Is Supreme Court restricted on types of cases it hears?

Q. Does the Supreme Court only handle constitutional questions?

A. The United States Supreme Court was created in broad terms in the Constitution. Article III, Section 1 reads in part, “The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.” That leaves a great deal to be decided. Notice that there is no set number of justices or a statement of qualifications like there is for members of Congress and the president. The number of justices has ranged from a high of 10 and a low of five and can be changed by the passage of a law.

In the Judiciary Act of 1789 under President George Washington, Congress first set the number of justices at six and created the structure of our court system with federal districts and circuit courts. The circuit courts hear appeals, and the Supreme Court justices served on those circuit courts. This meant they spent a lot of time traveling, or “riding the circuit.” Initially, the number of justices matched the number of circuits.

There are a range of cases that can be heard by the Supreme Court. Article III, Section II of the Constitution establishes the court’s jurisdiction, or the legal ability to hear a case. There are two types of jurisdiction: original and appellate. Original jurisdiction is for cases that can be heard directly by the Supreme Court. Original jurisdiction is set by the Constitution and includes cases involving ambassadors, public ministers and ones in which a state is a party. Congress cannot change the original jurisdiction and add to the list.

While the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is limited, it can generate some interesting and important cases. In 1998, the Supreme Court was forced to decide who owned most of Ellis Island when New Jersey sued New York. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court found in favor of New Jersey, and held the Garden State did indeed have sovereignty over much of the island.

Then-New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani responded unhappily that people immigrating to the U.S. were not sitting there saying, “I’m coming to New Jersey.”

Most of the media attention for the court comes from its appellate jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over most cases arising out of federal law, though Congress may make exceptions. While lawyers regularly claim that they will take their case to the Supreme Court, most cases never get that far.

The Supreme Court largely gets to decide what cases to hear, and it denies review of the vast majority. Four justices must agree to hear a case for the court to take it up. The Supreme Court receives about 7,000 to 8,000 petitions filed each term, and will decide about 80 cases on average.

Kevin Wagner is a noted constitutional scholar and political science professor at Florida Atlantic University. The answers provided do not necessarily represent the views of the university. If you have a question about how American government and politics work, email him at kwagne15@fau.edu or reach him on Twitter/X @kevinwagnerphd.