The Court as an Echo Chamber, Etc.

December 8, 2014

“I’m taking this case all the way to the Supreme Court,” are words heard occasionally in hot contested matters, most often where the chances of that happening are nil. The words do, though, provide a jumping off place for discussing an interesting new study.

Cases get heard by the U.S. Supreme after a grant of certiorari. The word translates roughly to “to be more fully informed” and, here, being more fully informed means having the Court grant the writ, so that it can illuminate us with its wisdom.

I’m not delving into process here very much. The Court does take a limited category of cases by direct appeal (as opposed to cert), and does have original jurisdiction in

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