Legal Definitions - Nonfederal grounds

Definition: Nonfederal grounds refer to the basis of a state court's decision that is not related to federal law. The Supreme Court will only consider hearing a case from a state court if the decision was based on federal grounds. If the state court's decision was based on adequate and independent state grounds, the Supreme Court will not have jurisdiction over the case.

Example: A state court case involving a dispute over property ownership is decided based on state property laws. The Supreme Court would not have jurisdiction over this case because the decision was based on state law, which is a nonfederal ground.

Explanation: In this example, the state court's decision was based on state property laws, which is a nonfederal ground. Therefore, the Supreme Court would not have jurisdiction over the case because it was not based on federal law.