High Court Civil Procedures

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the nation.

The Supreme Court of the United States (the High Court) is a court of civil procedure. After district courts or state supreme courts render decisions on civil and criminal cases, the losing party has the right to file an appeal with the United States Supreme Court. The High Court does not retry cases; it reviews cases to determine if civil procedure was violated and can either overturn a lower court's decision or uphold it. Only cases between states and those involving diplomats and ambassadors go directly to the High Court without being heard in a lower court first.

Attorneys

Attorneys appearing before the Supreme Court must be a member of the United States Supreme Court Bar Association

The Supreme Court has its own private bar association. An attorney appearing before the High Court must be a member of the Supreme Court Bar. Qualification for admission requires that the applicant be a member of their State bar association for three years. Admission requires a letter of good standing from the highest court in the attorney's state and sponsorship by two current members of the Supreme Court Bar.

Certiorari

More than 7,000 cases are submitted to the Supreme Court each year

A certiorari (sur-shee-uh-rair-ahy) is a writ issued by the High Court to summon court records from a lower court for review. More than 7,000 cases are submitted to the High Court each year, and of these, the justices agree to consider an average of less than 100 for certiorari review. The Supreme Court Justices vote on which petitions for writs of certiorari they will accept during a private conference with only the justices in attendance; not even the justices' law clerks are permitted to attend. If four out of the nine justices vote to grant the petition for certiorari ("The Rule of 4"), the case is taken to the "briefing" stage.

Briefing

Lawyers for each party file briefs with the High Court

The parties appearing before the Supreme Court are referred to as the "petitioner" (the one bringing the action to overturn a lower court ruling) and the "respondent" (the one who wants the lower court's ruling to stand). They submit "briefs" (written summaries) of the case and their arguments. Briefs can also be submitted by an "amici curiae" (friend of the court), who is not a party to the case, but nevertheless has an interest in the issue being decided.

Oral Arguments

Attorneys for each party appear before the court for oral arguments

After the Supreme Court has studied the briefs, oral arguments are scheduled. Oral arguments are heard two weeks of every month from October through April. Each side has 30 minutes to present its case, an oratory that is often interrupted by justices asking questions. The petitioner goes first. The petitioner can also have a brief time to rebut the argument made by the respondent.

Deliberation

Some cases can be held over at the Supreme Court for years.

After oral arguments are concluded, the justices have another private conference to discuss the case. A preliminary vote is taken, and the senior justice on each side chooses which justice on his side will write a representative draft opinion. The draft opinions are then circulated among the justices and reviewed. The justices conference again, this time to vote on the final decision. Again, one justice on the majority side and one from the dissenting write representative opinions. There is no time limitation on the High Court's rendering a final decision.

References

• Supreme Court of the United States: A Visitor's Guide to Oral Arguments
• Supreme Court of the United States: Supreme Court Documents: Court Rules; Rules of the Supreme Court (PDF)
• Find Law: A History of the Supreme Court
• Washington College of Law: Admission to the Bar of the United State Supreme Court