Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems like it used to take years for a case to come up to Supreme

[Ferrets are Cool]

Court level. Now, it seems like it takes days. Am I remembering this wrong? If I am not wrong, what is different now?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. It usually does take a long time because of the scheduling for cert petitions,

briefs and oral arguments in most cases, but some cases can be expedited if necessary. The Nixon tapes case went pretty fast, too, IIRC.

[PoliticAverse]

2. The Supreme Court has "original jurisdiction" in cases of disputes between states.

When time is of the essence they do expedite cases.

Also they haven't taken up this case yet, it was just placed on a list.

[hack89]

3. States can go directly to the SC for disputes with other states

And for other cases, the court system will expedite as needed when hard deadlines are involved.

[RockRaven]

4. The difference is that when one state sues another state, the venue for the case is SCOTUS.

Most cases that SCOTUS hears are appeals of appeals of cases heard in federal district courts, or appeals of cases from state supreme courts. Those generally take years to get to SCOTUS.

[StarfishSaver]

5. It depends on the case.

If the lower courts rule quickly, it can make it to the Court on a fast track.

The suit that Texas brought is different because it is filed in the Supreme Court without going through the lower courts - the Supreme Court has origin jurisdiction over cases between states.

[marylandblue]

6. In 2000, the election case moved quickly through all courts

Because of the hard deadlines and national significance. Same thing this year.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. As others have pointed out, there have always, or at least in recent decades,

cases that get to the Supreme Court very quickly. Not just the ones already mentioned, but last minute appeals when an execution is looming often get to them fast.