Do Federal courts have jurisdiction over cases that the Federal gov has no...

G

G J

New member
...authority granted by constitution? If so, then where do they get the authority?
If not, then how can they hear such a case?

Just one example: if a state supreme court makes a ruling on a case, can the SCOTUS over-rule it? I would think that either the state OR federal government would have jurisdiction, not both.
 
Federal Courts have jurisdiction in two main types of cases.

The first is called diversity Jurisdiction. They have jurisdiction when the parties are from two different states and the amount in controversy is in excess of $75,000. This is to prevent state jury bias.

The second type is when a case arises under Federal Law or the Constitution.

In your example, if a State Supreme Court renders a decision, a party can only appeal it to the US Supreme Court if they claim that the decision is runs afoul of the US Constitution. The US Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, a State must follow the US Constitution. The State Constitution can give MORE rights than the US constitution, but not fewer.
 
After the state courts, cases can be appealed to the federal level if there are federal issues involved (constitutional right violations, due process violations, etc)
 
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