Inferior courts are best defined as?

• A. Courts above the Supreme Court.
• B. Courts below the Supreme Court created by Congress.
• C. State courts with no federal authority.
• D. Courts of limited jurisdiction within a single state

Answer: (B)

Inferior courts are the federal courts that sit below the Supreme Court, created by Congress to carry out federal judicial business. This is rooted in Article III, which allows Congress to ordain and establish lower federal courts as needed. These courts—such as federal district courts and the U.S. Courts of Appeals—operate under federal law and exist to handle cases that come under federal jurisdiction. They are part of the national judiciary and their authority comes from Congress, not from being state courts or from being higher than the Supreme Court. The best description, then, is that they are courts below the Supreme Court created by Congress.