In the
United States, the
state supreme court (known as the
supreme judicial court in some states) is usually the highest court in the
state court system. (See also
supreme court.)
Overview
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 supreme court will
remand to that court for a new trial.
The court consists of a panel of judges, either appointed by the state governor, or elected by the
state legislature or the people for a limited term. Some states use what is known as the
Missouri Plan under which the governor appoints a judge for a single term who must then receive voter approval for any successive terms.
Appellate jurisdiction
Under the American system of
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
U.S. Constitution) that gives cause for federal court jurisdiction. Rulings of state supreme courts on such matters may be appealed directly to the
Supreme Court of the United States.
One of the great 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.
Most state supreme courts have implemented
discretionary review, like their federal counterpart, the U.S. Supreme Court. Under such a system, intermediate appellate courts are entrusted with deciding the vast majority of appeals (most of which are half-baked attempts to challenge long-settled rules). The supreme court (federal or state) monitors the decisions of the intermediate courts. Through its discretionary power to grant writs of review or
certiorari, it can concentrate on deciding a smaller number of cases. These cases usually are matters where different appeals courts within its jurisdiction have decided differently.
Terminology
In
New York and
Maryland, the highest court of the state is called the Court of Appeals. (In New York, the name
Supreme Court is used for a
trial court.) In
West Virginia, the highest court of the state is called the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Oklahoma and
Texas have two separate highest courts, one for criminal appeals and one for civil cases. The former is called the Court of Criminal Appeals. The latter is called the Supreme Court.
List of states by method of selection of state supreme court justices
States with partisan elections
- Alabama, Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia
States with non-partisan elections
- Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin
States with election by the Legislature
States with appointment by the Governor
States using the Missouri Plan
- Alaska, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Utah, Wyoming
List of state supreme courts
List of U.S. territories supreme courts
- High Court of American Samoa
- District Court of Guam, Appellate Division
- Northern Mariana Islands Supreme Court
- Puerto Rico Supreme Court
List of supreme courts of sovereign nations
- Navajo Nation Supreme Court (formerly the Court of Appeals)
Category:U.S. State court systems
See also
*
United States court of appeals
*
United States district court
*
United States federal courts
* United States Supreme Court