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Justices meet in conference to discuss their ideas about the case.

Justices take a preliminary vote to either uphold or reverse the lower court decision.

If the justices all agree on the outcome and the reasons, they issue a unanimous ruling.

If they disagree on the case, they issue a majority opinion and a dissenting opinion.

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Impossible for the justices to carefully review all these petitions on their own and do all their other work.

Justice's law clerks assume a major role in reviewing the petitions.

Each justice usually has four law clerks.

The law clerks read every petition and look for cases that clearly present a federal legal issue that is important and that has divided the lower courts.

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The solicitor general is the government official most often responsible for representing the federal government in court.

Decides which cases to appeal to the Supreme Court and how to respond when others appeal a case involving the federal government.

When the solicitor general recommends that the justices accept a case, they often do.

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The party that appeals to the Supreme Court is generally the party who lost in a lower court, either in a federal circuit court of appeals or a state supreme court.

To appeal, the losing party sends the Court a petition for a writ of certiorari.

Writ of Certiorari: an order from the Supreme Court to a lower court to send up the records on a case for review.

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Supreme Court is the highest court in the land and sits at the top of the judicial branch in our democracy.

Primary function is to resolve disputes that arise over the meaning of federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

Tries to make sure that federal law is uniform and means the same thing everywhere in the country.