What's a circuit court?

Question

What's a circuit court in the US? What cases are brought to circuit courts?

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]What's a circuit court in the US? What cases are brought to circuit courts?[/nq]
From MW Online:
Main Entry: circuit court
Function: noun
a court that sits at two or more places within one judicial district

Also, from FindLaw Legal dictionary:
a court that sits in more than one place in a judicial district: as

a: a state court usu. with original jurisdiction and sometimes with appellate jurisdiction
b: any of the federal courts of appeals (not used technically) ; (see also the Judicial System in the back matter)
Note: Before 1948, the U.S. Courts of Appeals were known as Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What's a circuit court in the US? What cases are brought to circuit courts?[/nq]
A circuit is a geographical division that encompasses the jurisdiction of a particular court.
There was a time when judges (and their entourage) would travel, sitting in various places at different times. The court would follow a particular circuit. This practice was common in England and was imported to the US.
There are no longer circuit courts in the US, those having been renamed to "United States Courts of Appeal" (see 28 USC sections 41-48). Nor do those courts now travel. They sit in one place and people come to them. However, the area over which they have jurisdiction is still called a circuit, and the courts are often referred to a circuit courts.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]What's a circuit court in the US? What cases are brought to circuit courts?[/nq]
The US has a horizontally and verticially (federal/state) divided judicial system. The federal judiciary is itself vertically divided: "district courts" (lowest level), appellate courts, and the US Supreme Court. The district courts and appellate courts are organized by "circuit" (which is a semi-informal term in this context). There are 12 such "circuits" currently. For example, the Second Circuit contains the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as well as the Southern, Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of that circuit. All but one of these federal circuits is a geographical entity (spanning more than one state or other territory). The exception is the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, which is just an appellate entity and handles special subject matter, notably cases that arise under the patent laws.

The term "circuit" in the federal context is a holdover from an early period during which federal judges actually "rode circuit"; see Br. Martin Ambuhl's posting. Now it's just a term signifying a division of the federal court system below the US Supreme Court.
However, each state has its own court system as well. Some of these states organize their courts by "circuit" Florida seems to be one example and it's possible that in some or all of these states the term "circuit" retains its original significance.

Steny '08!

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]What's a circuit court in the US? What cases are brought to circuit courts?[/nq]
[nq:1]The US has a horizontally and verticially[/nq]
Vertically.

What's a circuit court?

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