Katana VentraIP

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations, D.C. Cir.) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals. It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, and it covers only one district court: the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.[a] It meets at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, DC.

"DC Circuit" redirects here. For direct current circuits, see Direct current § Circuits.

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

February 9, 1893

11

The D.C. Circuit's status and prestige among American federal courts is generally considered to be second only to the U.S. Supreme Court. Its geographic jurisdiction contains the U.S. Capitol and the headquarters of many U.S. federal executive departments and government agencies. As a result, the D.C. Circuit tends to be the main federal appellate court for issues of American administrative law, constitutional law, and other related areas.[2] Four of the nine current Supreme Court justices were previously judges on the D.C. Circuit: Chief Justice John Roberts, as well as justices Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh, and Ketanji Brown Jackson. Past justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Antonin Scalia, Warren E. Burger, Fred M. Vinson, and Wiley Blount Rutledge also served as judges on the D.C. Circuit before their appointments to the Supreme Court.


Because the D.C. Circuit does not represent any state, confirmation of nominees can be procedurally and practically easier than for nominees to the Courts of Appeals for the other geographical districts, as home-state senators have historically been able to hold up confirmation through the blue slip process.

Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts#DC Circuit

List of current United States circuit judges

"Standard Search"

"Instructions for Judicial Directory"

"U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit"

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

Recent opinions from FindLaw

What Makes the DC Circuit so Different? A Historical View - Article by Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr.

, Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School, OCLC 1078785565, Court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library

"District of Columbia"