The Judicial Branch

Article 3

• section 2

  • recognizes the nine types of cases or controversies that Congress may empower a federal court to hear (usually fed question and diversity cases)

  • the scope of the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction to hear a suit that did not begin in a lower court

    • Original jurisdiction: only cases involving foreign ambassadors and those in which a state is a party

  • the Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over any case or controversy falling within the nine heads

    • appellate jurisdiction

Congress’s Power Over Federal Jurisdiction

• Exceptions and Regulations Clause (Article 3 section 2)

  • grants Congress the power to make exceptions to the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction over cases.