The United States circuit courts were the original intermediate level courts of the United States federal court system. They were established by the Judiciary Act of 1789. They had trial court jurisdiction over civil suits of diversity jurisdiction and major federal crimes. They also had appellate jurisdiction over the United States district courts. The Judiciary Act of 1891 (26 Stat. 826, also known as the Evarts Act) transferred their appellate jurisdiction to the newly created United States circuit courts of appeals, which are now known as the United States courts of appeals. In 1911, the circuit courts were abolished, with their remaining trial court jurisdiction transferred to the U.S. district courts.
During the 100 years that the Justices of the Supreme Court "rode circuit", many justices complained about the effort required.[1] Riding circuit took a great deal of time (about 1/2 of the year) and was both physically demanding and dangerous. However, "members of Congress held firm to the belief that circuit riding benefited the justices and the populace, and they turned a deaf ear to the corps of justices that desired to abolish the practice".[1]
The Judiciary Act of 1869 established a separate circuit court (and allowed the hiring of judges specifically to handle the cases) but the act required that Supreme Court judges had to ride circuit once every two years. However, this came to a final end in 1891 when the Circuit Court of Appeals Act was passed.[1]
The net result of riding circuit was that, in many cases which ended up before the Supreme Court, a member of the Supreme Court had already heard the case and issued a ruling. In a real sense, the Supreme Court was, in such cases, acting as an en banc panel; i.e. hearing a case upon which one of their members had already passed judgment.
Contents |
Although the federal judicial districts were grouped into circuits, the circuit courts convened separately in each district and were designated by the name of the district (for example, the "U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts"), not by the name or number of the circuit. The designation of circuits served only for the purpose of designating the districts in which a particular Supreme Court justice, and later a circuit judge, would sit on the circuit court. The circuit court districts were usually, but not always, the same as the districts established for the district courts.
Each circuit court was composed initially of two Supreme Court justices and the district judge of the district, although in 1793 Congress provided that a quorum of one justice and one district judge could hold a court. After 1802, only one justice was assigned to each circuit, and a quorum could consist of a single justice or judge. This "circuit riding" arrangement meant that the Supreme Court justices spent the majority of the year traveling to each district within their circuit to conduct trials, and spent far less time assembled at the capital to hear appeals. The burden of circuit riding was somewhat alleviated by the appointment of circuit judges under the Circuit Judges Act of 1869, but not abolished until the creation of the intermediate courts of appeals in 1891.
In 1801, Congress created the United States Circuit Court of the District of Columbia, a "circuit court" for the District of Columbia. This court had the same original jurisdiction and powers as the United States circuit courts but, unlike those courts, it continued to have its own judges even after the repeal of the Judiciary Act of 1801, and had appellate jurisdiction over justices of the peace and other "local" courts of the District. The District of Columbia was not enumerated among the federal "circuits" at the time. This court was abolished in 1863.
Although any district court judge could be authorized to act as a circuit judge, only fifty judges solely designated as circuit court judges were ever appointed. These can be broadly categorized into four groups:
Three circuit court judges, Samuel M. Blatchford, David Josiah Brewer, and William Burnham Woods, were later appointed to the United States Supreme Court.
Circuit court judges appointed pursuant to the Midnight Judges Act:
| Judge | Circuit | Began service | Ended service | Appointed by |
| Richard Bassett | Third | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Egbert Benson | Second | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Benjamin Bourne | First | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Joseph Clay, Jr. | Fifth | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| William Griffith | Third | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Dominic Augustin Hall | Fifth | January 26, 1802 | July 1, 1802 | Thomas Jefferson |
| Edward Harris | Fifth | May 3, 1802 | July 1, 1802 | Thomas Jefferson |
| Samuel Hitchcock | Second | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Henry Potter | Fifth | January 26, 1802 | April 7, 1802 | Thomas Jefferson |
| Philip Barton Key | Fourth | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| John A. Lowell | First | February 20, 1801 | May 6, 1802 | John Adams |
| Charles Magill | Fourth | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Jeremiah Smith | First | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| George Keith Taylor | Fourth | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| William McClung | Sixth | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| William Tilghman | Third | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
| Oliver Wolcott, Jr. | Second | February 20, 1801 | July 1, 1802 | John Adams |
Judges of the D.C. Circuit:
| Judge | Circuit | Began service | Ended service | Appointed by |
| Allen Bowie Duckett | D.C. | March 17, 1806 | July 19, 1809 | Thomas Jefferson |
| James Dunlop | D.C. | February 3, 1846 November 27, 1855 |
November 27, 1855 March 3, 1863 |
James K. Polk Franklin Pierce (as chief judge)[note 1] |
| William Cranch | D.C. | February 28, 1801 February 24, 1806 |
February 24, 1806 September 1, 1855 |
John Adams Thomas Jefferson (as chief judge)[note 1] |
| Nicholas Battalle Fitzhugh | D.C. | November 25, 1803 | December 31, 1814 | Thomas Jefferson |
| James Markham Marshall | D.C. | March 3, 1801 | November 16, 1803 | John Adams |
| William Kilty | D.C. | January 26, 1802 | January 27, 1806 | Thomas Jefferson (as chief judge) |
| William Matthew Merrick | D.C. | December 14, 1855 | March 3, 1863 | Franklin Pierce |
| James Sewall Morsell | D.C. | January 11, 1815 | March 3, 1863 | James Madison |
| Buckner Thruston | D.C. | December 14, 1809 | August 30, 1845 | James Madison |
Circuit court judges appointed pursuant to the 1869 Act:
| Judge | Circuit | Began service | Ended service | Appointed by |
| Marcus Wilson Acheson | Third | February 3, 1891 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Benjamin Harrison |
| John Baxter | Sixth | December 13, 1877 | April 2, 1886 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Samuel M. Blatchford | Second | March 4, 1878 | March 22, 1882 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| Hugh Lennox Bond | Fourth | July 13, 1870 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Ulysses Grant |
| David Josiah Brewer | Eighth | March 31, 1884 | January 6, 1890 | Chester A. Arthur |
| Henry Clay Caldwell | Eighth | March 4, 1890 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Benjamin Harrison |
| LeBaron Bradford Colt | First | July 5, 1884 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Chester A. Arthur |
| John Forrest Dillon | Eighth | December 22, 1869 | September 1, 1879 | Ulysses Grant |
| Thomas Drummond | Seventh | December 22, 1869 | July 18, 1884 | Ulysses Grant |
| Halmer Hull Emmons | Sixth | January 17, 1870 | May 14, 1877 | Ulysses Grant |
| Walter Quintin Gresham | Seventh | December 9, 1884 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Chester A. Arthur |
| Howell Edmunds Jackson | Sixth | April 12, 1886 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Grover Cleveland |
| Alexander Smith Johnson | Second | December 15, 1875 | January 26, 1878 | Ulysses Grant |
| Emile Henry Lacombe | Second | February 28, 1888 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Grover Cleveland |
| John Lowell | First | December 18, 1878 | May 1, 1884 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| George Washington McCrary | Eighth | December 9, 1879 | March 18, 1884 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| William McKennan | Third | December 22, 1869 | January 3, 1891 | Ulysses Grant |
| Don Albert Pardee | Fifth | May 13, 1881 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | James A. Garfield |
| Lorenzo Sawyer | Ninth | January 10, 1870 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Ulysses Grant |
| George Foster Shepley | First | December 22, 1869 | July 20, 1878 | Ulysses Grant |
| William James Wallace | Second | April 6, 1882 | June 16, 1891[note 2] | Chester A. Arthur |
| Lewis Bartholomew Woodruff | Second | December 22, 1869 | September 10, 1875 | Ulysses Grant |
| William Burnham Woods | Fifth | December 22, 1869 | December 23, 1880 | Ulysses Grant |
Circuit court judge of California:
| Judge | Circuit | Began service | Ended service | Appointed by |
| Matthew Hall McAllister | California | March 3, 1855 | January 12, 1863 | Franklin Pierce |