Geographically, it looks like DC should be part of the Fourth Circuit. With such a small population, only about 3% of what the other Circuits have jurisdiction over, why does it get its own?
1 Answer
Because cases challenging actions of almost any Federal agency or department are typically filed at the head office of that agency or department, which is usually in DC. Similarly, national organizations of all kinds who are affected by some government action often file a case from their own national headquarters, which is often in DC. Thus the DC circuit has a much larger volume of cases and appeals than its population would suggest.
According to the Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2018 Tables the numbers of Appeals Court cases by circuit were:
` Commenced Terminated Pending ` . 2017 2018 2017 2018 2017 2018 Circuit DC 1,184 872 1,190 1,029 1,446 1,289 1st 1,538 1,213 1,488 1,322 1,408 1,299 2nd 4,450 4,316 4,382 3,937 3,252 3,631 3rd 3,477 2,926 3,745 2,969 2,297 2,254 4th 6,136 4,166 6,185 4,506 2,497 2,157 5th 8,270 7,217 8,235 7,359 5,021 4,879 6th 5,164 4,401 5,195 4,900 3,197 2,698 7th 3,332 2,754 3,452 2,652 1,669 1,771 8th 3,571 2,850 3,154 3,040 2,102 1,912 9th 11,504 10,804 12,032 12,030 12,789 11,563 10th 2,275 1,862 2,296 1,848 1,216 1,230 11th 8,050 5,982 7,686 6,240 3,905 3,647 Total 58,951 49,363 59,040 51,832 40,799 38,330`
Similar data is available for other years, and for district court cases. These seem to show that caseloads for the DC or "Federal" circuit are comparable to those of the smaller circuits. This does not take into account any question of complexity levels.
Also, it looks to me as if the percentage of District Court cases which are appealed to the Circuit Court level is higher in the DC circuit than in most of the other circuits.
answered Mar 12, 2019 at 22:01
