Calling Pindar, Aurelian, and Dhepee (you've graduated & passed the bar, right?) and any other members of the bar that I may have overlooked. I have yet another abortion question to ask. I'm not trying to start another fighting thread or anything like that. I actually have a serious, non-motivated question about the American legal system, that just happens to deal with abortion. In reality, it's really more about jurisdiction....

Okay, here goes. Roe v. Wade is the case established a right to privacy and decided that the federal governments couldn't restrict access to abortion (though it could be decided on a state by state basis). Yet, several Federal Courts of Appeal have struck down various pieces of legislation at the state and federal level on the grounds that they violate the US Constitution. ????

Okay, so the Supreme Court decided that only states can decide abortion legislation, and then lower federal courts turn around and frequently decide that states DON'T have a right to institute parental notification for minors and other sideline issues because it violates the US constitution, which the highest court just said says that only the states can regulate it. What gives? Can anybody, anywhere pass any laws, even requirements for medical certification or hygiene?

Like I said, my question is about the particular application of abortion, but it's really more about what sort of power do the federal appeals courts (in this particular case) really have. Can they trump the Supreme Court, which it looks to me like they have. Can they order states to change their state constitution? At what point, if any, does a legislature have more power than a court? Does a traffic court in Pascagoola, Mississipi have the right to declare Federal legislature that hasn't yet been blessed by a higher court, unconstitutional? If the courts are the only ones that can decide if a law itself is valid in the first place, wouldn't it make sense to have the legislature send all bills to the relevant court systems as a 'quality control' measure and save us all a lot of headache?

I guess in a nutshell, what I'm looking for is how does the heirarchy of the court system compare to the various legislative branches?