1955-2004 statistical data regarding federal courts.

The Federal Judicial Center

FEDERAL COURT DATA, 1955-2004

1. COURTS OF APPEALS MERIT DECISIONS AND CASES RECEIVING PLENARY REVIEW IN SUPREME COURT

2. FILINGS OVERALL AND PER JUDGESHIP IN U.S. DISTRICT COURTS AND REGIONAL COURTS OF APPEALS

   2A. FILINGS PER APPELLATE JUDGEHIP, BY CIRCUIT

3. CHANGES IN CASELOAD COMPOSITION

   3A. CHANGES IN CASELOAD COMPOSITION, BY CIRCUIT

4. CHANGING PROCEDURES IN THE UNITED STATES COURTS OF APPEALS

   4A. PRO SE APPEALS

   4B. PRO SE APPEAL MERITS TERMINATIONS--PROCEDURES

5. CHANGING DISPOSITION PATTERNS IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS

   Prepared by Federal Judicial Center Staff, June 2005

   Editor's note: Like the statement from the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers that precedes them in this issue and the state-court statistics that follow them, the federal-court statistics in these charts were circulated to all attendees in advance of the 2005 National Conference on Appellate Justice. They informed all of the presentations and discussions at the National Conference.

1. COURTS OF APPEALS MERIT DECISIONS AND CASES RECEIVING PLENARY REVIEW IN SUPREME COURT Supreme Court Plenary Decisions Courts of Appeals Left column as in Cases From Courts Decisions on the % of middle Year of Appeals Merits column 1955 103 2809 (2) 3.7% 1965 75 3,546 2.1% 1975 135 9,077 1.5% 1985 132 16,369 0.8% 1995 67 27,772 0.2% 2004 70 27,438 0.3% (1) Previous October Term (e.g., 1955 is OT54) (2) Count of merits decisions in 1955 does not exclude consolidations Sources: Harvard Law Review, vols. 70-110 AO Annual Report of the Director, Table B- 1 (1955-75: "Cases disposed of after hearing or submission" 1985-2004: "Terminations on the merits") 2. FILINGS OVERALL AND PER JUDGESHIP IN U.S. DISTRICT COURTS AND REGIONAL COURTS OF APPEALS U.S. District Courts Filings (1) Judgeships (2) Total Per Judgeship 1955 244 102,222 419 1965 306 101,012 330 1975 398 160,602 404 1985 575 327,758 570 1995 649 313,106 482 2004 682 374,687 549 % over 1955 180% 267% 31% % over 1985 19% 14% -4% Regional U.S. Courts of Appeals Filings Judgeships (2) Total Per Judgeship 1955 68 3,695 54 1965 78 6,766 87 1975 97 16,658 172 1985 156 33,360 214 1995 167 50,072 300 2004 167 62,762 376 % over 1955 146% 1,599% 596% % over 1985 7% 88% 76% (1) The count of district court filings is the sum of civil cases commenced and criminal defendants commenced. Due to differences in the source data tables, however, in 1965 and 1975 the number of filings reflects the count of criminal cases commenced rather than criminal defendants. If the count of criminal defendants had been used, the total filing and per judgeship figures would be higher for these years. (2) District court judgeships include temporary judgeships and judgeships in the territorial courts. Appellate judgeships exclude judgeships in the Federal Circuit. Source: AO History of Federal Judgeships (Article III): Authorized Judgeships (http://net.ao.dcn/Judges/Judgeships/History/Judgeships/ all_authorized_judgeships.html) Sources: AO Annual Report of the Director, Tables B-1, C-1, D-1. 2A. FILINGS PER APPELLATE JUDGEHIP, BY CIRCUIT J--Authorized Judgeships (1) fpj--filings per judgeship (2) Court of Appeals Nat. 1st 2nd 3rd Yr. J fpj J fpj J fpj J fpj '55 68 54 3 51 6 97 7 44 '65 78 87 3 70 9 96 8 62 '75 97 172 3 159 9 193 9 155 '85 156 214 6 175 13 219 12 208 '95 167 300 6 223 13 307 14 249 '04 167 376 6 287 13 539 14 277 4th 5th 6th 7th Yr. J fpj J fpj J fpj J fpj '55 3 67 7 75 6 53 6 48 '65 5 122 9 118 6 114 7 73 '75 7 188 15 219 9 160 8 146 '85 11 250 16 216 15 212 11 206 '95 15 346 17 383 16 289 11 283 '04 15 330 17 501 16 303 11 307 8th 9th 10th 11th Yr. J fpj J fpj J fpj J fpj '55 7 37 9 43 5 48 '65 7 48 9 93 6 78 '75 8 126 13 210 7 140 '85 10 202 28 189 10 196 12 327 '95 11 291 28 301 12 218 12 496 '04 11 282 28 510 12 221 12 589 DC Range in filing per judgeships Yr. J fpj Nat. Highest Lowest '55 9 49 54 97 (2nd) 37 (8th) '65 9 76 87 122 (4th) 48 (8th) '75 9 124 172 219 (5th) 124 (DC) '85 12 176 214 327 (11th) 175 (1st) '95 12 135 300 496 (11th) 135 (DC) '04 12 116 376 589 (11th) 116 (DC) (1) Source: History of the Federal Judiciary. http://www.fjc.gov. Web site of the Federal Judicial Center, Washington, DC. (2) Per judgeship values are calculated by dividing the number of total appellate filings per circuit (source: AO Annual Report of the Director, Table B-1) by the number of authorized judgeships. 3. CHANGES IN CASELOAD COMPOSITION Type of Appeal 1955 (1) 1965 Admin. appeals 576 15.6% 1,106 16.3% US Pris (hab/vac. sent) 159 4.3% 404 6.0% Other US pris na na 18 0.3% State habeas 70 1.9% 571 8.4% State Pris. other na na 13 0.2% Orig. proceedings (2) 70 1.9% 148 2.2% U.S. Plaintiff 171 4.6% 292 4.3% US def. (non-pris) 481 13.0% 673 9.9% Other Fed. Q (3) 656 17.8% 1,153 17.0% Bankruptcy 153 4.1% 217 3.2% Diversity 682 18.5% 948 14.0% Narcotics na na 235 3.5% Immigration na na 3 -- Other criminal 677 18.3% 985 14.6% Total 3695 100.0% 6,766 100.0% Type of Appeal 1975 1985 Admin. appeals 2,290 13.7% 3,179 9.5% US Pris (hab/vac. sent) 716 4.3% 1,082 3.2% Other US pris 164 0.1% 428 1.3% State habeas 871 5.2% 2,172 6.5% State Pris. other 684 4.1% 2,850 8.5% Orig. proceedings (2) 443 2.7% 575 1.7% U.S. Plaintiff 513 3.1% 914 2.7% US def. (non-pris) 1,588 9.5% 4,320 12.9% Other Fed. Q (3) 3,211 19.3% 7,927 23.8% Bankruptcy 246 1.5% 1046 3.1% Diversity 1,745 10.5% 3,878 11.6% Narcotics 1,332 8.0% 2,063 6.2% Immigration 77 0.5% 64 0.2% Other criminal 2,778 16.7% 2,862 8.6% Total 16,658 100.0% 3,360 100.0% Type of Appeal 1995 2004 Admin. appeals 3,295 6.6% 12,255 19.5% US Pris (hab/vac. sent) 2,677 5.3% 3,934 6.3% Other US pris 780 1.6% 1,058 1.7% State...