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The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in
case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case c ...
s, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with
appellate jurisdiction A court of appeals, also called a court of appeal, appellate court, appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In much of ...
over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * Middle District of Louisiana * Western District of Louisiana * Northern District of Mississippi * Southern District of Mississippi *
Eastern District of Texas The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (in case citations, E.D. Tex.) is a federal court in the Fifth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed ...
* Northern District of Texas * Southern District of Texas * Western District of Texas The Fifth Circuit has 17 active judgeships, and is headquartered at the
John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building The John Minor Wisdom U.S. Court of Appeals Building, located at 600 Camp Street in New Orleans, Louisiana, is a historic courthouse for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. In 2015 it was designated a National Historic Land ...
in
New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
F. Edward Hebert F is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet. F may also refer to: Science and technology Mathematics * F or f, the number 15 in hexadecimal and higher positional systems * ''p'F'q'', the hypergeometric function * F-distribution, a cont ...
Federal Building in New Orleans. Originally, the Fifth Circuit also included the federal district courts in
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
, and
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...
. In 1981, the district courts for those states were transferred to the newly created
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
.


History of the court

This court was created by the
Evarts Act The Judiciary Act of 1891 ({{USStat, 26, 826), also known as the Evarts Act after its primary sponsor, Senator William M. Evarts, created the United States courts of appeals and reassigned the jurisdiction of most routine appeals from the district ...
on June 16, 1891, which moved the circuit judges and appellate jurisdiction from the Circuit Courts of the Fifth Circuit to this court. At the time of its creation, the Fifth Circuit covered
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to th ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
,
Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = " Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,7 ...
,
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Missis ...
,
Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is border ...
, and
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by b ...
. On June 25, 1948, the
Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the terri ...
was added to the Fifth Circuit by 62 Stat. 870. The Fifth Circuit gained appellate jurisdiction over the
United States District Court for the Canal Zone The United States District Court for the Canal Zone (in case citations, D.C.Z.) was a United States District Court that existed in the Panama Canal Zone of Panama from 1914 to 1982. Appeals were taken to the United States Court of Appeals for th ...
. On October 1, 1981, under , the Fifth Circuit was split: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida were moved to the new
Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...
. On March 31, 1982, the Fifth Circuit lost jurisdiction over the Panama Canal Zone, which was transferred to Panamanian control.


The Fifth Circuit Four

During the late 1950s, Chief Judge
Elbert Tuttle Elbert Parr Tuttle (July 17, 1897 – June 23, 1996) was the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit from 1960 to 1967, when that court became known for a series of decisions crucial in advanc ...
and three of his colleagues (
John Minor Wisdom John Minor Wisdom (May 17, 1905 – May 15, 1999), one of the " Fifth Circuit Four", and a Republican from Louisiana, was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit during the 1950s and 1960s, when ...
, John Brown, and Richard Rives) became known as the " Fifth Circuit Four", or simply "The Four", for decisions crucial in advancing the civil rights of
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of enslav ...
s. In this, they were usually opposed by their fellow Fifth Circuit Judge, Benjamin F. Cameron of Mississippi, until his death in 1964.That Fascinating and Frenetic Fifth
" Time Magazine, 1964-12-04.


Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cos ...
struck New Orleans on August 29, 2005, devastating the city and slightly damaging the John Minor Wisdom Courthouse. All deadlines concerning filings were extended. The court temporarily relocated its administrative operations to Houston, and returned to normal operations in New Orleans in March 2007.


Current composition of the court

:


Vacancies and pending nominations


List of former judges


Chief judges


Succession of seats


See also

*
Courts of Louisiana Courts of Louisiana include: ;State courts of Louisiana *Louisiana Supreme Court **Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal (5 circuits) *** Louisiana District Courts (42 districts) ; ;Federal courts located in Louisiana *United States Court of Appe ...
* Courts of Mississippi * Courts of Texas * Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts#Fifth Circuit * List of current United States Circuit Judges


References

*


External links


United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

Recent Fifth Circuit opinions from FindLaw

Criminal law opinions from the Fifth Circuit

Business litigation opinions from the Fifth Circuit
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit New Orleans 1891 establishments in the United States Courts and tribunals established in 1891