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| | === Court of Appeals === | | === Court of Appeals === |
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| − | There are 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals: | + | There are 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, numbered 1 through 11, plus D.C., plus a special "Federal Circuit" for handling patent and a few other specialized appeals: |
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| | *U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico) | | *U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Puerto Rico) |
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| | *U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (appeals from federal court in D.C.) | | *U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (appeals from federal court in D.C.) |
| | *U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (patent issues and claims against the U.S.) | | *U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (patent issues and claims against the U.S.) |
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| | + | These Circuits average about a dozen active judges each, with far more for the massive Ninth Circuit, and less for the smaller Circuits such as the D.C. Circuit. |
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| | + | These Circuits have a duty to accept and hear appeals brought before them. Someone in a federal lawsuit has a mandatory right to appeal a district court decision to this level, and obtain a review of what the district court decided. |
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| | + | Because the U.S. Supreme Court considers only 1% of the cases brought before it, about 99% of the decisions by these Courts of Appeals are the last word in a lawsuit. |
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| | + | Several of these Courts of Appeals are known to be conservative-leaning, while others are liberal-leaning in their viewpoint, often reflecting the political views of the region they represent. |
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| | + | A decision in one Court of Appeal does not bind (control) the decisions in other Courts of Appeals. However, it is common for a Court of Appeal to refer to decisions in other Courts of Appeal when resolving an issue before it, when there is no prior decision in its own Court of Appeal that controls the outcome. |
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| | + | === 3-judge panels === |
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| | + | Unlike the district court level, where decisions are rendered by only one "trial" judge, the decisions rendered by the Court of Appeals is by a 3-judge panel. It's an odd number to reduce the possibility of a tie vote. |
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| | + | In rare cases of immense importance, such as abortion, the losing party may petition all the active judges on a Court of Appeals to "rehear en banc" a decision by a 3-judge panel. The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (or "the Eighth Circuit" for short) did exactly that in the past year to overturn a panel decision that favored abortion, and the en banc court voted 7-4 to uphold a good pro-life law in South Dakota. |
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| | === District Court === | | === District Court === |