Who's America’s top judge?

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

F.Q.'s question in http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2975/who-is-america-s-top-judge is a trifle misleading. S/he states: “You’ve got fifty states, and each one has a supreme court and lower courts,” which isn’t quite correct.

While each state has a court that’s supreme, only 48 call their top court the Supreme Court; in Maryland and New York the state’s highest court is the Court of Appeals. To make it more confusing, in NY there is also a Supreme Court, but it’s a court of general trial-level jurisdiction, meaning that your case is likely to start in the Supreme Court and then go into the appeal system.

2

In that case, the supreme court in Maryland and New York is the Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court is not the supreme court. (Note the use of lower case “s” and “c”.) Another example is that the supreme court in Australia is the High Court – Australia does not have a “Supreme Court”, but at least some of the states do.

3

America’s Top Judge? I smell a new reality show.

4

Court of Last Resort is perhaps the more accurate description.

5

Though I’d say “court of last resort”, just in case some jurisdiction has a Court of Last Resort.

6

Hong Kong has a Court of Final Appeal.

Even Court of Last Resort is a bit of a misnomer. There defiantly are cases for whom a certain court would be the court against whose decision there is is no judicial remedy even when they are not the Highest court in the hierarchy. Or against whose decision review is very limited in scope.

Of course many Courts of Last Resort require a leave to be granted before appeal can even take place.

7

A “Court of Last Resort” was a precursor of the Innocence Project, organized by Erle Stanley Gardner.

According to Wikipedia, “Apex Court” is sometimes used in Asia.

8

The Last Resort is actually a spa on the isle of Aruba