both parties to the dispute are StatesWhen one party of suit is the US Federal Government (i.e. the Federal Government is being sued or is suing someone)If there is a dispute about which State should have jurisdiction in a case (either criminal or civil), a Federal court will either (a) make a decision as to who has jurisdiction to hear the case, or (b) decide to have the case moved to Federal court.Typically, appeals of State Court decisions must fall under #3 - that is, there must be some Constitutional issue to be decided. Federal Courts do NOT act as general review of State courts. For instance, murder is usually a State crime, and would be prosecuted in a State Court, with possible appeals of issues in the murder case handled up to the State's Supreme Court. A Federal Court could only get involved if there was a possible violation of a Constitutional Right; in which case, the Federal Court is not ruling on the facts of the murder case (i.e. isn't deciding whether the defendant is guilty of murder), but is ruling on the application of Constitutional Rights in the case. Of course, this may result in the defendant being set free, but that's not the same as declaring the defendant innocent (indeed, it is possible to re-try the case without Double Jeopardy attaching).
The dual court system refers to the separate Federal and State court systems in the United States. Federal courts hear criminal and civil cases that involve constitutional and federal law, policies and special subject matter (such as Bankruptcy, or Federal Tax). State courts hear civil and criminal cases related to state laws and state constitutional issues.
State and federal: the US Supreme Court is head of the Judicial branch and the highest appellate court for federal questions (federal law, US Constitution); each State has its own Supreme Court (or its equivalent) that is the final venue for state constitutional and legal issues.
The Federal-State relationship
There is no such thing as a tribal court in US law. If you are referring to a Native American reservation, they are sovereign land, and not subject to any United States jurisdiction, except where crime crosses the border into US soil.
Define the "diversity action" to which you are referring. USUALLY - not automatically or at the defendant's option. If there are state laws which address the same subject, it will have to be litigated through the state court system first, UNLESS the federal circuit feels that there is some major Constitutional issue that entitles it to be litigated in the federal system.
The federal court system is more powerful than the state court system(s) for cases under federal or concurrent (shared) jurisdiction, as established by the US Constitution. The state court system has more power over issues involving municipal and state laws and the state constitution, provided they are not in conflict with the US Constitution. Congress had no independent authority to alter constitutional mandates, so the Judiciary Act of 1789 had no impact on this issue.
No, your next appeal would the next highest level of state court. You must exhaust all levels of appeal in the state court system beore you can go to the federal court.
No. They vary from state to state, and even from one state court to another. Federal courts use different procedures, as well. There are similarities between all of them that preserve all constitutional requirements, but one still needs to know the court rules where they intend to appear or practice.
A State Supreme Court is the highest Court in the State that interprets the State Constitution and State law. A Constitutional doctrine of importance to these Courts is the doctrine of adequate and independent State grounds, which imbues the State Supreme Courts with authority to specify a ruling on a State Constitutional provision which mirrors a U.S. Constitution provision (which can be broader than the federal provisions), or other State Constitutional provisions which do not mirror those in the federal Constitution. If a State Supreme Court specifies a ruling to have adequate and independent State grounds, the Supreme Court of the United States will generally defer to its State counterparts in these particular matters--one exception being where mirroring State Constitutional principles are interpreted less broadly than their federal counterparts. This is an aspect of the dual sovereigns theory of American federalism as applied to the judiciary.
A plaintiff or defendant in a federal court case (or in a state court case where a Federal Constitutional issue is in dispute ) who wants to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States may ask for a writ of certiorari. The U.S. Supreme Court is obligated to take certain cases on appeal (for example, capital murder cases) but has discretion to take or not take certain others. The writ of certiorari is the Supreme Court's written agreement to take one of those discretionary cases on appeal.
The Supreme Court of the United States for federal law and US constitutional issues or the equivalent in the state court systems for matters involving state and municipal laws and state constitutional issues. While most state courts of final appeal are called [State name] "supreme court," a few courts use other designations. For example, in New York the high court is called the New York State Court of Appeals.
Nowhere. The Supreme Court only hears a limited number of cases each year, rejecting 98-99% of the requests it receives.A case may only be appealed to the Supreme Court if it involves a question of federal or constitutional law and has exhausted all of its lower court appeals. If the case is qualified, but the Court chooses not to review it, then the decision of the lower court prevails and the matter is considered res judicata, or legally resolved.