Quote:
Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Certiorari doesn't create jurisdiction; rather it makes hearing a case discretionary. Either they have jurisdiction or they don't in a given case; granting cert. doesn't do anything to alter that.
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What I mean is, the move from appellate review to discretionary cert review came about as a policy response to the growth of the docket. If Congress were to abolish all lower federal courts --- it has the power to do so --- a lot more federal question litigation would come up from state supreme courts and courts of appeal, because all federal question cases would be filed in state courts, where original J would then reside.
I'm just curious how the discretionary review process would work when the SCOTUS has trouble keeping up with split circuits, much less split states.
