State supreme court

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This article discusses the state supreme courts in the United States. See Australian court hierarchy for the counterparts in Australian states.

In the United States, the state supreme court (known by various names in various states) is the highest state court in the state court system.

Generally, the state supreme court is exclusively for hearing appeals of legal issues. It does not do any finding of facts, and thus holds no trials. In the rare case where the trial court made an egregious error in its finding of facts, the court will remand to that court for a new trial. This nature is responsible for some of the different names of some courts.

The court consists of a panel of judges selected by methods outlined in the state constitution.

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[edit] Appellate jurisdiction

Under American federalism, the interpretation of a state supreme court on a matter of state law is normally final and binding and must be accepted in both state and federal courts.

Federal courts may only overrule a state court when there is a federal question, which is to say, a specific issue (such as consistency with the Federal Constitution) that gives cause for federal jurisdiction. Rulings of state supreme courts on such matters may be appealed directly to the Supreme Court of the United States.

One of the informal traditions of the American legal system is that all litigants are guaranteed at least one appeal after a final judgment on the merits (although the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to rule on whether this rule is required by the constitutional guarantee of due process). Since a few states lack intermediate appellate courts, the state supreme court operates under "mandatory review", in which it must hear all appeals from the trial courts. Such judicial systems are usually very congested.[1]

Most state supreme courts have implemented "discretionary review", like their federal counterpart. Under such a system, intermediate appellate courts are entrusted with deciding the vast majority of appeals. Appeals from the appeals court are heard by the supreme court if the law provides for mandatory review of their cases (Such as for cases that deal directly with the state constitution), of if the supreme court chooses to grant certiorari. These cases usually are matters where different appeals courts within its jurisdiction have decided differently, or the matter is highly contentious.

Iowa has a unique procedure for appeals. In that state, all appeals are filed with the Supreme Court, which then keeps all cases of first impression for itself to decide. It forwards the remaining cases — which deal with points of law it has already addressed — to the intermediate Court of Appeals.

[edit] Terminology

[edit] "Court of Appeals"

Because state supreme courts generally hear only appeals, some courts have names which directly indicate their function — in the states of New York and Maryland, and in the District of Columbia, the highest court is called "Court of Appeals." In New York, the "Supreme Court" is the trial court of general unlimited jurisdiction and the intermediate appellate court is called the "Supreme Court — Appellate Division". Maryland's jury trial courts are called "Circuit Courts" (non-jury trials are usually conducted by the "District Courts," whose decisions may be appealed to the Circuit Courts), and the intermediate appellate court is called the "Court of Special Appeals". West Virginia mixes the two; its highest court is called the "Supreme Court of Appeals."

Other states' supreme courts have used the term "Appeals": New Jersey's supreme courts under the 1844 constitution and Delaware's supreme court were both the "Court of Errors and Appeals". The term "Errors" refers to the now-obsolete writ of error, which was used by state supreme courts to correct certain types of egregious errors committed by lower courts.

[edit] Older terminology

Massachusetts and New Hampshire originally named their highest courts the "Superior Court of Judicature." Currently, Massachusetts used the names "Supreme Judicial Court" (to distinguish itself from the state legislature, which is called the Massachusetts General Court), while New Hampshire uses the name "Supreme Court." Additionally the highest court in Maine is named the "Supreme Judicial Court." In Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York, the highest courts formerly used variations of the term "Court of Errors," which indicated that the court's primary purpose was to correct the errors of lower courts.

[edit] Dual and triple supreme courts

Oklahoma and Texas have two separate "supreme courts": one for criminal appeals and one for civil cases - the former being called "Court of Criminal Appeals", and the latter the "Supreme Court". Delaware still maintains a separate Court of Chancery to hear final appeals on matters of equity, as distinct from matters of law.

[edit] Methods of composition and practitioners

There are five specific methods of selecting judges to sit on the court, which can be consolidated into 2 related ones and one hybrid: Elections (Popularly, with party involvement; the same without political party involvement; by the state legislature), selection by the executive (Governor), or a modified version of the last (The Missouri Plan). Each method has its supporters and detractors, and at least one method (The Missiouri Plan) was created specifically because of the contentiousness of another.

The Federal territories of Guam[citation needed], Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico all appoint their judges by selection of the executive. In the case of American Samoa however the executive is the United States Secretary of the Interior, not the local governor[2].

[edit] Partisan election

[edit] Non-partisan election[3]

[edit] Election by the state legislature

[edit] Appointment by the Governor[4]

[edit] The Missouri Plan


[edit] Modified Missouri Plan

[edit] List of state supreme courts


[edit] Supreme courts in the U.S. territories and federal district

[edit] Supreme courts of sovereign nations

  • Navajo Nation Supreme Court (formerly the "Court of Appeals")

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Valerie Miller, "Judges renew their call for appeals court," Las Vegas Business Press 19, no. 3 (21 January 2002): 1.
  2. ^ Central Intelligence Agency. CIA - The World Factbook -- American Samoa. Retrieved on March 30, 2005.
  3. ^ — A non partisan election does not mean that the judges run and are selected with no regard to political beliefs. In many cases "non partisan election" merely means the prospective judges' parties are not printed on the ballot.
  4. ^ — In most cases the appointment must be agreed to by the upper house of the State's legislature. The judge may also have to stand in a retention election.


Highest judicial bodies in the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
State Supreme Courts:  Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming
Territorial Judiciaries:  American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Northern Mariana Islands • Puerto Rico • United States Virgin Islands
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