The United States District Court for the District of Potomac was a short-lived United States federal court. Named for the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

, it had jurisdiction over the District of Columbia and pieces of Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 and Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, making it the first (and one of the only) United States district court to cross state lines. It was established in the Judiciary Act of 1801 - also known as the "Midnight Judges Act", because it sought to redistrict the federal courts to allow outgoing President John Adams

John Adams

John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...

 to make additional appointments - and was abolished in the Judiciary Act of 1802

Judiciary Act of 1802

The United States Judiciary Act of 1802 was a Federal statute, enacted on April 29, 1802, to reorganize the federal court system. It restored some elements of the Judiciary Act of 1801, which had been adopted by the Federalist majority in the previous Congress, but was repealed by the...

. The language of the first Judiciary Act, setting forth the geographic jurisdiction of the District, was as follows:

See also

• Courts of Maryland
  Courts of Maryland
  Courts of Maryland include:State courts of Maryland*Maryland Court of Appeals**Maryland Court of Special Appeals***Maryland Circuit Courts ****Maryland District CourtsFederal courts located in Maryland...
  
  
• Courts of Virginia
  Courts of Virginia
  Courts of Virginia include:State courts of Virginia*Supreme Court of Virginia**Court of Appeals of Virginia***Virginia Circuit Court ****Virginia General District Court...
  
  
• Courts of the District of Columbia