<P> Federal courts may overrule a state court only when there is a federal question , which is to say , a specific issue ( such as consistency with the Federal Constitution ) that gives rise to federal jurisdiction . Federal appellate review of state supreme court rulings on such matters may be sought by way of a petition for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States . As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ( 1938 ) , no part of the federal Constitution actually grants federal courts or the federal Congress the power to directly dictate the content of state law ( as distinguished from creating altogether separate federal law that in a particular situation may override state law ) . Clause 1 of Section 2 of Article Three of the United States Constitution describes the scope of federal judicial power , but only extended it to `` the Laws of the United States '' and not the laws of the several or individual states . It is this silence on that latter issue that gave rise to the American distinction between state and federal common law not found in other English - speaking common law federations like Australia and Canada . </P>
when can the decisions of state supreme courts be appealed to the united states supreme court
when there is a federal question , which is to say , a specific issue ( such as consistency with the Federal Constitution ) that gives rise to federal jurisdiction