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Injustice On Appeal: The United States Courts of Appeals in Crisis

Online ISBN:
9780199332397
Print ISBN:
9780195342079
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Book

Injustice On Appeal: The United States Courts of Appeals in Crisis

William M. Richman,
William M. Richman

Distinguished University Professor

University of Toledo, School of Law
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William L. Reynolds
William L. Reynolds

Jacob A. France Professor of Judicial Process

University of Maryland School of Law
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Published online:
23 May 2013
Published in print:
12 December 2012
Online ISBN:
9780199332397
Print ISBN:
9780195342079
Publisher:
Oxford University Press

Abstract

The United States Circuit Courts of Appeals are among the most important governmental institutions in our society. However, because the Supreme Court can hear less than 150 cases per year, the Circuit Courts (with a combined caseload of over 60,000) are, for practical purposes, the courts of last resort for all but a tiny fraction of federal court litigation. Thus, their significance, both for ultimate dispute resolution and for the formation and application of federal law, cannot be overstated. Yet, in the last forty years, a dramatic increase in caseload and a systemic resistance to an increased judgeship have led to a crisis. Signed published opinions form only a small percentage of dispositions; judges confer on fifty routine cases in an afternoon; and most litigants are denied oral argument completely. This book chronicles the transformation of the United States Circuit Courts; considers the merits and dangers of continued truncating procedures; catalogues and responds to the array of specious arguments against increasing the size of the judiciary; and considers several ways of reorganizing the circuit courts so that they can dispense traditional high quality appellate justice even as their caseloads and the number of appellate judgeships increase.

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