Legal Definitions - Original jurisdiction

Definition: Original jurisdiction is a court's power to hear and decide a case before any appellate review. This means that a trial court has the authority to hear and decide cases that fall under its jurisdiction.

Overview: The U.S. Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over a few small but important categories of cases, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution. This means that parties can bring these disputes directly to the Supreme Court, but the Court still has the discretion to decide whether or not to hear the case. The Court's original jurisdiction is laid out by statute in 28 U.S.C. § 1251, and Rule 17 of the Supreme Court Rules governs actions based on the Court's original jurisdiction.

Examples: One example of a case that falls under the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction is disputes between states. In these cases, the Court's jurisdiction is not only "original," but it is also exclusive. This means that if the parties cannot settle the matter, no other court but the Supreme Court has the authority, under the Constitution, to take jurisdiction. For example, in Louisiana v. Mississippi and Nebraska v. Wyoming, the disputes between the states involved conflicting property claims.

Explanation: The examples illustrate how the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction works in practice. In these cases, the parties were able to bring their disputes directly to the Supreme Court because they fell under the Court's original jurisdiction. The Court then had the authority to hear and decide the cases before any appellate review. This shows how the Court's original jurisdiction is an important power that allows it to handle certain types of cases that cannot be heard by other courts.