Appellate Court

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Definition

The United States Federal Court System defines "appellate courts" as follows:

“ [A]n appellate court has the power to review the judgment of a lower court (trial court) or tribunal.[1][2] ”

States generally use a similar definition. For instance, the Alaska Court System states that appellate courts are "the court that considers the appeal of a lower court decision. An appellate court can review the decision of the lower court."[3]

The Iowa Judicial Branch states that an appellate court is a "court having authority to hear an appeal."[4]

The Supreme Court of Texas states: "Appellate court means the courts of appeals, the Court of Criminal Appeals, and the Supreme Court."[5]

The term, therefore, refers to both an intermediate court of appeals and a court of last resort (typically called a supreme court).

Federal

Supreme Court

The top appellate court in the United States Federal Court System is the Supreme Court of the United States.

The Supreme Court holds both original and appellate jurisdiction, with its appellate jurisdiction accounting for most of the Court's caseload. The Court's appellate jurisdiction encompasses all cases within the scope of Article III, but is subject to limitation by Acts of Congress under the Exceptions Clause in Article III and by the discretion of the Court.[6]

The power of the Supreme Court to consider appeals from state courts, rather than just federal courts, was created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 and upheld early in the Court's history by its rulings in Martin v. Hunter's Lessee (1816) and Cohens v. Virginia (1821).

Intermediate Circuits

The 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a court of appeals that hears appeals from the district courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies.[7]

United States Court of Appeals for the 1st CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 2nd CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 3rd CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 4th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 6th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 7th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Fifth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eighth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 10th CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Ninth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 1st CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the 3rd CircuitUS Court of Appeals and District Court map.jpg

State

Court of Last Resort

Each of the United States and the District of Columbia have at least one supreme court, or court of last resort. Oklahoma and Texas both have two courts of last resort, one for civil appeals and one for criminal appeals.

State Court of Appeals

There are 43 state appellate courts in 40 states.

States without appellate courts

These eight states do not have dedicated intermediate appellate courts:

v • e
State intermediate appellate courts
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See also

Appellate courts

Terms and definitions

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Federal Judiciary, "Glossary," accessed December 17, 2015
  2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ Alaska Court System , "Glossary of Appeals Terms," accessed December 17, 2015
  4. ↑ Iowa Judicial Branch , "Legal Glossary," accessed December 17, 2015
  5. ↑ The Supreme Court of Texas, "Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure," accessed December 17, 2015
  6. ↑ The Supreme Court of the United States, A Brief Overview of the Supreme Court
  7. ↑ United States Courts "Courts of Appeals" accessed June 25, 2013


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