Politicizing the United States Court of Appeals

¶ … U.S. Court of Appeals

The very first bill passed by the Senate was the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Act created the current structure of the United States Court of Appeals system. All 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, "each of which has a United States court of appeals. A court of appeals hears appeals from the district courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies" ("Courts of Appeals," U.S. Courts, 2011). Within each district, there are also individualized federal appellate courts such as bankruptcy courts, Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (patent and international trade cases), veteran's claims, international trade, and the U.S. Armed Forces courts. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit have "nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws and cases decided by the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims" ("Courts of Appeals," U.S. .Courts, 2011). Although the U.S. Supreme Court is the most famous arbiter of appellate decision-making, the lower-level appellate courts have, in their own way, just as much influence on the lives of citizens, given the relatively few cases the Supreme Court agrees to hear on a regular basis. Like the U.S. Supreme Court, federal courts of appeals set binding precedents for lower courts.

The role of the appellate courts in conducting judicial review was first established by the U.S. Supreme Court decision Maybury v. Madison, and has since become an entrenched part of American government (Maybury v. Madison, U.S. Street Law, 2011). "Judicial review is not mentioned in the Constitution. [Rather] The federal judiciary's power to review state laws is implied in Articles 3 and 6 of the U.S. Constitution. Article 3 says that the federal courts have power to make judgments in all cases pertaining to the Constitution, statutes, and treaties of the United States" ("Judicial review," The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, 2011).

One of the most recent appellate decisions of note was a 2-1 vote by the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington upholding the constitutionality of President Obama's health care legislation. "It was the third appellate court to rule on the constitutionality of the statute, and the second to reject a challenge to its insurance mandate by opponents who argue the government has no right to force an individual purchase a service or product" (Schoenberg & Harris 2011). This case is an example of the powerful influence appeals courts can have, given that its decision can affect the future structure of the U.S. healthcare system, and also the types of restrictions future healthcare bills can place upon consumers. Such decisions are testimony to the legislative influence appellate courts can have over American political life. However, this decision was contradicted by two other appellate court decisions. In light of the three different appellate courts decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court elected to hear the case against President Obama's healthcare legislation. While the most recent decision found in favor of the constitutionality of the law, "the Supreme Court agreed to hear appeals from just one decision, from the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, the only one so far striking down the mandate" (Liptak 2011).

Although the U.S. Supreme Court is the final court of appeal, the fact that it has only recently stepped in to rule upon the healthcare legislation shows the breadth of authority that lies in the hands of federal appellate courts. The U.S. Supreme Court, depending on its composition, has specifically selected certain kinds and types of federal court decisions to review to shape the law of the land -- during the New Deal, its focus was upon economic legislation, reflecting the conservative nature of the Court, while today's court has focused areas of the law which remain particularly murky, such as regulation of the Internet ("Judicial review," The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States, 2011).