The Supreme Court hears three kinds of cases. Cases appealed from lower federal courts account for two-thirds of the cases they hear. They also hear cases appealed from state's supreme courts, and sometimes hear cases that have not been previously heard by a lower court, such as between one state's government and another.
The Supreme Court can hear two types of cases: The most common type of case is an appeal, which requires that the case is first heard by a lower court. The Court chooses its own docket each session from the cases submitted to them by parties who have already had their cases heard by another appeals court either at the state or federal level (this process is known as "granting cert," short for "certiorari.") Typically, the court grants cert to cases when they are interesting, controversial, or where there is a disagreement between federal circuits on how an issue should be resolved.
The second kind of case is when an ambassador, public minister, or a state is a party to the suit. The Court is given original jurisdiction over such cases by Article III Section 2 Paragraph 2 of the Constitution. This means that if the Court chooses, it can bring these cases directly into the Supreme Court, skipping the lower courts.
Cases reach the US Supreme Court in one of two ways:
Original jurisdiction means the Supreme Court is the first to hear the case, acting as a trial court. The only cases currently heard under original jurisdiction involve disputes between the states, and account for only a tiny percent of the Court's work each year.
The Supreme Court hears appeals of cases that raise important "federal questions" involving the US Constitution, Federal Laws and US Treaties. The Supreme Court may hear cases from both federal and state court systems under the following general classes:
Most cases reach the US Supreme Court under its appellate jurisdiction. The US Supreme Court has full discretion over which cases it chooses to hear.
According to the late Chief Justice William Rehnquist in his book, The Supreme Court: How It Was, How It Is, the decision whether to hear a case hinges on three major factors(paraphrased):
For more information, see Related Questions, below.
The composition of the US Supreme Court case load can be divided into three general categories:
The US Supreme Court has original and exclusive jurisdiction over disputes between the states, so no other court is authorized to hear those cases.
The Supreme Court hears three kinds of cases. Cases appealed from lower federal courts account for two-thirds of the cases they hear. They also hear cases appealed from state's supreme courts, and sometimes hear cases that have not been previously heard by a lower court, such as between one state's government and another.
There is not a jurisdiction that allows a court to hear any type of case. Even the Supreme Court is limited in the types of cases they hear.
Having appellate jurisdiction means that the Supreme Court hears cases that have been in trial before. A majority of cases that the Supreme Court hear are either controversial, or some kind of trial error took place in a prior court.
The types of cases the Supreme Court sees involve constitutional issues or federal laws. The Supreme Court gets approximately 7,000 requests to hear cases each and every year.
Chapter 18 section 2. The inferior courts those beneaththe Supreme court are the core of the federal judicial system, hearing nearly all of the cases tried in federal courts. they hear cases, both originally and on appeal, and both criminal and civil cases.
The Supreme Court decides cases that are appealed by a lower court; a lower court has made a decision and one of the parties feels strongly enough that the decision was wrong that they make an appeal to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court reviews the cases and determines which ones they will hear, they have the ability to decline to review a case. The Supreme Court doesn't hear only appeals, there are situations where it is the court of original jurisdiction. In situations where there is a disagreement between states, the Supreme Court has the authority to decide.
In most cases, supreme courts are final appellate courts.
Jurisdiction
State vs. State, or Cases against the U.S.
A Superior Court is a court of original jurisdiction. It would hear all cases they were qualified and cretified to hear, which come before it that originated within their circuit.
Appeals A+
The Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty could only be used in cases involving murder.