There are three separate routes by which the Supreme Court can handle a case that has been appealed to it.
- The first route is a case under the Court's original jurisdiction which means that the Supreme Court hears the case directly, without an intermediate stage.
- The second way for a case to reach the Supreme Court is on appeal a circuit court through a petition for a writ of certiorari which informs a request for review. However, the Supreme Court has discretion to decide which cases it will hear or not.
- The third way that a case can reach the Supreme Court is through an appeal from a State Supreme Court, since each state has its own supreme court, which is the final authority regarding the state law.