Which is the highest court in the United States federal court system?

• A. US Supreme Court
• B. Texas Supreme Court
• C. District Court
• D. Court of Appeals

Answer: (A)

The United States Supreme Court is the highest court in the federal system. In the federal judiciary there are three levels: district courts where cases begin as trials, courts of appeals that review for legal errors, and at the top, the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has the final say on federal law and constitutional questions, and its decisions bind every other court in the country. It can review cases from lower federal courts and, in certain situations, from state supreme courts if a federal issue is involved. The Texas Supreme Court, by contrast, is a state court and operates within Texas’s own system, not the federal one. The Court of Appeals is an intermediate federal appellate court, and district courts are the trial level—both sit below the Supreme Court.