The Role Of The Supreme Court In The United States

#1 The Supreme Court is an appellate court and the highest court in the United States (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 41). The jurisdiction or legal ability for the Supreme Court to hear a case is established by Article III, Section II of the Constitution of the United States of America (“About,” n.d.). As established by the Constitution, the Supreme Court has both original jurisdiction (legal ability to hear a case) and appellate jurisdiction which means, it can hear appeals from the highest state courts (sometimes called state supreme courts), special federal courts, federal appeals courts, and when circumstances permit federal district courts (“About,” n.d & Cheeseman, 2013, p. 44). The Certiorari Act of 1925 allows the Supreme to decided, with a few exemptions, whether or not to it will hear a case (“About,” n.d.). The Supreme Court only hears about hundred cases out of thousands each year, therefore, writs of certiorari (an official notice that the Supreme Court will review a case) are mostly issued to cases involving constitutional and important issues (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 45). The Supreme Court does not hear any new testimony or evidence. Records from lower courts are reviewed, and if it is determined there was an error, the Supreme Court will reverse or modify the previous court’s decision. …show more content…
44) Since the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, all decisions are final (Cheeseman, 2013, 44) When decisions are unanimous or a majority then a precedent is set for future