United States Courts of Appeal 
Ninety-four judicial districts comprise the 13 intermediate appellate courts in the federal system known as 
the U.S. Courts of Appeals, sometimes referred to as the federal circuit courts. These courts hear challenges 
to lower court decisions from the U.S. District Courts located within the circuit, as well as appeals from 
decisions of federal administrative agencies, such as the social security courts or bankruptcy courts. There 
are twelve circuits based on geographic locations and one federal circuit which has nationwide jurisdiction 
to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. Court 
of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The smallest circuit is the First Circuit with 
six judgeships, and the largest court is the Ninth Circuit, with 29 judgeships. Appeals court panels consist of 
three judges.  The court will occasionally convene en banc and only after a party who has lost in front of the 
three-judge panel requests review. Because the Circuit Courts are appellate courts which review trial court 
records, they do not conduct trials and, thus, they do not use a jury. 
The U.S. Courts of Appeal, like the U.S. Supreme Court, trace their existence to Article III of the U.S. 
Constitution. These courts are busy, and there have been efforts to both fill vacancies and increase the 
number of judgeships to help deal with the caseloads.  For example, the Federal Judgeship Act of 2013 would 
have created five permanent and one temporary circuit court judgeships, in an attempt to keep up with 
increased case filings. However, the bill died in Congress. Fortunately, in recent years, fewer cases have been 
filed. 
Click 
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Appeals: http://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/u.s._federal_courts_circuit_map_1.pdf 
United States District Courts 
The U.S. District Courts, also known as “Article III Courts”, are the main trial courts in the federal court 
system.  Congress first created these U.S. District Courts in the Judiciary Act of 1789. Now, ninety-four 
U.S. District Courts, located in the states and four territories, handle prosecutions for violations of federal 
statutes. Each state has at least one district, and larger states have up to four districts. Each district court is 
described by reference to the state or geographical segment of the state in which it is located (for example, 
the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California). The district courts have jurisdiction over all 
prosecutions brought under federal criminal law and all civil suits brought under federal statutes. A criminal 
trial in the district court is presided over by a judge who is appointed for life by the president with the 
consent of the Senate.  Trials in these courts may be jury trials. 
Link to a number of cases filed in U.S. District Courts http://www.uscourts.gov/federal-judicial-
caseload-statistics-2018-tables 
Although the U.S. District Courts are primarily trial courts, district court judges also exercise an appellate-
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