Jurisdiction means a court s power to hear and decide particular types of cases.
For example, state courts have jurisdiction over laws passed in their states, therefore court cases involving state law can be heard by a state court. The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish . This section has been widely interpreted to mean that Congress has broad power to both set up lower federal courts and to determine what types of cases those courts will be able to hear and decide on. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make. It also sets up the Supreme Court s role as an appellate court with the authority to hear cases that have proceeded through the lower courts.