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The Supreme Court has both originaland appellate jurisdiction.Original ju-risdiction means that a court has the power to hear a case for the first time.Appellate jurisdiction means that a higher court has the authority to re-view cases originally decided by a lower court.The Supreme Court is overwhelmingly an appellate court since most ofits time is devoted to reviewing decisions oflower courts.It is the highest appellate tribunal in the country.As such,it has the final word in the interpretation of the Constitution,acts oflegislative bodies,and treaties
unless the Courts decsion is altered by a constitutional amendment or,in some instances,byan act ofCongress.
Since 1925 a device known as “certiorarihas” allowed the Suprem Court to exercise discretion in decid-ing which cases it should review.Under this method a person may re-quest Supreme Court review ofa lower court decision;then the justicesdetermine whether the request should be granted.Ifreview is granted,the Court issues a writ ofcertiorari,which is an order to the lower court to send up a complete record ofthe case.When certiorari is denied,the decision of the lower court stands.