Before the Court

Abstract

Abstract Thirty years after the ratification of the Constitution, the United Illinois and Wabash Land Companies finally had a route by which to bring their claim before the Supreme Court of the United States. No further petitions would be submitted to Congress, at least until the Companies had received a favorable decision from the high court. All of the Companies’ re sources, and all of Robert Goodloe Harper’s creative energies, would be devoted to crafting and prosecuting a suit to win such a decision. To appreciate the ingenuity brought to bear on this task, it is essential to understand the structure-and deficiencies-of the judicial system in which Harper operated, as well as the various procedural devices available to him. In the federal court system in the early twenty-first century, most cases heard by the Supreme Court are first tried in a federal district court, then reviewed by the federal circuit court of appeals with jurisdiction over the district, and finally reach the Supreme Court by writ of certiorari.