United States federal courts

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U.S. Federal Courts
Great seal of the United States.png
General jurisdiction courts
Supreme Court of the United States
U.S. Courts of Appeal
Federal district courts
U.S. territorial courts
Subject-matter jurisdiction
Bankruptcy courts
Court of Federal Claims
Armed Forces
Veterans Claims
Tax Court
International Trade
Intelligence Surveillance
Federal judges
Federal judiciary
Federal vacancies


The United States federal courts are the system of courts organized under the United States Constitution and federal law. The federal courts decide disputes involving the Constitution and laws passed by Congress.

Altogether, there are nearly 1,770 judgeships authorized across the 209 courts in the federal court system. About half of the judges sitting on federal courts are appointed by the president of the United States for life terms. The remaining judges are selected by judges sitting on circuit or district courts for terms of defined lengths. For a list of judges nominated by the current president, click here. To learn more about how federal judges are selected, click here.

The map below shows the geography of the federal court system. Clicking on a district will take you directly to that court's page. Clicking on one of the numbered dots will take you to the corresponding circuit court page.


Courts

The sections below detail the different courts within the federal court structure. There are five types of courts outlined here: the Supreme Court of the United States, circuit courts, district courts, bankruptcy courts, and courts of specific subject-matter jurisdiction.

Supreme Court

See also: Supreme Court of the United States and SCOTUS case reversal rates (2007 - Present)

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the nation and leads the judicial branch of the federal government. Its rulings are final and cannot be appealed to any other court. Its rulings are used as precedent by other courts in the country.

This page covers cases granted certiorari by the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for appellate review in which SCOTUS reversed the lower court's ruling. Original jurisdiction cases cannot be considered affirmed or reversed since SCOTUS is the first and only court that rules in the case.

When the U.S. Supreme Court is asked to review a case, a petition for a writ of certiorari must be filed within 90 days of a lower court’s ruling. Each term, approximately 7,000 to 8,000 new petitions are filed with the U.S. Supreme Court. During its weekly conference—a private meeting of the justices—the court reviews petitions and decides whether or not to grant certiorari. The court accepts and hears arguments in about 80 cases per term and settles 100 or more cases without hearing arguments. Granting certiorari requires affirmative votes from four justices.[1][2]

Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in 1,188 cases. Of those, it reversed a lower court decision 847 times (71.3 percent) while affirming a lower court decision 332 times (27.9 percent). In that time period, SCOTUS has decided more cases originating from the Ninth Circuit (233) than from any other circuit. The next-most is the Fifth Circuit, which had 95 decisions. During that span, SCOTUS overturned a greater number and percentage of cases originating from the Ninth Circuit (187, or 80.3 percent).

Circuit Courts

See also: United States Court of Appeals

The United States Courts of Appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the nation. There are 16 of these courts. Decisions of the district courts are appealed to the circuit courts, and appeals of circuit court decisions are heard by the Supreme Court of the United States.

Click the links below to view information on each of the courts of appeals.

District Courts

See also: United States district court

The United States District Courts are the trial courts of the federal courts. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity. This level of court is composed of 94 different courts. There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

Bankruptcy Courts

See also: United States Bankruptcy Courts

The United States Bankruptcy Courts handle matters of bankruptcy across the nation. The jurisdiction of these courts corresponds with the jurisdiction of the United States District Courts.

Courts of specific subject-matter jurisdiction

There are seven courts of subject-matter jurisdiction in the federal court system. Most of these are Article I tribunals established by the United States Congress. Click here for a summary of these courts. These courts are:

Former courts

Judges

Judges that serve on federal courts can be broken down into two major categories: Article III judges and non-Article III judges. The table below shows the number of judges of each type within the court structure, how they are selected, and how long their term lasts. These figures were last reviewed and updated on April 2, 2024.[3]

Number of federal judgeships (April 1, 2024)
Court Number of judgeships Appointed by Term length
Supreme Court of the United States 9 President Life
United States Court of Appeals 179 President Life
United States District Court 677 President Life
United States Court of International Trade 9 President Life
United States bankruptcy court 345[4] Circuit court judges 14 years
Federal magistrate judge 588[5] District court judges 8 years

Article III judges

Article III judges refer to judges who serve on courts authorized by Article III of the Constitution, which created and enumerated the powers of the judiciary. Those judges are: justices of the Supreme Court, judges of the Circuit Courts of Appeal, judges of the District Courts, and judges of the Court of International Trade. These judges are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate before joining the court. These judges serve life terms.[6]

Did you know that only magistrate and bankruptcy judges are required to be lawyers? There is no statutory requirement that Article III judges have any legal training.[6]

Non-Article III judges

Article III judges are not the only ones serving the federal judiciary. Bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges also contribute to case resolution.

Bankruptcy judges serve 14-year renewable terms after being appointed by the judges of the corresponding Circuit Court of Appeal.

Magistrate judges serve eight-year renewable terms and are appointed by a majority vote of active district judges on the court.[7]

Judges by court

Judges by circuit

The table below displays the number of judges in each circuit and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies on a circuit and how many pending nominations for that circuit are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line. It is updated every Monday.



The map below displays the composition of federal circuit courts by the partisan affiliation of each judge's appointing president. Hover your mouse of the map to see the breakdown of by circuit court. It is updated monthly.





Judges by district

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.


The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

  • The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
  • The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  • The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
  • As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
  • After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
  • If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
  • If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
  • The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
  • If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
  • If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

Role of the other federal branches

Executive branch

The most integral responsibility of the executive branch as pertains to the judiciary is to nominate and appoint judges for service on the federal courts. See this category for a list of every judge appointed by each president throughout U.S. history.

For a list of current vacancies on the federal courts, click here.

The Cabinet-level post of United States Attorney General is the highest-ranking member of the United States Department of Justice. He or she is responsible for the United States attorneys assigned to each judicial district, as well as the assistant United States attorneys serving.

The United States Solicitor General argues cases on behalf of the federal government.

Legislative branch

Senate

The United States Senate is responsible for confirming federal judges following appointment by the president. The Senate Judiciary Committee evaluates nominees and considers federal legislation pertaining to the judicial branch.

Senators are also charged with recommending nominees to the president for appointment to federal courts in their respective states.

House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives Committee on Judiciary considers and recommends legislation pertaining to the judicial branch.

See also

Ballotpedia Bankruptcy Courts badge.png JP-FVT seal.png College Count-Final 2.png Judicial interest organizations.png

Footnotes

  1. ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, “The Supreme Court at Work: The Term and Caseload,” accessed February 5, 2024
  2. ↑ SCOTUSblog, “Supreme Court Procedure,” accessed February 5, 2024
  3. ↑ U.S. Courts, "Vacancy Summary for April 2024," accessed April 2, 2024
  4. ↑ United States Courts, "Status of Bankruptcy Judgeships — Judicial Business 2021," accessed June 3, 2023
  5. ↑ United States Courts, "Status of Magistrate Judge Positions and Appointments — Judicial Business 2021," accessed June 3, 2023
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Federal Judicial Center, "How the Federal Courts are Organized," accessed March 12, 2019
  7. ↑ United States Courts, "FAQs," accessed March 12, 2019
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