Original jurisdiction means that the Supreme Court is the first, and only, Court to hear a case. The Constitution limits original jurisdiction cases to those involving disputes between the states or disputes arising among ambassadors and other high-ranking ministers.
Appellate jurisdiction means that the Court has the authority to review the decisions of lower courts. Most of the cases the Supreme Court hears are appeals from lower courts. Parties who are not satisfied with the decision of a lower court must petition the U. Supreme Court to hear their case. The primary means to petition the court for review is to ask it to grant a writ of certiorari. This is a request that the Supreme Court order a lower court to send up the record of the case for review.
In fact, the Court accepts of the more than 7, cases that it is asked to review each year. Typically, the Court hears cases that have been decided in either an appropriate U. Court of Appeals or the highest Court in a given state if the state court decided a Constitutional issue. The Supreme Court has its own set of rules. According to these rules, four of the nine Justices must vote to accept a case.
Five of the nine Justices must vote in order to grant a stay, e. Under certain instances, one Justice may grant a stay pending review by the entire Court. Each Justice is permitted to have between three and four law clerks per Court term.
These are individuals who, fairly recently, graduated from law school, typically, at the top of their class from the best schools. Often, they have served a year or more as a law clerk for a federal judge.
Among other things, they do legal research that assists Justices in deciding what cases to accept; help to prepare questions that the Justice may ask during oral arguments; and assist with the drafting of opinions.
The participating Justices divide their petitions among their law clerks. The law clerks, in turn, read the petitions assigned to them, write a brief memorandum about the case, and make a recommendation as to whether the case should be accepted or not. The Justice provides these memoranda and recommendations to the other Justices at a Justices' Conference. If the Justices decide to accept a case grant a petition for certiorari , the case is placed on the docket.
After the petitioner's brief has been filed, the other party, known as the respondent, is given a certain amount of time to file a respondent's brief. This brief is also not to exceed 50 pages. After the initial petitions have been filed, the petitioner and respondent are permitted to file briefs of a shorter length that respond to the other party's respective position. If not directly involved in the case, the U. Government, represented by the Solicitor General, can file a brief on behalf of the government.
With the permission of the Court, groups that do not have a direct stake in the outcome of the case, but are nevertheless interested in it, may file what is known as an amicus curiae Latin for "friend of the court" brief providing their own arguments and recommendations for how the case should be decided.
By law, the U. Supreme Court's term begins on the first Monday in October and goes through the Sunday before the first Monday in October of the following year. The Court hears oral arguments in cases from October through April. From October through December, arguments are heard during the first two weeks of each month.
From January through April, arguments are heard on the last two weeks of each month. During each two-week session, oral arguments are heard on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays only unless the Court directs otherwise.
The federal circuit courts of appeals and district courts are organized into 13 federal circuits and each Justice is responsible for emergency applications and other matters from one or more of these circuits. For example, individual Justices may be asked to halt the implementation of a circuit court order, set bond for a defendant, or stop the deportation of an alien. Justices are also asked to act on applications for a stay of execution.
Do all of the Justices have to be present in order to hear a case? A quorum of six Justices is required to decide a case. Justices may also participate in a case by listening to audio recordings of the oral arguments and reading the transcripts. How many cases are appealed to the Court each year and how many cases does the Court hear? The Court receives approximately 7,, petitions for a writ of certiorari each Term.
The Court grants and hears oral argument in about 80 cases. When did the Supreme Court first meet? The first meeting of the Court was scheduled to take place in New York City on Monday, February 1, , but the lack of a quorum only three of the six Justices were present delayed the official opening until the following day, Tuesday, February 2, Who were the members of the first Supreme Court?
Where did the Court first meet? Where else has the Court met? From February to the present, the Court has met in the city of Washington. After using several temporary locations in the U. Capitol, the Court settled into a courtroom on the ground floor of the North Wing where it met from to excluding the years the courtroom was repaired after the British burned the Capitol in Today this room is known as the Old Supreme Court Chamber.
Hall, James W. Ely, Jr. Grossman, 2d ed. Alito, Jr. John G. Souter, Anthony M. Rehnquist and Lewis F. Powell Jr. Brandeis in Mersky and J. J8, ceased in print]. Confirmation Failures According to Henry B. The following resources suggest the reasons behind failed confirmations as well as charts listing brief information for all the failed confirmations: Supreme Court Nominations - Not Confirmed or Withdrawn Library of Congress Henry B.
RL David G. Savage, Pressures on the Justices, in 2 Guide to the U. Supreme Court 5th ed. W v. M ]. These guides may be used for educational purposes, as long as proper credit is given.
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