In the United States of America, the state Courts of Appeals serve as the intermediate appellate courts. An appellate court has the power to review the decisions of the district courts, certain administrative agencies and some federal courts within the jurisdiction of the respective federal judicial circuit. An appellate court definition would thus describe it as one that occupies a central position in the judicial pyramid.
There are thirteen appellate courts in the country apart from the different tribunals such as the United States Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims and the Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. The different states of the country have been geographically classified into eleven circuit courts along with a separate circuit for the District of Columbia. The final appellate court circuit is that of United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The latter appellate court has the power to adjudicate cases irrespective of their location of filing but only on certain specific matters.
Appellate Court Rules and the process followed in the State Appellate Court conform to the guidelines set in the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure. A panel of judges comprising three judges who are arbitrarily appointed for that particular case hears Appellate Court Cases. The Appellate Court Judges panel may include senior judges as well those who have appointed for a brief period of time. Some of the Appellate Court Trial may be given an en banc hearing that implies that the judges appointed for the case should be actively practicing in any of the circuit courts, but that does not mean that a senior Appellate Court Judge has to be appointed.
Search for Appellate Court Case Files
Appellate Court Decisions are binding on the parties involved. An Appellate court decision is different from that of any of the trial courts. An appellate court in the rest of the circuits must seek guidance from the previous appellate courtdecision.
As far as the jurisdiction of an appellate court is concerned, it has the power to review the decision of the lower courts in both criminal and civil cases. Apart from the DC Circuit Court and the Federal Circuit court, the rest of the circuits comprise of different court of appeals functioning under them. The First Circuit District Appellate Court includes states like Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire. The Second Circuit District Appellate court has under within its jurisdiction Vermont, Connecticut and New York. Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey fall under Third Circuit District appellate courts. The Fourth Circuit includes West Virginia, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Maryland. Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi make up the Fifth Circuit District Appellate courts. The Sixth Circuit includes Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Michigan. Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana makes up the Seventh circuit courts. The Eighth Circuit includes Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Arkansas and Missouri. The maximum number of states come under the Ninth Circuit District Courts and these include Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, California, Nevada, Arizona, Montana and Idaho. Wyoming, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Kansas make up the Tenth circuit. Georgia, Alabama and Florida comprise the eleventh circuit district appellate court.
Appellate Court Opinions and appellate court records can be searched for online on online systems like PACER or the Public Access to Court Electronic Records. Though there is a nominal charge against this facility, it is worth the money as it saves a lot of valuable time. Moreover, you can rely on these records as they are accurate. The database is updated on a regular basis thereby making it a valuable resource.
