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Higher Courts Ensure Federal Laws Among All States

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Higher courts help to ensure that federal law carries out evenly among all states; a message of unity isn't sent when each state has its own exceptions to the law. Higher courts also look at the overall picture and the impact that the law has; the point is that federal law is the main concern, and state law doesn’t make much difference. Therefore, it is necessary for the higher courts to step in and ensure that any issues at a federal level reign the same in any court/lower judicial system. There are three important factors that are used to determine if higher courts should accept a case on certiorari. The first is a split in the circuits, meaning that because of the importance of the case, it needs to be heard in a higher court. It is important to note that an obvious grant would occur in a conflict among circuits. The second point is polity in which events such as segregation have a significant impact in how society operates (Murphy, Pritchett, Epstein & Knight, 2006). The third factor is legal importance – specifically confusion of interpretation or societal importance. There are a couple of examples that point out the importance of federal law and these three points listed above. One example is U.S. vs. Nixon which proves that not only is no one individual above the law no matter their title, but also one that needed to be addressed by a higher court to make the right decision and set an example for future cases if they were ever to occur; this supports the first factor

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