How the federal court system is organized

The federal judiciary is arranged in three tiers. A case begins in a district court, the losing side can appeal to a court of appeals, and a small fraction of cases go on to the Supreme Court. Each level binds the ones below it.

The three tiers

1. District courts. These are the federal trial courts, where evidence is heard and judgments entered. There are 94 of them across the states and territories, and every state has at least one. Browse them under district courts.

2. Courts of appeals. The 94 districts are grouped into 13 appellate circuits: eleven numbered regional circuits, the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit. A three-judge panel usually decides an appeal, and the full court can rehear an important case en banc. See the federal courts overview or a large example like the Ninth Circuit.

3. The Supreme Court. The court of last resort chooses most of its docket, granting review in only a small share of the thousands of petitions it receives each year. Its decisions bind every other court. See the Supreme Court.

How the levels connect

Each court’s written opinions guide the courts beneath it, which is what makes the system a hierarchy rather than a set of separate benches. You can browse decisions across every level in the opinions archive. Bankruptcy and magistrate judges sit within the districts and handle much of their workload; state courts are a separate system entirely, shown under state courts.