# To whom do you appeal a SCOWDC decision? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2016, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625 "2016-12-02T10:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/1 "2016-12-02T10:58:38Z")
As I understand it, SCOTUS is also the Supreme Court of Washington DC. So to whom do you appeal a decision by that court? Any State’s Supreme Court’s decision can be appealed to SCOTUS, but what happens with Washington? ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/2 "2016-12-02T11:07:44Z")
The obvious answer seems to be, “No one. End of the line. Game over.” I can easily imagine that one might always hope for yet another court to appeal to, but the truth is that it ain’t so. But I’ll be watching this thread to see if I’m mistaken in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/3 "2016-12-02T11:10:52Z")
The buck has to stop somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/4 "2016-12-02T11:30:31Z")
The Supremer Court of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/5 "2016-12-02T11:56:28Z")
Kanye West? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/6 "2016-12-02T14:12:54Z")
I wonder if you can wait some period of time and after new justices are appointed you could bring a similar case up again. I assume a later SCOTUS is the only body that can overturn a ruling of an earlier SCOTUS. If the issue has to do with the US Constitution you can always just get the constitution changed. Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/7 "2016-12-02T14:20:12Z")
The local courts in DC are known as the Superior Courts. Cases may be appealed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. There is no Supreme Court for Washington DC. The Court of Appeals is the court of last resort for local DC issues, in the same way that, say, the California Supreme Court is the court of last resort for that state’s issues. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/8 "2016-12-02T17:00:58Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I wonder if you can wait some period of time and after new justices are appointed you could bring a similar case up again. I assume a later SCOTUS is the only body that can overturn a ruling of an earlier SCOTUS. … Far as I know there’s no rule that the membership of the court has to change to overturn an earlier ruling. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/9 "2016-12-02T17:01:09Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > As I understand it, SCOTUS is also the Supreme Court of Washington DC. So to whom do you appeal a decision by that court? Any State’s Supreme Court’s decision can be appealed to SCOTUS, but what happens with Washington? > [@Ravenman](#): > > The local courts in DC are known as the Superior Courts. Cases may be appealed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. There is no Supreme Court for Washington DC. The Court of Appeals is the court of last resort for local DC issues, in the same way that, say, the California Supreme Court is the court of last resort for that state’s issues. To elaborate on this for clarity: The OP is wrong in the statement: “Any State’s Supreme Court’s decision can be appealed to SCOTUS [sic]”. This is not correct at all. Generally speaking, once the California Supreme Court (for example) has issued a decision on a case originating in California’s state courts, that decision is final. No “appeal” is allowed. What CAN be done is to try and get federal courts to review that decision, but ONLY if it involved federal law, including, of course, that supreme federal law, the Constitution of the United States. That review is limited to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCotUS), see [28 USC 1257 (a)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/1257). The review is by Writ of Certiorari, which is not an “appeal”, but rather a request from the court to “be informed” about the circumstances of the matter. It is discretionary; the Court does not have to grant _certiorari_ if it does not want to, even if you’ve made a proper case for it (there is a list of valid reasons to grant “cert”, as it’s called; you have to show one of them applies, but doing so isn’t a guarantee of review). And, of course, those who have clicked the link above will have already seen that the OP’s question is answered by 28 USC 1257 (b): > [@28 USC 1257 (b)](#): > > For the purposes of this section, the term “highest court of a State” includes the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. In other words, the District of Columbia’s Court of Appeals is that district’s “supreme court”. ---
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/10 "2016-12-02T18:27:31Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > The local courts in DC are known as the Superior Courts. Cases may be appealed to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. There is no Supreme Court for Washington DC. The Court of Appeals is the court of last resort for local DC issues, in the same way that, say, the California Supreme Court is the court of last resort for that state’s issues. Also, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals is not to be confused with the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which is a “proper” Article III court (like the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals). Part of the OP’s confusion may stem from his incorrect assumption that DC is a state. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/11 "2016-12-02T19:05:37Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I wonder if you can wait some period of time and after new justices are appointed you could bring a similar case up again. I assume a later SCOTUS is the only body that can overturn a ruling of an earlier SCOTUS. It can and does. Wikipedia has a [list of Supreme Court decisions that were overruled by later decisions.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_overruled_United_States_Supreme_Court_decisions) A few famous examples of this include: [ul][li]Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which ruled that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional. They had been ruled constitutional in 1986, in Bowers v. Hardwick.[/li][li]Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which found that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. They had been ruled constitutional in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson.[/li][li]Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), which found that U.S. citizenship cannot be stripped from a person if they have not committed actions that patently show their intent to do so. The court had found the opposite in Perez v. Brownell in 1958.[/ul]Note that although there were only nine years between these last two cases, four out of the nine justices on the court had been replace in those nine years. So it was a substantially different court that time around. [/li] That said, the Supreme Court is usually pretty reluctant to overrule itself; it’s a general legal principle (_stare decisis_) that precedent should be respected unless there is a strong reason to overturn it. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/12 "2016-12-02T20:36:08Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I wonder if you can wait some period of time and after new justices are appointed you could bring a similar case up again. I assume a later SCOTUS is the only body that can overturn a ruling of an earlier SCOTUS. > [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Far as I know there’s no rule that the membership of the court has to change to overturn an earlier ruling. > [@MikeS](#): > > It can and does. Wikipedia has a [list of Supreme Court decisions that were overruled by later decisions.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_overruled_United_States_Supreme_Court_decisions) A few famous examples of this include: > [ul][li]Lawrence v. Texas (2003), which ruled that anti-sodomy laws were unconstitutional. They had been ruled constitutional in 1986, in Bowers v. Hardwick.[/li][li]Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which found that segregated public schools were unconstitutional. They had been ruled constitutional in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson.[/li][li]Afroyim v. Rusk (1967), which found that U.S. citizenship cannot be stripped from a person if they have not committed actions that patently show their intent to do so. The court had found the opposite in Perez v. Brownell in 1958.[/ul]Note that although there were only nine years between these last two cases, four out of the nine justices on the court had been replace in those nine years. So it was a substantially different court that time around. [/li] > That said, the Supreme Court is usually pretty reluctant to overrule itself; it’s a general legal principle (_stare decisis_) that precedent should be respected unless there is a strong reason to overturn it. Once again, let’s try to get something straight. The words _overrule_ and _overturn_ do not mean what you people think they mean. Only a superior court can overrule a lesser one. Only a superior court can overturn a decision. It is a logical impossibility for the Supreme Court to be superior to itself. Therefore, it is manifestly impossible for the Supreme Court to overrule or overturn its own decisions. It is, however, very possible for the Supreme Court to _reverse_ its previous decisions. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2016, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/13 "2016-12-02T23:59:22Z")
Good stuff; thanks folks. > [@dofe](#): > > Part of the OP’s confusion may stem from his incorrect assumption that DC is a state. I knew DC wasn’t a state. There was ignorance on my part, not confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-whom-do-you-appeal-a-scowdc-decision/773625/14 "2016-12-03T01:14:46Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Once again, let’s try to get something straight. > > The words _overrule_ and _overturn_ do not mean what you people think they mean. Only a superior court can overrule a lesser one. Only a superior court can overturn a decision. It is a logical impossibility for the Supreme Court to be superior to itself. Therefore, it is manifestly impossible for the Supreme Court to overrule or overturn its own decisions. > > It is, however, very possible for the Supreme Court to _reverse_ its previous decisions. This may be true in a very technical sense, but the distinction is not observed in practice. The question presented and the opinion itself in Lawrence v. Texas, for instance, expressly referred to Bowers v. Hardwick being “overruled.”