The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth 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, 4th Cir.) is a
federal court located in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
, with
appellate jurisdiction
An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appellat ...
over the
district courts in the following
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
:
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District of Maryland
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Eastern District of North Carolina
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Middle District of North Carolina
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Western District of North Carolina
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District of South Carolina
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Eastern District of Virginia
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Western District of Virginia
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Northern District of West Virginia
*
Southern District of West Virginia
The court is based at the
Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
. With 15 authorized judgeships, it is mid-sized among the 13
United States Courts of Appeals.
__TOC__
Current composition of the court
:
List of former judges
Chief judges
Succession of seats
Practice in the 4th Circuit
From 2000 to 2008, the Court had the highest rate of
non-publication
Non-publication of legal opinions is the practice of a court issuing unpublished opinions. An unpublished opinion is a decision of a court that is not available for citation as precedent because the court deems the case to have insufficient preced ...
(92%) on the Federal Circuit.
The
Chief Justice is always assigned to the Fourth Circuit as the circuit justice, due to Richmond's close proximity to Washington, D.C.
The Fourth Circuit is considered an extremely collegial court. By tradition, the judges of the Fourth Circuit come down from the bench following each
oral argument
Oral arguments are spoken presentations to a judge or appellate court by a lawyer (or parties when representing themselves) of the legal reasons why they should prevail. Oral argument at the appellate level accompanies written briefs, which also ...
to greet the lawyers.
Case law
*''
United States v. Snider'', 502 F.2d 645 (1972)
See also
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Judicial appointment history for the Fourth Circuit
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List of current United States circuit judges
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Same-sex marriage in the Fourth Circuit
In the United States, the history of same-sex marriage dates from the early 1940s, when the first lawsuits seeking legal recognition of same-sex relationships brought the question of civil marriage rights and benefits for same-sex couples to publ ...
Notes
References
External links
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth CircuitRecent opinions from Findlaw
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Organizations based in Richmond, Virginia
Baltimore
Charleston, West Virginia
Alexandria, Virginia
Government of Raleigh, North Carolina
Government of Richmond, Virginia
1891 establishments in the United States
Courts and tribunals established in 1891