Pursuant to 28 USCS § 1257, final judgments or decrees rendered by the highest court of a state in which a decision could be had shall be reviewed by the Supreme Court by writ of certiorari, where the validity of a federal statute or treaty is drawn in question, or where the validity of a state statute is drawn into question on the grounds of its being contrary to the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, or where any title, right, privilege, or immunity is specially set up or claimed under the Constitution or the treaties or statutes of, or any commission held or authority exercised under, the United States.

The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is invoked properly when the validity of a federal statute is questioned.  Pursuant to 28 USCS § 1257, the Supreme Court’s jurisdiction to review state court judgments includes the power to review judgments where the validity of a treaty of the United States is questioned. In United States v. Valencia-Trujillo, 573 F.3d 1171 (11th Cir. Fla. 2009), it was held that not all treaties give defendants rights that can be asserted in the courts of the United States.  Only if the treaty contains stipulations which are self-executing, that is, require no legislation to make them operative, will they have the force and effect of a legislative enactment.