Report No. 44
8. U.S.A.:
Position regarding appeals or certiorari to the Supreme Court of the U.S.A.:-
(i) Valuation not relevant.
(ii) The question involved must be what can be roughly described as a "federal" one.
(iii) Leave not required. But review is discretionary in many cases:
Appellate cases may be taken to the Court by two routes, appeal and certiorari, depending on the nature of the case. The avenue of appeal, (which replaced the older writ of error), is reserved principally for cases from State courts in which the highest court of the State has held a State statute valid under the federal Constitution. Other cases from the highest courts of the States-decisions holding State statutes unconstitutional, construing federal statutes, or involving federal privileges and immunities like full faith and credit to judgments of sister States-must take the avenue of certiorari. Jurisdiction under appeal is obligatory, while jurisdiction under certiorari is discretionary with the Supreme Court.
(b) Position regarding appeal to the highest Court of the State in the U.S.A.:
There is wide variation in detail in the provisions governing the right to further review, by the higher appellate court, of the determination made by the lower appellate court. Seldom is such further review a matter of right in all cases. Illustrative is a provision in one State giving such right of further review where the lower appellate court has reversed the judgment of the trial court, or where the affirmance of the judgment has been by a divided court; in all other cases review may be had only by permission, granted either by the lower or the higher appellate court.
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