The State Supreme Court is the highest court in each state. The Supreme Court of the US (SCOTUS) is the highest Court in the nation. Cases will generally work their way up in the states through appeals all the way to the State Supreme Court, which is the final arbiter for that particular state. Their rulings only impact that state. If the case has national implications or involves some federal law it can be appealed to the Supreme Court, which may or may not hear the matter. If SCOTUS refuses to hear the case, the State Supreme Court decision remains in place for that state but is not binding on other states. If SCOTUS takes a case, their ruling is binding over all states. There are also Federal courts within the states that deal with federal matters only. Their decisions may be binding on a District (a small collection of states) or nationwide, depending on the case. These cases do not work themselves thru the state courts and the ultimate arbiter there is also the SCOTUS.