United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

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The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, known informally as the "D.C. Circuit," is the federal appellate court for the U.S. district court in Washington, DC. Appeals from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals, are heard on a discretionary basis by the Supreme Court. It should not be confused with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, which is roughly equivalent to a state supreme court in the District of Columbia.

While it has the smallest geographic jurisdiction of any of the U.S. Courts of Appeals, the D.C. Circuit, with twelve active seats, is nonetheless one of the most important intermediate appellate courts. The court is given the responsibility of directly reviewing the decisions and rulemaking of many federal agencies, without prior hearing by a district court. Aside from the agencies whose statutes explicitly direct review by the D.C. Circuit, the court typically hears cases from other agencies under the more general jurisdiction granted to the Courts of Appeals under the Administrative Procedures Act. Given the broad areas over which federal agencies have power, this often gives the judges of the D.C. Circuit a central role in affecting national U.S. policy and law.

A judgeship on the D.C. Circuit is often thought of as a stepping stone for appointment to the Supreme Court. Current Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas all previously served in the D.C. Circuit, as did hopeful appointee Judge Robert Bork, who was rejected by the Senate in 1987. Current Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg was also nominated, but withdrew after it became known that he had used marijuana.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit meets at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse, near Judiciary Square in downtown Washington.

Contents

1 Current composition of the court 2 Pending nominees 3 List of former judges 4 Chiefs 5 Succession of seats 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Current composition of the court

As of 2005, the judges on the court are:

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Pending nominees

• On July 25, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Janice Rogers Brown to a seat vacated by Stephen F. Williams. The U.S. Senate confirmed Justice Brown on June 8, 2005, by a 56-43 vote. She received her commission on June 10,2005. She has not yet been sworn in.
• On May 10, 2004, President George W. Bush nominated Thomas B. Griffith to a seat vacated by Patricia M. Wald. The U.S. Senate confirmed Mr. Griffith on June 14, 2005, by a 73-24 vote. He has not yet been sworn in.
• On July 25, 2003, President George W. Bush nominated Brett M. Kavanaugh to a seat vacated by Laurence H. Silberman.

List of former judges

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^(a) Prior to 1948, the court consisted of a Chief Justice and up to five Associate Justices. Much like in the United States Supreme Court, the Chief Justice would be separately nominated and subject to a separate confirmation process, regardless of whether or not he was elevated from an associate justice position. In 1948, the positions of Chief Justice and Associate Justice were reassigned to Circuit Judge positions and the position of Chief Judge was assigned based on seniority.

^(b) Recess appointment, confirmed by the Senate at a later date.

Chiefs

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When Congress established this court in 1893 as the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, it had a Chief Justice, and the other judges were called Associate Justices, just like the Supreme Court. Just like the Supreme Court, the Chief Justiceship was a separate seat: the President would appoint the Chief Justice, and that person would stay Chief Justice until they left the court.

On June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 869 and 62 Stat. 985 became law. These acts made the Chief Justice a Chief Judge. In 1954, another law, 68 Stat. 1245, clarified what was implicit in those laws: that the Chief Judgeship was not a mere renaming of the position but a change in its status that made it the same as the Chief Judge of other inferior courts:

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45 (http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=browse_usc&docid=Cite:+28USC45).

Succession of seats

The court has twelve seats for active judges. The seat that was originally the Chief Justiceship is numbered as Seat 1; the other seats are numbered in order of their creation. If seats were established simultaneously, they are numbered in the order in which they were filled. Judges who retire into senior status remain on the bench but leave their seat vacant. That seat is filled by the next circuit judge appointed by the President.

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See also

• Federal judicial appointment history#DC Circuit

References

• Template:Web reference
  • source for the duty station for Judge Williams
• Template:Web reference
  • source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information

External links

• United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/)
• Recent opinions from FindLaw (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=dc&navby=year&year=recent)