United States Courts of Appeals
Pages | 66-67 |
66 U.S. GOVERNMENT MANUAL
under the authority given Congress by the
Constitution. The basic statute effective
at this time in conferring and controlling
jurisdiction of the Supreme Court may be
found in 28 U.S.C. 1251, 1253, 1254,
1257–1259, and various special statutes.
Congress has no authority to change the
original jurisdiction of this Court.
Rulemaking Power Congress has
from time to time conferred upon the
Supreme Court power to prescribe rules
of procedure to be followed by the lower
courts of the United States.
Court Term The term of the Court
begins on the fi rst Monday in October
and lasts until the fi rst Monday in
October of the next year. Approximately
8,000–10,000 cases are fi led with the
Court in the course of a term, and some
1,000 applications of various kinds are
fi led each year that can be acted upon by
a single Justice.
Access to Facilities The Supreme
Court is open to the public from 9 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except on Federal holidays. Unless the
Court or Chief Justice orders otherwise,
the Clerk’s offi ce is open from 9 a.m.
to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except on Federal holidays. The library
is open to members of the bar of the
Court, attorneys for the various Federal
departments and agencies, and Members
of Congress.
For further information concerning the Supreme Court, contact the Public Information Offi ce, United States
Supreme Court Building, One First Street NE., Washington, DC 20543. Phone, 202–479–3211. Internet,
http://www.supremecourt.gov.
LOWER COURTS
Article III of the Constitution declares,
in section 1, that the judicial power
of the United States shall be invested
in one Supreme Court and in “such
inferior Courts as the Congress may
from time to time ordain and establish.”
The Supreme Court has held that these
constitutional courts “. . . share in the
exercise of the judicial power defi ned
in that section, can be invested with no
other jurisdiction, and have judges who
hold offi ce during good behavior, with no
power in Congress to provide otherwise.”
United States Courts of Appeals
The courts of appeals are intermediate
appellate courts created by act of March
3, 1891 (28 U.S.C. ch. 3), to relieve the
Supreme Court of considering all appeals
in cases originally decided by the Federal
trial courts. They are empowered to
review all fi nal decisions and certain
interlocutory decisions (18 U.S.C. 3731;
28 U.S.C. 1291, 1292) of district courts.
They also are empowered to review
and enforce orders of many Federal
administrative bodies. The decisions of
the courts of appeals are fi nal except
as they are subject to review on writ of
certiorari by the Supreme Court.
The United States is divided
geographically into 12 judicial circuits,
including the District of Columbia.
Each circuit has a court of appeals (28
U.S.C. 41, 1294). Each of the 50 States
is assigned to one of the circuits. The
territories and the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico are assigned variously
to the fi rst, third, and ninth circuits.
There is also a Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit, which has nationwide
jurisdiction defi ned by subject matter. At
present each court of appeals has from 6
to 28 permanent circuit judgeships (179
in all), depending upon the amount of
judicial work in the circuit. Circuit judges
hold their offi ces during good behavior
as provided by Article III, section 1, of
the Constitution. The judge senior in
commission who is under 70 years of
age (65 at inception of term), has been
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