Discretionary jurisdiction enabled the Supreme Court to act as federal law’s developer

Evidence

The contraction of the Supreme Court’s mandatory jurisdiction, although prompted by caseload concerns, has also affected how the Court views its responsibilities. Relieving the Court of relatively unimportant cases has allowed it to focus on those cases that are crucial to the development of federal law. The justices now deliberately choose cases with that function in mind. Thus, the reform of the Court’s jurisdiction has produced effects probably never contemplated by its proponents. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 266

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to course study of the Supreme Court’s agenda-setting and certiorari process. — connects to: Federal court jurisdiction is bounded by Article III and statute — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 239; The 1925 Judges’ Bill gave the Supreme Court nearly total discretion over its docket — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 265; Granting the Supreme Court docket discretion transformed it into a law-developing court. (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• Granting the Supreme Court docket discretion transformed it into a law-developing court. #corroborates (0.97)
• Deliberately vague Supreme Court rulings invite lower courts to refine doctrine #expands (0.78) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1485