History Main / ThereIsNoHigherCourt

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Note that just because there ARE appeal courts in the real world doesn't mean that local governments or judges don't do anything illegal or that unconstitutional actions are always challenged. The process of bringing a lawsuit is extremely slow and extremely expensive and requires someone who is injured by the illegal action to bring a suit -- just because something is unconstitutional doesn't necessarily mean that it is going to be heard by a court.
* That bit about "somebody who is injured by the illegal action" can get downright insidious in the U.S. because of something called the "standing doctrine." Long story short, not only do you need to be affected by a law, if you stop being affected you lose the right to bring suit. For decades, this stopped anybody from challenging anti-abortion laws because nobody could bring a lawsuit to the US Supreme Court within nine months (Roe v. Wade was finally given a pass on the previous strict requirements); today, many otherwise killer First Amendment lawsuits against schools get tossed out because the district manages to stall the case until the wronged student graduates.
** This last loophole has received some attention, however, and it is possible that the courts might be willing in the future to entertain jurisdiction after graduation under the doctrine that standing exists when the behavior is "capable of repetition yet evading review" (i.e. when the case is likely to become moot before it can work its way through the legal system) or is stopped as a result of "voluntary cessation" (i.e. when they just stop doing it whenever you threaten to sue; this is most common in pollution cases).
* Litigation is a very expensive endeavor and an appeal means more costs are incurred. Often times in real life it is easier for the defeated litigant to pay up than to go through an appeals process which will consume even more of his resources and time.
* It also needs to be remembered that an appeal is not a rehearing of the original case. Appellate courts will almost always defer to the original court's finding of fact, unless it is patently wrong. What an appeal does is review whether the lower court erred in its application of law to the case, or whether proper procedures were followed or whether the action was constitutional, or within powers and so on. Grounds of appeal are thus usually quite narrow (exceptions exist in some countries where the same cases actually ''are'' tried in the appeals courts again, such as Italy, but this just makes the appeals process even more time-consuming, as you'd expect).
* Finally, as you go higher in the appeals process, in most jurisdictions, you need to first obtain leave (in some jurisdictions called ''certiorari,'' from the Latin "to be informed") from the court before they will even hear your appeal; if they refuse, your appeal won't be heard. Usually this is the case with higher appellate courts in judicial systems with two levels of appellate courts. Leave is indeed very rarely granted-the US Supreme Court grants ''certiorari'' to 100 cases a year, out of 10,000 applications! The court simply doesn't have time to listen to every appeal. Instead, it tries to prioritize cases which have greater national interest. Having the courts of appeals in two circuits reach opposite conclusions in similar cases also tends to increase the likelihood that the Supreme Court will take the case, in order to get the issue definitively settled.
* Although a Supreme Court was planned in the Confederate Constitution, no such jurisdiction had actually been established, due to fear from Confederate politicians it could infringe on their "States' rights." It led to issues when some district judges ruled conscription inconstitutional and such orders couldn't be appealed, leading to conscription being ''de facto'' abolished in some corners. Unionists also managed to stall the confiscation of their property by filing appeals to a non-existent court.
* In some cases of emergency powers, some {{Kangaroo Court}}s and [[CourtMartialed military courts]] might be allowed to not have their ruling appealable, to speed the procedures.
* Averted in UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts by the 1962 Canal ruling, where the Council of State ruled it was unlawful for a decree to create a court whose rulings couldn't be appealed. In this case, it was a military court created to try anti-Gaullist, pro-French Algeria terrorists.
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* Although a Supreme Court was planned in the Confederate Constitution, no such jurisdiction had actually been established, due to fear from Confederate politicians it could infringe on their "States' rights." It led to issues when some district judges ruled conscription inconstitutional and such orders couldn't be appealed, leading to conscription being ''de facto'' abolished in some corners. Unionists also managed to stall the confiscation of their property by fillinig appeals to a non-existant court.
* In some cases of {{Emergency Power}}s, some {{Kangaroo Court}}s and [[CourtMartialed military courts]] might be allowed to not have their ruling being able to be appealed, to speed the procedures.

* * Usually part of the [[MindScrew maddening]] {{Crapsack World}}s Creator/FranzKafka's characters are forced to deal with. Subverted in ''The Trial''. The Law is described as having many strong, powerful guards by a series of doors, and past each guard is a stronger guard. Even if K. was able to get his case appealed to a higher court, he'd still be condemned guilty sooner or later. DoubleSubverted in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Atticus Finch was going to appeal Tom's case, but [[spoiler:Tom was shot to death, [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch allegedly for trying to escape]].]]
* Usually part of the [[MindScrew maddening]] {{Crapsack World}}s Creator/FranzKafka's characters are forced to deal with. Subverted in ''The Trial''. The Law is described as having many strong, powerful guards by a series of doors, and past each guard is a stronger guard. Even if K. was able to get his case appealed to a higher court, he'd still be condemned guilty sooner or later.

* Also averted in ''Series/{{JAG}}'' where both Harm & Mac argue before the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, and Chegwidden once prepared to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. Played straight in the episode "Tribunal" where the fictional Number 3 in Al-Qaeda is sentenced to death by a military commission.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': "I am The Doctor. If you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, there isn't one. [[AGodAmI It stops with me."]]
* Averted in ''Series/HatfieldsAndMcCoys'' after the [=McCoys=] start paying {{bounty hunter}}s to kidnap Hatfields in West Virginia and bring them to Kentucky to stand trial. The legality of this is quickly challenged by West Virginia and the case is appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court. The Court seemingly rules in favor of the Hatfields but allows for LoopholeAbuse where they are released and then immediately rearrested. After the trial that ended the feud, "Wall" Hatfield, a lawyer and a judge, plans to appeal his sentence but dies in prison before the appeal process gets anywhere.

* In ''Franchise/AceAttorney'', the trials you take part in are essentially ''hearings'', supposedly to determine whether the defendant is guilty ''enough'' for a real trial -- a "guilty" verdict just means they get taken off screen and tried for real. They're usually not treated as anything less then "Get Off Scott Free vs. Death Penalty". Since the Ace Attorney games are Japanese, and therefore based on the Japanese system rather than American, they [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_253/7530-Phoenix-Wrights-Objection apparently take a lot of actual influence from that system.]]

* ''Film/DocHollywood''. Most judges don't judge their own cases.

* ''Film/{{Amistad}}'', based on a true story, averts this with the case being appealed to the Supreme Court and the lawyers have to explain to Cinque why their case has to be argued again after they just won their freedom in court. For his part, Cinque is both outraged and bewildered at this alien legal concept.

* ''Film/ErnestGoesToJail''. There is actually mention of a higher court - but it's refused to hear Felix Nash's case, meaning that Ernest P. Worrell (who has been switched with Nash in jail) is going to the chair.

* In ''The Appeal'' by John Grisham, the case being subjected to the title appeal is being reviewed by the Mississippi Supreme Court. [[spoiler: After the court overturns the verdict, the litigants' lawyers say they'll appeal to the US District Court and the US Supreme Court, but that chances of anything helping them will be so slim as to be non-existent.]] In this case, there ''is'' a higher court, but it doesn't matter.
* Also averted, somewhat, in ''The Chamber'' (the book, not the movie), when the lawyer Adam ultimately comes up with 4 legal challenges to the death penalty and files them in Mississippi Supreme Court, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the US Supreme Court. In some cases, the Mississippi Supreme Court is the one that shoots down the challenges, and in others, it's the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The US Supreme Court consistently refuses to hear the case (they only take a small number of those filed).
* DoubleSubverted in ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''. Atticus Finch was going to appeal Tom's case, but [[spoiler:Tom was shot to death, [[TheCoronerDothProtestTooMuch allegedly for trying to escape]].]]

* Averted in UsefulNotes/FrenchCourts b the 1962 Canal ruling, where the Council of State ruled it was unlawful for a decree to create a court whose rulings couldn't be appealed. In this case, it was a military court created to try anti-Gaullist, pro-French Algeria terrorists.

* Almost all Reality TV Judge shows (Series/JudgeJudy, Series/ThePeoplesCourt, etc) are in arbitration. Which are a neutral third-party in legal disputes and legally, with a very few exceptions, can't be appealed.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': [[AGodAmI "I am The Doctor. If you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority, there isn't one. It stops with me."]]

* Averted in ''Film/InheritTheWind'', which was based (loosely) on the Scopes Monkey Trial. The appeal isn't shown in the film, but Cates (the Scopes-analogue) and his lawyer discuss making an appeal.
** In the case the film was based on, the verdict was overturned on a technicality (the fine assessed was higher than the law allowed).

* After the collapse of his idiotic plan to enact genocide on Jean's sentient robots and being dragged to court, ''Webcomic/Freefall'''s Mr. Kornada instructs his robot assistant to press for a retrial in case he's found guilty, hoping to tie up the legal system into declaring him innocent. However, Blunt points out that, simply, Jean's not big enough for this strategy to work - there's only ''one'' judge aside from the authority elected to preside over his trial (the Mayor) - and said judge is foaming at the mouth at Mr. Kornada, automatically making the Mayor's court Mr. Kornada's best option.

* That bit about "somebody who is injured by the illegal action" can get downright insidious in the U.S. because of something called the "standing doctrine." Long story short, not only do you need to be affected by a law, if you stop being affected you lose the right to bring suit. For decades, this stopped anybody from challenging anti-willful child murder laws because nobody could bring a lawsuit to the US Supreme Court within nine months (Roe v. Wade was finally given a pass on the previous strict requirements); today, many otherwise killer First Amendment lawsuits against schools get tossed out because the district manages to stall the case until the wronged student graduates.

* That bit about "somebody who is injured by the illegal action" can get downright insidious in the U.S. because of something called the "standing doctrine." Long story short, not only do you need to be affected by a law, if you stop being affected you lose the right to bring suit. For decades, this stopped anybody from challenging anti-abortion laws because nobody could bring a lawsuit to the US Supreme Court within nine months (Roe v. Wade was finally given a pass on the previous strict requirements); today, many otherwise killer First Amendment lawsuits against schools get tossed out because the district manages to stall the case until the wronged student graduates.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Davis_%28county_clerk%29 Kim Davis controversy]] is a very good idea of a subversion - there ''is'' a higher court but it doesn't matter when you are clearly in the wrong.

* Almost all Reality TV Judge shows (Series/JudgeJudy, Series/ThePeoplesCourt, etc) are in arbitration. Which are a neutral third-party in legal disputes and legally, with a very few exceptions, can't be a appealed.

* ''Film/{{Footloose}}''. First Amendment. It's based on a real place that really did have a law against dancing until 1980, so this might fall under RealityIsUnrealistic.

See also FictionIsNotFair.