United States courts of appeals

This article is about the current system. For the pre-1912 system, see United States circuit court.

Map of the geographic boundaries of the various United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts

The United States courts of appeals or circuit courts are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the district courts within its federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agencies.

The United States courts of appeals are considered among the most powerful and influential courts in the United States. Because of their ability to set legal precedent in regions that cover millions of Americans, the United States courts of appeals have strong policy influence on U.S. law. Moreover, because the U.S. Supreme Court chooses to review fewer than 2% of the more than 7,000 to 8,000 cases filed with it annually, the U.S. courts of appeals serve as the final arbiter on most federal cases. The Ninth Circuit in particular is very influential, covering 20% of the American population.

There are currently 179 judgeships on the U.S. courts of appeals authorized by Congress in 28 U.S.C. § 43 pursuant to Article III of the U.S. Constitution. These judges are nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. They have lifetime tenure, earning (as of 2016) an annual salary of $215,400. The actual number of judges in service varies, both because of vacancies and because senior judges who continue to hear cases are not counted against the number of authorized judgeships.

There are thirteen U.S. courts of appeals, although there are other tribunals that have "Court of Appeals" in their titles, such as the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which hears appeals in court-martial cases, and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which reviews final decisions by the Board of Veterans' Appeals in the Department of Veterans Affairs. The eleven numbered circuits and the D.C. Circuit are geographically defined. The thirteenth court of appeals is the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has nationwide jurisdiction over certain appeals based on their subject matter. All of the courts of appeals also hear appeals from some administrative agency decisions and rulemaking, with by far the largest share of these cases heard by the D.C. Circuit. The Federal Circuit hears appeals from specialized trial courts, primarily the United States Court of International Trade and the United States Court of Federal Claims, as well as appeals from the district courts in patent cases and certain other specialized matters.

Decisions of the U.S. courts of appeals have been published by the private company West Publishing in the Federal Reporter series since the courts were established. Only decisions that the courts designate for publication are included. The "unpublished" opinions (of all but the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits) are published separately in West's Federal Appendix, and they are also available in on-line databases like LexisNexis or Westlaw. More recently, court decisions have also been made available electronically on official court websites. However, there are also a few federal court decisions that are classified for national security reasons.

The circuit with the smallest number of appellate judges is the First Circuit, and the one with the largest number of appellate judges is the geographically large and populous Ninth Circuit in the Far West. The number of judges that the U.S. Congress has authorized for each circuit is set forth by law in 28 U.S.C. § 44, while the places where those judges must regularly sit to hear appeals are prescribed in 28 U.S.C. § 48.

Although the courts of appeals are frequently called "circuit courts", they should not be confused with the former United States circuit courts, which were active from 1789 to 1911, during the time when long-distance transportation was much less available, and which were primarily first-level federal trial courts that moved periodically from place to place in "circuits" in order to serve the dispersed population in towns and the smaller cities that existed then. The current "courts of appeals" system was established in the Judiciary Act of 1891, also known as the Evarts Act.

Procedure

Because the courts of appeals possess only appellate jurisdiction, they do not hold trials. Only courts with original jurisdiction hold trials and thus determine punishments (in criminal cases) and remedies (in civil cases). Instead, appeals courts review decisions of trial courts for errors of law. Accordingly, an appeals court considers only the record (that is, the papers the parties filed and the transcripts and any exhibits from any trial) from the trial court, and the legal arguments of the parties. These arguments, which are presented in written form and can range in length from dozens to hundreds of pages, are known as briefs. Sometimes lawyers are permitted to add to their written briefs with oral arguments before the appeals judges. At such hearings, only the parties' lawyers speak to the court.

The rules that govern the procedure in the courts of appeals are the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. In a court of appeals, an appeal is almost always heard by a "panel" of three judges who are randomly selected from the available judges (including senior judges and judges temporarily assigned to the circuit). Some cases, however, receive an en banc hearing. Except in the Ninth Circuit Courts, the en banc court consists of all of the circuit judges who are on active status, but it does not include the senior or assigned judges (except that under some circumstances, a senior judge may participate in an en banc hearing when he or she participated at an earlier stage of the same case).

Many decades ago, certain classes of federal court cases held the right of an automatic appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States. That is, one of the parties in the case could appeal a decision of a court of appeals to the Supreme Court, and it had to accept the case. The right of automatic appeal for most types of decisions of a court of appeals was ended by an Act of Congress, the Judiciary Act of 1925, which also reorganized many other things in the federal court system. Passage of this law was urged by Chief Justice William Howard Taft.

The current procedure is that a party in a case may apply to the Supreme Court to review a ruling of the circuit court. This is called petitioning for a writ of certiorari, and the Supreme Court may choose, in its sole discretion, to review any lower court ruling. In extremely rare cases, the Supreme Court may grant the writ of certiorari before the judgment is rendered by the court of appeals, thereby reviewing the lower court's ruling directly. Certiorari before judgment was granted in the Watergate scandal-related case, United States v. Nixon, and in the 2005 decision involving the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, United States v. Booker.

A court of appeals may also pose questions to the Supreme Court for a ruling in the midst of reviewing a case. This procedure was formerly used somewhat commonly, but now it is quite rare. The Second Circuit, sitting en banc, attempted to use this procedure in the case United States v. Penaranda, as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Blakely v. Washington, but the Supreme Court dismissed the question after resolving the same issue in another case, which had come before the Court through the standard procedure. The last instance of the Supreme Court accepting a set of questions and answering them was in a case in 1982.

A court of appeals may convene a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel to hear appeals in bankruptcy cases directly from the bankruptcy court of its circuit. As of 2008, only the First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits have established a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. Those circuits that do not have a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel have their bankruptcy appeals heard by the District Court.

Courts of appeals decisions, unlike those of the lower federal courts, establish binding precedents. Other federal courts in that circuit must, from that point forward, follow the appeals court's guidance in similar cases, regardless of whether the trial judge thinks that the case should be decided differently.

Federal and state laws can and do change from time to time, depending on the actions of Congress and the state legislatures. Therefore, the law that exists at the time of the appeal might be different from the law that existed at the time of the events that are in controversy under civil or criminal law in the case at hand. A court of appeals applies the law as it exists at the time of the appeal; otherwise, it would be handing down decisions that would be instantly obsolete, and this would be a waste of time and resources, since such decisions could not be cited as precedent. "[A] court is to apply the law in effect at the time it renders its decision, unless doing so would result in manifest injustice, or there is statutory direction or some legislative history to the contrary."

However, the above rule cannot apply in criminal cases if the effect of applying the newer law would be to create an ex post facto law to the detriment of the defendant.

Attorneys

In order to serve as counsel in a case appealed to a circuit court the attorney must be admitted to the bar of that circuit. Admission to the bar of a circuit court is granted as a matter of course to any attorney who is admitted to practice law in any state of the United States. The attorney submits an application, pays a fee, and takes the oath of admission. Local practice varies as to whether the oath is given in writing or in open court before a judge of the circuit, and most courts of appeals allow the applicant attorney to choose which method he or she prefers.

Nomenclature

When the courts of appeals were created in 1891, one was created for each of the nine circuits then existing, and each court was named the "United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the _____ Circuit". When a court of appeals was created for the District of Columbia in 1893, it was named the "Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia", and it was renamed to the "United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia" in 1934. In 1948, Congress renamed all of the courts of appeals then existing to their current formal names: the court of appeals for each numbered circuit was named the "United States Court of Appeals for the _____ Circuit", and the "United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia" became the "United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit". The Tenth Circuit was created in 1929 by subdividing the existing Eighth Circuit, and the Eleventh Circuit was created in 1981 by subdividing the existing Fifth Circuit. The Federal Circuit was created in 1982 by the merger of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the appellate division of the United States Court of Claims.

Judicial councils

Main article: Judicial council (United States)

Judicial councils are panels in each circuit that are charged with making "necessary and appropriate orders for the effective and expeditious administration of justice" within their circuits. Among their responsibilities is judicial discipline, the formulation of circuit policy, the implementation of policy directives received from the Judicial Conference of the United States, and the annual submission of a report to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts on the number and nature of orders entered during the year that relate to judicial misconduct. Judicial councils consist of the chief judge of the circuit and an equal number of circuit judges and district judges of the circuit.

Circuit composition

Map of the boundaries of the United States Courts of Appeals and United States District Courts

Circuit population

Based on 2010 United States Census figures, the population residing in each circuit is as follows.

Circuit	Authorized judges	Population	Percentage of US population	Population per authorized judge
D.C. Circuit	11	601,723	0.19%	54,702
1st Circuit	6	13,970,816	4.47%	2,328,469
2nd Circuit	13	23,577,940	7.54%	1,813,688
3rd Circuit	14	22,498,612	7.19%	1,607,044
4th Circuit	15	29,788,417	9.52%	1,985,894
5th Circuit	17	32,646,230	10.44%	1,920,366
6th Circuit	16	32,105,616	10.26%	2,006,601
7th Circuit	11	25,001,420	7.99%	2,272,856
8th Circuit	11	20,568,237	6.58%	1,869,840
9th Circuit	29	61,742,908	19.74%	2,129,066
10th Circuit	12	17,020,355	5.44%	1,418,363
11th Circuit	12	33,268,699	10.64%	2,772,392
Federal Circuit	12	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total	179	312,790,973	100%	1,747,436

History

The Judiciary Act of 1789 established three circuits, which were groups of judicial districts in which United States circuit courts were established. Each circuit court consisted of two Supreme Court justices and the local district judge; the three circuits existed solely for the purpose of assigning the justices to a group of circuit courts. Some districts (generally the ones most difficult for an itinerant justice to reach) did not have a circuit court; in these districts the district court exercised the original jurisdiction of a circuit court. As new states were admitted to the Union, Congress often did not create circuit courts for them for a number of years.

The Midnight Judges Act reorganized the districts into six circuits, and created circuit judgeships so that Supreme Court justices would no longer have to ride circuit. This Act, however, was repealed in March 1802, and Congress provided that the former circuit courts would be revived as of July 1 of that year. But it then passed the new Judiciary Act of 1802 in April, so that the revival of the old courts never took effect. The 1802 Act restored circuit riding, but with only one justice to a circuit; it therefore created six new circuits, but with slightly different compositions than the 1801 Act. These six circuits later were augmented by others. Until 1866, each new circuit (except the short-lived California Circuit) was accompanied by a newly created Supreme Court seat.

State	Judicial District(s) created	Circuit assignment(s)
New Hampshire	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 1st, 1801–
Massachusetts	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 1st, 1801–
Maine	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 1st, 1801–1820 1st, 1820–
Rhode Island	1790	Eastern, 1790–1801 1st, 1801–
Connecticut	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 2nd, 1801–
New York	1789	Eastern, 1789–1801 2nd, 1801–
New Jersey	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 3rd, 1801–
Pennsylvania	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 3rd, 1801–
Delaware	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 3rd, 1801–1802 4th, 1802–1866 3rd, 1866–
Maryland	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 4th, 1801–
Virginia	1789	Middle, 1789–1801 4th, 1801–1802 5th, 1802–1842 4th, 1842–
Kentucky	1789	6th, 1801–1802 7th, 1807–1837 8th, 1837–1863 6th, 1863–
North Carolina	1790	Southern, 1790–1801 5th, 1801–1842 6th, 1842–1863 4th, 1863–
South Carolina	1789	Southern, 1789–1801 5th, 1801–1802 6th, 1802–1863 5th, 1863–1866 4th, 1866–
Georgia	1789	Southern, 1789–1801 5th, 1801–1802 6th, 1802–1863 5th, 1863–1981 11th, 1981–
Vermont	1791	Eastern, 1791–1801 2nd, 1801–
Tennessee	1796	6th, 1801–1802 7th, 1807–1837 8th, 1837–1863 6th, 1863–
Ohio	1801 (abolished 1802)	6th, 1801–1802
Ohio	1803	7th, 1807–1866 6th, 1866–
Louisiana	1812	9th, 1837–1842 (Eastern District) 5th, 1842–1863 6th, 1863–1866 5th, 1866–
Indiana	1816	7th, 1837–
Mississippi	1817	9th, 1837–1863 5th, 1863–
Illinois	1818	7th, 1837–1863 8th, 1863–1866 7th, 1866–
Alabama	1819	9th, 1837–1842 5th, 1842–1981 11th, 1981–
Missouri	1821	8th, 1837–1863 9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–
Arkansas	1836	9th, 1837–1851 9th, 1851–1863 (Eastern District) 6th, 1863–1866 (Eastern District) 8th, 1866–
Michigan	1837	7th, 1837–1863 8th, 1863–1866 6th, 1866–
Florida	1845	5th, 1863–1981 11th, 1981–
Texas	1845	6th, 1863–1866 5th, 1866–
Iowa	1846	9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–
Wisconsin	1848	8th, 1863–1866 7th, 1866–
California	1850	California Circuit, 1855–1863 10th, 1863–1866 9th, 1866–
Minnesota	1858	9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–
Oregon	1859	10th, 1863–1866 9th, 1866–
Kansas	1861	9th, 1863–1866 8th, 1866–1929 10th, 1929–
West Virginia	1863	4th, 1863–
Nevada	1864	9th, 1866–
Nebraska	1867	8th, 1867–
Colorado	1876	8th, 1876–1929 10th, 1929–
North Dakota	1889	8th, 1889–
South Dakota	1889	8th, 1889–
Montana	1889	9th, 1889–
Washington	1889	9th, 1889–
Idaho	1890	9th, 1890–
Wyoming	1890	8th, 1890–1929 10th, 1929–
Utah	1896	8th, 1896–1929 10th, 1929–
Oklahoma	1907	8th, 1907–1929 10th, 1929–
New Mexico	1912	8th, 1912–1929 10th, 1929–
Arizona	1912	9th, 1912–
District of Columbia	1948	District of Columbia Circuit, 1948–
Alaska	1959	9th, 1959–
Hawaii	1959	9th, 1959–
Puerto Rico	1966	1st, 1966–
Guam
Virgin Islands
Philippines	1898
Panama Canal Zone

See also

• List of current judges of the United States courts of appeals
• List of United States courts of appeals cases
• State supreme court
• Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts
• United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review

External links

• Info about U.S. courts
• History of the Federal Judiciary (Federal Judicial Center)
• Official site of the United States Courts
• United States Appeals Courts @ OpenJurist
• Federal Court Concepts, Georgia Tech