U.S. courts of appeal are intermediate federal appellate courts in the United States. They are intermediate courts in that they hear appeals from U.S. federal district courts and other federal trial-level courts, but their decisions may, in turn, be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The United States Congress established established nine courts of appeals in the Judiciary Act of 1891. They've grown in size, and today
Currently, there are twelve geographic circuits (1st through 11th and the District of Columbia) and the Federal Circuit, which hears appeals from specific courts, as well as from U.S. district courts that concern certain subject matter.[1] The thirteen courts have a total of 179 judgeships,[2] although not all of these judgeships are necessarily filled at any given time.
Federal appellate courts are governed by the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. They generally hear cases on small panels, but may elect to hear a case en banc, which is to say, with the entirety of the Circuit's appellate judges.
There are thirteen U.S. courts of appeal:
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico and Rhode Island)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Connecticut, New York and Vermont)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and from the territorial court in the Virgin Islands)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington, and from territorial courts in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (hearing appeals from federal district courts in Alabama, Florida and Georgia)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (hearing appeals from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia)
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (hearing appeals from the United States Court of Federal Claims, United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, United States Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, Boards of Contract Appeals, United States Merit Systems Protection Board and United States International Trade Commission)