Micah Schwartzbach, Attorney
The United States Supreme Court is a federal court, meaning in part that it can hear cases prosecuted by the U.S. government. (The Court also decides civil cases.) The Court can also hear just about any kind of state-court case, as long as it involves federal law, including the Constitution. And any case can involve federal law. For example, a defendant’s challenge to the basis for a police search implicates the Fourth Amendment, and is therefore within the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. (See Supreme Court: Presence is Required to Prevent Certain Home Searches.)
