Chief Justice Warren Burger
majority opinion
The majority opinion uses lower courts' decisions on the same case as evidence
A majority opinion explains the reasoning behind the courts ruling while a dissenting opinion explains a disagreement with the courts ruling
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.
In most cases, supreme courts are final appellate courts.
majority opinion
majority opinion
majority opinion
majority opinion
majority opinion. -apex
The majority opinion uses lower courts' decisions on the same case as evidence.
The majority opinion uses lower courts' decisions on the same case as evidence
The opinions and decisions made by the US Supreme Court define federal law. There is no higher court and no further appeal. All local, state and federal courts are essentially bound by the decisions of the USSC. If the USSC decision is not unanimous, the majority opinion is the binding decision.
Federal Appeals Courts
A majority opinion explains the reasoning behind the courts ruling while a dissenting opinion explains a disagreement with the courts ruling
majority opinion
If you mean federal circuit courts of appeal, there is one: the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which includes California along with Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. See the first related link below. If you mean California state courts, there are no circuit courts in California. The only types of courts in California are Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, and Superior Courts. There is one California Supreme Court and six Courts of Appeal. See the second related link below. Superior Courts are the trial courts. There is a Superior Court in each of the 58 counties, but many counties have more than one location where Supreme Court is held, so there are actually over 300 separate Superior Court locations. The third related link below, CourtReference Guide to California Courts, has location information for all California trial courts (and has the same info for every state).