The Supreme Court’s docket is dominated by thousands of annual petitions from lower courts.

Evidence

Each year the Supreme Court receives more than 7,000 petitions for review, the vast majority appealing rulings of federal courts of appeals or state supreme courts. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1469

Categorization

• SHARE: The raw volume figure (7,000+ petitions yearly) is the kind of concrete number worth citing to a classmate studying the Court’s caseload.
• XREF: connects to: The Supreme Court accepts under 2 percent of petitions each year — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 897; Nearly all prisoner habeas petitions to the Supreme Court lack merit and get dismissed — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 212; The Supreme Court’s docket has shrunk dramatically while its discretionary power grew — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 369 (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• The Supreme Court’s docket has shrunk dramatically while its discretionary power grew #complicates (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 369
• Lower court judges shaped by local politics can blunt a Supreme Court mandate. #complicates (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1545
• State supreme courts hear far more cases than the U.S. Supreme Court does #exemplifies (0.90) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 314
• Court hierarchies bind lower courts to higher courts’ rulings #qualifies (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 257
• Legal doctrine constrains lower courts far more than the Supreme Court #qualifies (0.80) — Frederick Schauer, Thinking Like a Lawyer, 257