 During Marshall 's tenure , the Supreme Court had no general appellate jurisdiction in criminal cases . The Court could review criminal convictions from the state courts , but not the lower federal courts , via writs of error . It only did so twice . The Court could hear original habeas petitions , but disclaimed the authority to grant the writ post @-@ conviction unless the sentence had already been completed . Thus , the majority of the Marshall Court 's opinions on criminal law were issued in response to questions certified by divided panels of the circuit courts by a certificate of division . 
