3 ms·
1) Impeachment, if Congress feels strongly enough that the judges of the FC have breached their duty to uphold the law (as SCOTUS rulings are binding law upon l
by rprasad 14y ago
1) Impeachment, if Congress feels strongly enough that the judges of the FC have breached their duty to uphold the law (as SCOTUS rulings are binding law upon lower courts).
2) SCOTUS cannot do anything except to rehear FC cases...but it can change internal procedures and court rules so that, for example, all patent cases are automatically granted review by SCOTUS upon application by either party, etc. (SCOTUS cannot do away with the requirement that parties request review, as that is a procedural requirement set forth by law.)
- bcoates 14y agoThe SCOTUS doesn't have to rehear the case. They can and sometimes do respond to a petition by just reversing the lower court.
- rprasad 14y agoThey can, but ruling on an appeal without issuing an opinion is not only considered bad jurisprudence, it has no precedential effect and thus does not create binding law on the lower court. Consequently, it is rarely done. Moreover, in most instances where it is done, the reversal is on procedural rather than substantive grounds.
- bluedanieru 14y agoIt seems whether the ruling sets a precedent or not is irrelevant, since the Federal Circuit will just ignore it anyway.