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U.s. V. Nixon

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Article III, Section II of The Constitution states, “In all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers or Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction…” The Supreme Court is where the nation’s most controversial cases end up, and where decisions that impact the future of America are made. Every year, only about 80 cases are heard by the Supreme Court (“U.S. Supreme Court,” 2016). Each case meets a set of four criteria, all of which must be met in order to be considered by the Supreme Court justices. The first, and most important, criteria is a circuit split. This means that there was a serious conflict of law in the lower courts and the Supreme Court feels that this case is detrimental to the law (“Supreme Court Criteria,” 2016). The second of the four is that it must be a highly important case to the American future, such as U.S. v. Nixon on the Watergate scandal, Roe v. Wade on abortion, and Bush v. Gore on the close presidential race of 2000. The third requirement is that a justice is relatively interested in the case. They want the controversial, detrimental cases that will be ambitious. The case is to be highly considered if in the lower courts, a supreme court decision that has already been decided upon was denied. (“How Does the U.S.,” 2013). If all four criteria are met, then the case is fair game in the eyes of the Supreme Court justices. A case always begins in the lowest court, which is the

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