Does anyone know what percentage of cases that are seen by the Supreme Court are original cases and what percent are appeleate cases?
2007-07-23 15:53:44 · 3 answers · asked by Me 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Government
Almost all are appellate cases.
There are very very few instances where the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction, and I'd be surprised if there have been more than a handful in the past few decades.
Article III Section 2: "In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction."
In fact, the only one I can think of was a while back between two states over the boundaries of a river -- I think it was Maryland and Virginia (540 U.S. 56, 2003) but I'm not sure.
Certainly much less than 1%.
2007-07-23 15:57:22 · answer #1 · answered by coragryph 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Only time the supreme court had direct jurisdiction over a case is when there is not a lower court which deals with said laws, these are usually only cases dealing with legalities of the government on the federal level.
2007-07-23 16:04:34 · answer #2 · answered by Mark G 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't think ANY are cases of first impression.
2007-07-23 15:56:24 · answer #3 · answered by antagonist 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋