Topic > The Supreme Court: The Power of the Supreme Court

Yates states in Brutus 11: “Every extension of the power of the general legislative body, as well as of the judicial powers, will increase the powers of the courts… This power in the judicial field, will enable them to shape government into virtually any shape they choose. The fear is that the Court will begin to meddle in legal problems of the State that do not concern it; however, even in this day and age, there is a strict procedure on how cases can be heard before the Supreme Court. If a person wants to have their case heard at the Supreme Court level, they must first go through all state appellate processes and go through the state supreme court or court of last resort. Hamilton explains the importance of procedures over the judicial system, and the importance of the balance between the state and federal judicial systems, in Federalist 82, “for not to grant to the state courts a right of jurisdiction in such cases, can hardly be considered as the limitation of pre-existing authority…that the state courts would have concurrent jurisdiction in all cases arising under the laws of the Union.” As federalists, we understand that there must be rules to govern the judicial system. The fear that the Anti-Federalists have is unfounded. The Supreme Court only accepts cases that present a constitutional issue or a conflict between federal governments, just as stated in the