United States District Courts

Pages68-68
68 U.S. GOVERNMENT MANUAL
the U.S. Senate Committee on Ethics
concerning discrimination claims of
Senate employees; and review of a f‌inal
order of an entity to be designated by
the President concerning discrimination
claims of Presidential appointees.
The court consists of 12 circuit judges.
It sits in panels of three or more on each
case and may also hear or rehear a case
en banc. The court sits principally in
Washington, DC, and may hold court
wherever any court of appeals sits (28
U.S.C. 48).
To obtain a complete list of judges and
court off‌icials of the United States Courts
of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, as well
as information on opinions and cases
before the court, consult the following
Web site: http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov.
United States District Courts
The district courts are the trial courts of
general Federal jurisdiction. Each State
has at least one district court, while the
larger States have as many as four. There
are 89 district courts in the 50 States, plus
the one in the District of Columbia. In
addition, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico has a district court with jurisdiction
corresponding to that of district courts in
the various States.
At present, each district court has
from 2 to 28 Federal district judgeships,
depending upon the amount of judicial
work within its territory. Only one judge
is usually required to hear and decide
a case in a district court, but in some
limited cases it is required that three
judges be called together to comprise
the court (28 U.S.C. 2284). The judge
senior in commission who is under 70
years of age (65 at inception of term), has
been in off‌ice for at least 1 year, and has
not previously been chief judge, serves
as chief judge for a 7-year term. There
are 645 permanent district judgeships
in the 50 States and 15 in the District
of Columbia. There are seven district
judgeships in Puerto Rico. District judges
hold their off‌ices during good behavior
as provided by Article III, section 1, of
the Constitution. However, Congress may
temporary judgeships for a court with
the provision that when a future vacancy
occurs in that district, such vacancy shall
not be f‌illed. Each district court has one
or more United States magistrate judges
and bankruptcy judges, a clerk, a United
States attorney, a United States marshal,
probation off‌icers, court reporters, and
their staffs. The jurisdiction of the district
courts is set forth in title 28, chapter
85, of the United States Code and at 18
Cases from the district courts are
reviewable on appeal by the applicable
court of appeals.
Territorial Courts
Pursuant to its authority to govern the
Territories (Art. IV, sec. 3, clause 2, of the
Constitution), Congress has established
district courts in the territories of Guam
and the Virgin Islands. The District Court
of the Canal Zone was abolished on
April 1, 1982, pursuant to the Panama
Canal Act of 1979 (22 U.S.C. 3601
note). Congress has also established a
district court in the Northern Mariana
Islands, which presently is administered
by the United States under a trusteeship
agreement with the United Nations.
These Territorial courts have jurisdiction
not only over the subjects described in
the judicial article of the Constitution but
also over many local matters that, within
the States, are decided in State courts.
The District Court of Puerto Rico, by
contrast, is established under Article III, is
classif‌ied like other “district courts,” and
is called a “court of the United States”
(28 U.S.C. 451). There is one judge each
in Guam and the Northern Mariana
Islands, and two in the Virgin Islands. The
judges in these courts are appointed for
terms of 10 years.

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