The U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (first abbreviated as SCOTUS in 1879) was established pursuant to Article III of the United States Constitution in 1789 as the highest federal court in the United States. It has ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original jurisdiction over a small range of cases.
Understanding the Federal Courts
The federal court system deals with legal issues expressly or implicitly granted to it by the U.S. Constitution. The state court systems deal with their respective state constitutions and the legal issues that the U.S. Constitution did not give to the federal government or explicitly deny to the states. Locate a Federal Court »
The U.S. Supreme Court: Equal Justice Under the Law (pdf – 1.2Mb)
This revision of “The U.S. Supreme Court: Equal Justice Under the Law” is a collection of essays that explains how the highest court in the United States functions. It has been updated to reflect the appointments of new justices and key officers, and recent, significant decisions of the court.