The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in
case citations, 1st Cir.) is a
federal court with
appellate jurisdiction over the
district courts in the following
districts:
*
District of Maine
*
District of Massachusetts
*
District of New Hampshire
*
District of Puerto Rico
*
District of Rhode Island
The court is based at the
John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse in
Boston, Massachusetts
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
. Most sittings are held in Boston, where the court usually sits for one week most months of the year; in one of July or August, it takes a summer break and does not sit. The First Circuit also sits for one week each March and November at the
Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse in
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and occasionally sits at other locations within the circuit.
With six active judges and four active senior judges, the First Circuit has the fewest judges of any of the thirteen
United States courts of appeals. It covers most of
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, as well as
Puerto Rico
; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...
. Following his retirement from the
Supreme Court in 2009,
Associate Justice David Souter occasionally sat on the First Circuit
by designation. Former justice
Stephen Breyer began to do so in 2025.
Current composition of the court
:
Vacancies and pending nominations
List of former judges
Chief judges
Succession of seats
Notable decisions
*''
West v. Randall'' (1820), one of the first decisions setting precedent for class action suits
See also
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Courts of the United States
*
Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts#First Circuit
*
List of current United States circuit judges
*
List of United States federal courthouses in the First Circuit
References
;Specific
;General
:*
External links
United States Court of Appeals for the First CircuitRecent opinions from FindlawFirst Circuit Court Records Finder
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{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
1891 establishments in the United States
Courts and tribunals established in 1891