Article III, Section 2, Clause 2:

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 of the Constitution defines the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction. The clause creates two types of Supreme Court jurisdiction that apply to different categories of cases. First, the clause grants the Court original jurisdiction over “Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party.” 1 The constitutional grant of original jurisdiction over such cases means that they may be filed directly in the Supreme Court rather than reaching the Court on appeal from another court. The Supreme Court has held that its original jurisdiction flows directly from the Constitution and is therefore self-executing without further action by Congress.2

Article III, Section 2, Clause 2 also provides for Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction over all other cases subject to federal court jurisdiction, “with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.” 3 Known as the “Exceptions Clause,” this provision allows the Court to review both decisions of the inferior federal courts and final judgments of state courts, if authorized by Congress.4 The Supreme Court has generally indicated that the constitutional grant of appellate jurisdiction is not self-executing—meaning that Congress must enact legislation to empower the Court to hear cases on appeal—and Congress has exercised its power to implement the provision by granting the Supreme Court appellate jurisdiction over a subset of the cases included in the constitutional grant. Congress and the Court have also construed the Exceptions Clause to provide Congress significant control over the Court’s appellate jurisdiction and proceedings.5

Footnotes

1

U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 2.

2

See ArtIII.S2.C2.2 Supreme Court Original Jurisdiction; ArtIII.S2.C2.3 Original Cases Affecting Ambassadors, Public Ministers, and Consuls.

3

U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 2.

4

See ArtIII.S2.C2.4 Supreme Court Appellate Jurisdiction; ArtIII.S2.C2.5 Supreme Court Review of State Court Decisions; ArtIII.S2.C2.6 Exceptions Clause and Congressional Control over Appellate Jurisdiction.

5

See ArtIII.S2.C2.6 Exceptions Clause and Congressional Control over Appellate Jurisdiction.