United States Courts of Appeals
http://i1203.photobucket.com/albums/...nd_Distr-1.png
United States Court Of Appeals For The First Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Second Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Third Circuit
United States court Of Appeals For The Fourth Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Fifth Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Seventh Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Eighth Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Ninth Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Tenth Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The Eleventh Circuit
United States Court Of Appeals For The District Of Columbia
United States Court Of Appeals For The Federal Circuit
The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system. A court of appeals decides appeals from the district courts within its federal judicial circuit, and in some instances from other designated federal courts and administrative agencies.
The United States Courts of Appeals are considered among the most powerful and influential courts in the United States. Because of their ability to set legal precedent in regions that cover millions of people, the United States Courts of Appeals have strong policy influence on US law; however, this political recognition is controversial. Moreover, because the US Supreme Court has a small docket and hears fewer than 100 cases annually, the United States Courts of Appeals serves as the final arbiter on most federal cases.
There are currently 179 Judges on the United States Courts of Appeals authorized by Congress and Article III of the US Constitution. These judges are nominated by the President of the United States, and if confirmed by the United States Senate have lifetime tenure, earning an annual salary of $184,500.
There currently are thirteen United States courts of appeals, although there are other tribunals (such as the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which hears appeals in court-martial cases, and the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which reviews final decisions by the Board of Veterans' Appeals in the Department of Veterans Affairs) that have “Court of Appeals” in their titles. The eleven “numbered” circuits and the D.C. Circuit are geographically defined. The thirteenth court of appeals is the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has nationwide jurisdiction over certain appeals based on their subject matter. All of the courts of appeals also hear appeals from some administrative agency decisions and rulemaking, with by far the largest share of these cases heard by the D.C. Circuit. The Federal Circuit hears appeals from specialized trial courts, primarily the United States Court of International Trade and the United States Court of Federal Claims, as well as appeals from the district courts in patent cases and certain other specialized matters.
Decisions of the United States courts of appeals have been published by the private company West Publishing in the Federal Reporter series since the courts were established. Only decisions that the courts designate for publication are included. The "unpublished" opinions (of all but the Fifth and Eleventh Circuits) are published separately in West's Federal Appendix, and they are also available in on-line databases like Lexis or Westlaw. More recently, court decisions are also available electronically on the official Internet websites of the courts themselves. However, there are also a few federal court decisions that are classified for national security reasons.
The circuit with the smallest number of appellate judges is the First Circuit, and the one with the largest number of appellate judges is the geographically-large and populous Ninth Circuit in the Far West. The number of judges that the U.S. Congress has authorized for each circuit is set forth by law in 28 U.S.C. § 44.
Although the courts of appeals are frequently referred to as "circuit courts," they should not be confused with the former United States circuit courts, which were active from 1789 to 1911, during the time when long-distance transportation was much less available, and which were primarily first-level federal trial courts that moved slowly from place to place in "circuits" in order to serve the dispersed population in towns and the smaller cities that existed then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_...rts_of_appeals
9th Circuit appeals court Judge Pamela Rymer dies
Judge Pamela Rymer of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 70.
The federal court on Thursday announced that Rymer died Wednesday with friends at her bedside.
Despite failing health in recent months, Rymer still managed to preside over a hearing in July and wrote the majority opinion issued Sept. 2 for a unanimous court upholding a murder-rapist's death penalty.
"Judge Rymer maintained her calendar throughout her illness," Chief Judge Alex Kozinski said. "Her passion for the law and dedication to the work of the court was inspiring. She will be sorely missed by all of her colleagues."
Rymer was diagnosed with cancer in 2009.
President Ronald Reagan first appointed Rymer to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in 1983. President George H.W. Bush elevated her to the appeals court in 1989. Her chambers were in Pasadena.
Rymer's death creates the fourth vacancy on the nation's largest federal appellate court, which is authorized to have 29 judges. President Obama has nominated Alaska Supreme Court Justice Morgan Christen to fill one of the vacancies. A fifth vacancy will occur in January when Judge Mary Schroeder assumes a reduced case load in partial retirement.
Rymer was born in Knoxville, Tenn., and was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area.
She graduated from Stanford University Law School in 1964 and immediately went to work on the presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater, who was defeated that November by President Lyndon Johnson. Rymer soon went into private practice specializing in antitrust in Los Angeles, where she remained until her appointment to the federal bench.
Rymer maintained strong Republican connections throughout her career. Reagan even included her on a list of possible U.S. Supreme Court nominees before settling on Justice Anthony Kennedy in 1987.
Gov. Pete Wilson also considered appointing her to the state Supreme Court that same year before she withdrew her name from consideration, saying she enjoyed her tenure as a federal judge.
Rymer was viewed as a moderate jurist who could be counted on joining her conservative colleagues most of the time — but not always. In 2002, for instance, she wrote the majority opinion for a deeply divided 6-5 court that upheld a jury verdict and judge's injunction against an anti-abortion group that displayed "Wanted" style posters of abortion providers and maintained a Web site of abortion doctors and whether they were still practicing, injured or dead.
Rymer wrote that the anti-abortion's group speech crossed the line of acceptable debate and amounted to dangerous threats that endangered the lived of the doctors targeted.
Rymer was a competitive tennis player, an avid booster of Stanford sports and a member of the Stanford Board of Trustees from 1991 to 2001. She maintained a large stuffed frog collection in her chambers, an affectation begun as a reminder for a prank she pulled on a senior law partner with a live amphibian.
"Pam was a brilliant jurist, a loyal friend and a respected colleague; she will be deeply missed," Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw said. "I will remember her for her clever wit, playful sense of humor, love of sports and all things Stanford, joyful celebration of holidays and, of course, her frogs."
The court didn't list any survivors and said Rymer requested no services.
Two scholarships in her name have been established at Stanford University.
http://www.sfexaminer.com/news/healt...#ixzz1YjQsBUQ3