So the Attorney General of the State of Michigan is filing a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court in order to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp. Students in at least one of my classes (you know who you are, students in Introduction to American Law) should immediately be asking themselves a few questions here, and it has nothing to do with fish. This lawsuit is BEGINNING in the U.S. Supreme Court. Wait, didn't we learn that the Court is the highest appeals court in the U.S.? Remember our discussion about something called "original jurisdiction"? Article III of the Constitution specifically gives the Court "original jurisdiction" to hear a variety (albeit limited variety) of cases. One such case is when a state sues another state, which is what we have here: the State of Michigan v. the State of Illinois. In short, such a case begins in the Supreme Court, which is what we mean by "original jurisdiction." Of course, the case ends there too.
05 January 2010
Original Jurisdiction
So the Attorney General of the State of Michigan is filing a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court in order to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp. Students in at least one of my classes (you know who you are, students in Introduction to American Law) should immediately be asking themselves a few questions here, and it has nothing to do with fish. This lawsuit is BEGINNING in the U.S. Supreme Court. Wait, didn't we learn that the Court is the highest appeals court in the U.S.? Remember our discussion about something called "original jurisdiction"? Article III of the Constitution specifically gives the Court "original jurisdiction" to hear a variety (albeit limited variety) of cases. One such case is when a state sues another state, which is what we have here: the State of Michigan v. the State of Illinois. In short, such a case begins in the Supreme Court, which is what we mean by "original jurisdiction." Of course, the case ends there too.
