Summarize how a case is usually heard and decided when it reaches the supreme court.

Once a case reaches the Supreme Court, the The Supreme Court itself decides which cases it will hear.

The Supreme Court is asked to review more than 7,000 cases each year, so it would not be possible for the court to hear and make a decision on every case that is sent to it.  The Supreme Court agrees to hear about 100 to 150 cases per year.  The vast majority of those cases work their way up to the Supreme Court from lower courts.  About two-thirds of the cases come from lower federal court decisions that are appealed for review, and about one-third of the cases are reviewing decisions made by supreme courts of individual states. 

There are some cases that can have original jurisdiction at the Supreme Court level -- such as when there is a case between one state government and another or between state governments and the federal government. These are more rare within the overall agenda of the Court.