A bill to improve the administration of justice by providing greater discretion to the Supreme Court in selecting the cases it will review, and for other purposes.
Public Law 100-352 · S. 952 · 100th Congress · began in the Senate
Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Jun 27, 1988 · Law
Sponsor: Sen. Howell Heflin (D-AL)
Cosponsors (1): Sen. Chuck Grassley
Passage votes
- HouseVoice vote
- SenateVoice vote
Data notes
The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.
Summary
The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.
Repeals the provision of the judicial code authorizing any party (in a proceeding to which the United States is a party) to appeal directly to the Supreme Court from a Federal court order which declares an Act of Congress unconstitutional.
Repeals Supreme Court mandatory jurisdiction to hear appeals from a Federal appellate court decision holding a State statute unconstitutional.
Repeals Supreme Court mandatory jurisdiction to hear appeals from decisions of the highest court of a State (including Puerto Rico) which hold that: (1) a Federal treaty or statute is invalid; or (2) a State law is valid.
Committees
The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.
Judiciary Committee · House · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee
Judiciary Committee · Senate · markup by, referred to, reported bySubcommittee: Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee
Data notes
A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.
Timeline
From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.
- Jun 27, 1988Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 100-352.
- Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
- Jun 17, 1988PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
- Jun 7, 1988FloorFloor · Passed House by Voice Vote.
- May 26, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by House Judiciary Committee
- May 3, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Markup by House Judiciary Committee
- Apr 28, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Mar 24, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee
- Mar 22, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Judiciary Committee
- Mar 18, 1988FloorFloor · Passed Senate with amendments by Voice Vote.
- Mar 16, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Dec 3, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Senate Judiciary Committee
- Nov 18, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Markup by Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- CommitteeCommittee · Reported by Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Apr 28, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee
- Apr 8, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee
- IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes
Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.
Official record
The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.