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.) known informally as the D.C. Circuit, is the federal

Federal government of the United States

The federal government of the United States is the national government of the constitutional republic of fifty states that is the United States of America. The federal government comprises three distinct branches of government: a legislative, an executive and a judiciary. These branches and...

appellate court

Appellate court

An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of appeals or appeal court , is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal...

for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Appeal

Appeal

An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....

s from the D.C. Circuit, as with all the U.S. Courts of Appeals

United States court of appeals

The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal court system...

, are heard on a discretionary basis by the Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...

. It should not be confused with the District of Columbia Court of Appeals

District of Columbia Court of Appeals

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia. Established by the United States Congress in 1970, it is equivalent to a state supreme court, except that its power derives from Article I of the U.S. Constitution rather than from the inherent sovereignty...

, which is roughly equivalent to a state supreme court

State supreme court

In the United States, the state supreme court is the highest state court in the state court system ....

in the District of Columbia, or with the Federal Circuit, whose jurisdiction is limited only by subject matter.

While it has the smallest geographic jurisdiction

Territorial jurisdiction

Territorial jurisdiction in United States law refers to a court's power over events and persons within the bounds of a particular geographic territory. If a court does not have territorial jurisdiction over the events or persons within it, then the court cannot bind the defendant to an obligation...

of any of the United States courts of appeals, the D.C. Circuit, with eleven active judgeships, is arguably the most important inferior appellate court. The court is given the responsibility of directly reviewing the decisions and rulemaking

Administrative law

Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government. Government agency action can include rulemaking, adjudication, or the enforcement of a specific regulatory agenda. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law...

of many federal independent agencies of the United States government

Independent agencies of the United States government

Independent agencies of the United States federal government are those agencies that exist outside of the federal executive departments...

based in the national capital

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, often without prior hearing by a district court

United States district court

The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. Both civil and criminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of law, equity, and admiralty. There is a United States bankruptcy court associated with each United States...

. Aside from the agencies whose statutes explicitly direct review by the D.C. Circuit, the court typically hears cases from other agencies under the more general jurisdiction granted to the Courts of Appeals under the Administrative Procedure Act

Administrative Procedure Act

The Administrative Procedure Act , , is the United States federal law that governs the way in which administrative agencies of the federal government of the United States may propose and establish regulations. The APA also sets up a process for the United States federal courts to directly review...

. Given the broad areas over which federal agencies have power, this often gives the judges of the D.C. Circuit a central role in affecting national U.S. policy and law.

A judgeship on the D.C. Circuit is often thought of as a stepping-stone for appointment to the Supreme Court. Chief Justice

Chief Justice of the United States

The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...

John Roberts and Associate Justices Antonin Scalia

Antonin Scalia

Antonin Gregory Scalia is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice...

, Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas

Clarence Thomas is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Succeeding Thurgood Marshall, Thomas is the second African American to serve on the Court....

, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...

are alumni of the D.C. Circuit. In addition, the Reagan Administration

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

put forth two failed nominees in 1987 from the D.C. Circuit: former Judge Robert Bork

Robert Bork

Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...

, who was rejected by the Senate

United States Senate

The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

, and former (2001–2008) Chief Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg

Douglas H. Ginsburg

Douglas Howard Ginsburg is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to this court in October 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. He served as its Chief Judge from July 16, 2001 until February 10, 2008...

(no relation to Ruth Bader Ginsburg), who withdrew his nomination after it became known that he had used marijuana

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

as a college student and professor in the 1960s and 1970s. Before the 1980s, Chief Justices Fred M. Vinson

Fred M. Vinson

Frederick Moore Vinson served the United States in all three branches of government and was the most prominent member of the Vinson political family. In the legislative branch, he was an elected member of the United States House of Representatives from Louisa, Kentucky, for twelve years...

and Warren Burger, as well as Associate Justice Wiley Blount Rutledge

Wiley Blount Rutledge

Wiley Blount Rutledge, Jr. was an American educator, lawyer, and justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.-Early life:...

, served on the D.C. Circuit before their elevations to the Supreme Court.
Unlike the Courts of Appeals for the other geographical districts where home-state senators have the privilege of holding up confirmation by the "blue slip" process, because the D.C. Circuit does not represent any state, confirmation of nominees is often procedurally and practically easier. However, in recent years, several nominees were stalled and some were ultimately not confirmed because senators claimed that the court had become larger than necessary to handle its caseload.

The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit meets at the E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse, near Judiciary Square in downtown Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

From 1984 to 2009, there were twelve seats on the D.C. Circuit. One of those seats was eliminated by the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007 on January 7, 2008, with immediate effect, leaving the number of authorized judgeships at eleven. (The eliminated judgeship was instead assigned to the Ninth Circuit, with the assignment taking effect on January 21, 2009).

The D.C. Circuit is the only U.S. Court of Appeals that publishes its cases in its own official reporter

Law report

Law reports or reporters are series of books that contain judicial opinions from a selection of case law decided by courts. When a particular judicial opinion is referenced, the law report series in which the opinion is printed will determine the case citation format.The term reporter was...

. All decisions of the other U.S. Courts of Appeals are published only in the Federal Reporter
Federal Reporter
The Federal Reporter is a case law reporter in the United States that is published by West Publishing. It begins with cases decided in 1880. It was preceded by Federal Cases...

, an unofficial reporter from Thomson West

Thomson West

West publishes legal, business, and regulatory information in print, and on electronic services such as Westlaw. Since the late 19th century, West has been one of the most prominent publishers of legal materials in the United States...

Active judges

#	Judge	Duty station	Born	Appointed	Chief	Appointed by
47	David B. Sentelle David B. Sentelle Judge David Bryan Sentelle is the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.- Early life and education :...	DC	1943	1987	2008–present	Reagan
49	Karen L. Henderson Karen L. Henderson Karen LeCraft Henderson is a United States federal judge who was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in July 1990, by President George H. W. Bush.-Early life, education, and career:...	DC	1944	1990	——	G.H.W. Bush
51	Judith Ann Wilson Rogers Judith Ann Wilson Rogers Judith Ann Wilson Rogers is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was nominated by President Bill Clinton to replace current Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. She joined the circuit in 1994.She received an A.B. from Radcliffe College in 1961,...	DC	1939	1994	——	Clinton
52	David S. Tatel David S. Tatel David S. Tatel is an American jurist who has been a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit since 1994.-Career:...	DC	1942	1994	——	Clinton
53	Merrick B. Garland Merrick B. Garland Merrick Brian Garland is an American federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...	DC	1952	1997	——	Clinton
55	Janice Rogers Brown Janice Rogers Brown Janice Rogers Brown is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She previously was an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court, holding that post from May 2, 1996 until her appointment to the D.C. Circuit.President George W. Bush...	DC	1949	2005	——	G.W. Bush
56	Thomas B. Griffith Thomas B. Griffith Thomas Beall Griffith is a federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Before his appointment to the bench he was Senate Legal Counsel, the chief legal officer of the United States Senate...	DC	1954	2005	——	G.W. Bush
57	Brett M. Kavanaugh	DC	1965	2006	——	G.W. Bush
-	Vacant (Seat 6)
-	Vacant (Seat 9)
-	Vacant (Seat 2)

Vacancies and pending nominations

Seat	Seat Last Held By	Vacancy Reason	Date of Vacancy	Nominee	Date of Nomination
6	John Roberts John Roberts John Glover Roberts, Jr. is the 17th and current Chief Justice of the United States. He has served since 2005, having been nominated by President George W. Bush after the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist...	Elevation to Supreme Court	September 25, 2005	Caitlin Halligan Caitlin Halligan Caitlin Joan Halligan is an American lawyer and the Solicitor General of the state of New York from 2001 until 2007. She has been nominated by President Barack Obama to fill a federal judicial vacancy on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.- Early life and...	September 29, 2010
9	A. Raymond Randolph	Senior status Senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...	November 1, 2008	——	——
2	Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas Howard Ginsburg is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to this court in October 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. He served as its Chief Judge from July 16, 2001 until February 10, 2008...	Senior status Senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...	October 14, 2011	——	——

Senior judges

The following judges continue to serve on senior status

Senior status

Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges, and judges in some state court systems. After federal judges have reached a certain combination of age and years of service on the federal courts, they are allowed to assume senior status...

#	Judge	Duty station	Born	Active	Chief	Appointed by
38	Harry T. Edwards Harry T. Edwards Harry Thomas Edwards is a United States federal judge.Born in New York, New York, Judge Edwards received a B.S. from Cornell University in 1962, where he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He received a J.D. from University of Michigan Law School in 1965 and practiced law in Chicago for...	DC	1940	1980–2005	1994–2001	Carter
43	Laurence H. Silberman Laurence H. Silberman Laurence Hirsch Silberman is a senior federal judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed in October 1985 by Ronald Reagan and took senior status on November 1, 2000. He continues to serve on the court...	DC	1935	1985–2000	——	Reagan
45	Stephen F. Williams Stephen F. Williams Stephen Fain Williams is a Senior Circuit Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to the court in June 1986 by President Ronald Reagan, and took senior status in September 2001....	DC	1936	1986–2001	——	Reagan
46	Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas H. Ginsburg Douglas Howard Ginsburg is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. He was appointed to this court in October 1986 by President Ronald Reagan. He served as its Chief Judge from July 16, 2001 until February 10, 2008...	DC	1946	1986–2011	2001–2008	Reagan
50	A. Raymond Randolph	DC	1943	1990–2008	——	G.H.W. Bush

List of former judges

Chiefs

When Congress established this court in 1893 as the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, it had a Chief Justice, and the other judges were called Associate Justices, just like the Supreme Court. Just like the Supreme Court, the Chief Justiceship was a separate seat: the President would appoint the Chief Justice, and that person would stay Chief Justice until they left the court.

On June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 869 and 62 Stat. 985 became law. These acts made the Chief Justice a Chief Judge. In 1954, another law, 68 Stat. 1245, clarified what was implicit in those laws: that the Chief Judgeship was not a mere renaming of the position but a change in its status that made it the same as the Chief Judge of other inferior courts.

Succession of seats

The court has eleven seats for active judges after the elimination of seat seven under the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007. The seat that was originally the Chief Justiceship is numbered as Seat 1; the other seats are numbered in order of their creation. If seats were established simultaneously, they are numbered in the order in which they were filled. Judges who retire into senior status

Senior status

remain on the bench but leave their seat vacant. That seat is filled by the next circuit judge appointed by the President

President of the United States

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

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