Supreme Court Appeals Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Supreme Court Appeals - Essay Example This refers to a court order that requests lower courts to send documents as well as materials pertaining to the case to the Supreme Court. The justices are required to vote to make a decision on whether or not the case has merit before granting a writ of certiorari (Denis et al, 2014). It takes a combination of different criteria for the Court to judge if a case is â€Å"certworthy.† A Circuit Conflict is the first criterion employed by the Supreme Court in granting certiorari. This criterion is used when there is a conflict amongst the lower federal courts concerning an issue. The conflict must be unbearable and current. The reputation of the lower courts involved in the conflict is a variable when employing this criterion (â€Å"Granting Certiorari† par.7). The Importance of a case is also another criterion for judging if a case is ‘certworthy.’ There are a number of different ways that a case can be important enough to attract the Supreme Court’s attention. Similarly, cases that are important to the polity due to the societal and political impact of their resolution, for example Brown v. Board of Education as well as Roe v. Wade, can attract the attention of the Court. As a rule, two other factors influence the Court’s assessment of the importance of a case: breadth, that is, the potential impact on many people as well as the effect on the federal government (â€Å"Granting Certiorari† par.9). Another criterion is the areas of Interest to the Justices of the Supreme Court. Some justices may have a particular hobbyhorse and that can influence on whether the Court awards certiorari or not. Repeatedly, a Justice’s area of interest is determined by personal history as well as geographic origin. For instance, justices from the West might be favor of granting certiorari in water rights cases. Flagrant abuses of justice or flagrant disregard for accepted legal doctrine can sometimes