Return to Appeals Courts Listing
U.S. Courts of Appeals
The U.S. courts of appeals are the intermediary courts in the federal system, the U.S. district courts being the trial courts and the U.S. Supreme Court the court of final appeal.
For chart showing structure of the U.S.court system, click here.
There are 11 circuit courts of appeals plus the District of Columbia Circuit and the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit is a specialized appellate court, its docket consisting mainly of patent appeals from the U.S. district courts and appeals from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the Court of Veterans Appeals, and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The other circuits have appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts (excluding patents) and selected federal agencies. The judges of the courts of appeals are appointed for life by the President, subject to Senate confirmation.
The appellate listings that follow include both "active" and "senior" (semi-retired) appellate judges. Active judges are listed by date they received their judicial commission, which occurs following confirmation but prior to being sworn in. Senior judges are listed in the order in which they assumed senior status, the last listed being the judge most recently assuming senior status.
Under current rules, an appellate or district court judge with 15 years of active service may "retire on salary" or assume "senior status" at age 65. A sliding scale makes judges with a minimum of 10 years of service eligible at age 70. Senior judges, who essentially provide volunteer service to the courts, typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts’ workload annually. Those who retire on salary rather than assume senior status are "inactive" and not included in this directory.
Federal appellate and district judges cannot be required to retire or take senior status when they become eligible, because they have life tenure under Article III of the Constitution. Thus they are referred to as "Article III" judges.
In the circuit-by-circuit listing, the date that appears after the judges' names, is the date (which occurs shortly after confirmation) they received their judicial commissions. This is followed by the judges being sworn in and then by the assumption of their official duties.
There are currently 179 authorized appellate judges and 677 district judges. Once a judge retires or assumes senior status, it creates a vacancy on that court. That vacancy is filled by the president nominating and the Senate confirming (or rejecting) that nomination.
For chart showing structure of the U.S.court system, click here.
There are 11 circuit courts of appeals plus the District of Columbia Circuit and the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit is a specialized appellate court, its docket consisting mainly of patent appeals from the U.S. district courts and appeals from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the U.S. Court of International Trade, the Court of Veterans Appeals, and the Merit Systems Protection Board. The other circuits have appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts (excluding patents) and selected federal agencies. The judges of the courts of appeals are appointed for life by the President, subject to Senate confirmation.
The appellate listings that follow include both "active" and "senior" (semi-retired) appellate judges. Active judges are listed by date they received their judicial commission, which occurs following confirmation but prior to being sworn in. Senior judges are listed in the order in which they assumed senior status, the last listed being the judge most recently assuming senior status.
Under current rules, an appellate or district court judge with 15 years of active service may "retire on salary" or assume "senior status" at age 65. A sliding scale makes judges with a minimum of 10 years of service eligible at age 70. Senior judges, who essentially provide volunteer service to the courts, typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts’ workload annually. Those who retire on salary rather than assume senior status are "inactive" and not included in this directory.
Federal appellate and district judges cannot be required to retire or take senior status when they become eligible, because they have life tenure under Article III of the Constitution. Thus they are referred to as "Article III" judges.
In the circuit-by-circuit listing, the date that appears after the judges' names, is the date (which occurs shortly after confirmation) they received their judicial commissions. This is followed by the judges being sworn in and then by the assumption of their official duties.
There are currently 179 authorized appellate judges and 677 district judges. Once a judge retires or assumes senior status, it creates a vacancy on that court. That vacancy is filled by the president nominating and the Senate confirming (or rejecting) that nomination.