What about writs of Habeus Corpus? What about cases in which a federal Constitutional right has been violated by the state court - thus not able to be adjudicated by a state court?
These are 14th Amendment Due Process violations. That’s federal - specifically a petitioner’s case against the State of New York.
I don’t know exactly how it works with appeals, and I’m not a lawyer so I’m out of my comfort zone here, but if Trump was to sue the State of NY for violating his 14th Amendment rights, Article III of the Constitution says that the US Supreme Court would have original jurisdiction in the case. Is that not true? Or would the issue of whether it is an appeal versus a new case make a difference?
You can appeal a decision from the highest court of a state to SCOTUS on constitutional grounds. But it has to be federal - a state high court is the end of the road for state law issues.
Yes - Habeas Corpus could eventually get to the SCOTUS. After State Court appeals are exhausted, a writ is filed in Federal District Court, appealed to the Circuit Court, then to the Supreme Court. And I’m a little rusty (not a constitutional attorney) but I think it is only for sentences of incarceration (the Latin means “produce the body”).
Finally, no, a person suing a state does not get you to the Supreme Court. That happens ALL THE TIME. New York has its own court set up for just that purpose, the Court of Claims. Only States suing each other have original jurisdiction before the Supreme Court, which is quite rare.
The federal case would have to begin in a federal district court.