Most cases reach the US Supreme Court via the US Court of Appeals Circuit Courts, which are part of the federal court system.
how the powers of the Supreme Court and federal law were extended by landmark court cases
The highest court in the federal system is the United States Supreme Court, with nine Supreme Court Justices. The states do not share jurisdiction with the federal court, so the states courts are not a part of the federal court system. Each state decides what it calls its highest court. In Texas, there is a separate court for civil versus criminal cases.
The Constitution established only one federal court, the Supreme Court. It left to Congress the job of creating the federal court system. Congress has created three types of federal courts. 1. District Courts--the nation is divided into 94 federal judicial districts, each with its own district court. These are the courts where cases are tried. 2. Courts of Appeals. The District Courts are divided into 12 regions, called circuits. Each circuit has its own Court of Appeals. There is also a Federal Circuit which covers the entire nation. If a person looses a case in the district court that person can appeal the case to the court of appeals. 3 The Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the highest of the federal courts. Cases from the court of appeals in each circuit and from the state supreme courts can be appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the United States each state has a supreme court. The federal system has the United States Supreme Court.The highest Federal court is the Supreme Court.In most States the highest court is also called a supreme court.In the federal court system, the final court of appeal is the US Supreme Court. In the state court systems, the final court is typically the state Supreme Court, although a few states (such as New York) have a different title for the head court in that state. Some cases may be appealed from the state Supreme Court to the US Supreme Court, depending on the substantive issues of law.The Supreme Court of the United States (aka US Supreme Court) is the highest appellate court in the federal system.Each US State has a supreme court or an equivalent high appellate court that goes by another name.In most cases, the high court is identified as a supreme court: for example, The Supreme Court of Ohio or the Florida Supreme Court. Some states use different naming conventions. New York refers to its trial courts as "supreme courts," and its top appellate court as the New York Court of Appeals. Texas has two courts that function at the supreme court level: The Supreme Court of Texas, which reviews juvenile and civil cases; and The Court of Criminal Appeals, which reviews criminal cases.
Federal appellate cases
The Supreme Court of the United States was created in 1789. Most of the cases the court hears come from lower courts. Each year, the Supreme Court receives 7,000 or more requests to hear cases from lower courts.
The case must first be heard at the lowest level of court. Most states have a court system that exists in the same area as a federal magistrate court or federal district court. The case must be decided by the lower court and appealed to a higher court. In the federal system this is the circuit court. Once all the lower courts have been exhausted, the lawyers may apply to be heard by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court will determine which cases it will hear.
The Virginia court system is a state-level system that handles cases involving state laws and includes various courts such as the General District Courts, Circuit Courts, and the Virginia Supreme Court. In contrast, the federal court system deals with cases involving federal laws, constitutional issues, and disputes between states or citizens from different states, with a hierarchy that includes District Courts, Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Additionally, state courts typically have broader jurisdiction over different types of cases, while federal courts have limited jurisdiction defined by federal statutes.
The Supreme Court is the highest of the federal courts. Cases from the court of appeals in each circuit and from the state supreme courts can be appealed to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court can "reach down" to the lower courts and hear that case, or, it can hear a case on appeal from the lower federal courts or highest state courts, at the Supreme Court's discretion.
Federal Appeals Courts
Article Three describes the judicial branch of the federal government - which is made up of the federal courts and judges including the Supreme Court. The article specifically requires that there be one court called the Supreme Court; Congress, at its discretion, creates lower courts, whose judgments and orders are reviewable by the Supreme Court. This Article also sets the kinds of cases that may be heard by the federal judiciary, which cases the Supreme Court may hear first (called original jurisdiction) and specifies that all other cases heard by the Supreme Court are by appeal under such regulations as the Congress shall make.
Federal courts do a lot of things. They hear cases just like state courts, but operate in a different system. They are allowed to hear different kinds of cases than state courts (like if the issue is about the constitution). Also, if the parties in a case are citizens of different states (this is called "diversity") the case is started in a federal court system.