Can a Lower Court Claim to be &quot;Smarter&quot; than the Supreme Court?
<p>In Coinbase, Inc. v. Bielski  the Supreme Court agreed to review as to whether a  denial of a motion to compel arbitration ousts a district court’s jurisdiction to proceed with litigation pending appeal.</p>
<p>I understand that the Coinbase case is being stayed since they are waiting for the Supreme Court to issue a verdict.</p>
<p>When a matter currently present before a federal or state court is actively being litigated in the Supreme Court, do the lower courts have the jurisdiction to issue an order on the merits of a dispute before the US Supreme Court releases an opinion relating to the issue?</p>
<p>As it applies to the Coinbase v Bielski, when a party files a
Motion to Stay pending appeal the question is whether the lower courts are required to stay the case until the Supreme Court issues a verdict? In other words, if the U.S Supreme Court says it hasn't decided as to what the law is in this regard, can a lower court issue a ruling that might eventually be in conflict with the Supreme Court? Can a lower court essentially claim that &quot;we know better&quot; than the Supreme Court?</p>

<p>Lower courts are only bound by US Supreme Court precedent on questions of federal law once the US Supreme Court releases an opinion on an issue. Until that point in time, the US Supreme Court is officially undecided on an issue.</p>
<p>You ask:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>if the U.S Supreme Court says it hasn't decided as to what the law is in this regard, can a lower court issue a ruling that might eventually be in conflict with the Supreme Court?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is commonplace. For many matters, the US Supreme Court is undecided (new statutes, novel circumstances, etc.). In order for a matter to even get to the Supreme Court in the first place, it is often the case that a lower court ruled on a question for which the Supreme Court had not previously announced its opinion.</p>
<p>I know you are asking about the circumstance where the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal but has not yet issued judgment. However, with respect to precedential value, it is the same until the time of judgment.</p>

<p>This isn't automatic one way or the other. If a party requests a stay, the court rules on it, analyzing the relevant legal factors.</p>

united-states civil-law us-supreme-court court