Rebuilding the Federal Circuit Courts

The conversation about Supreme Court reform—as important as it is—has obscured another, equally conversation: the need for lower federal court reform. U.S. Courts of Appeals, in particular, have not seen their ranks grow over three decades. Even then, those additions were stopgap measures built on an appellate triage system that had outsourced much its work to non-judicial decisionmakers (central judicial staff and law clerks). Those changes born necessity now become core features system, which distributes Article III resources—including oral argument scrutiny—to a select few. This begins reimagine courts time surplus, scarcity, offers comprehensive framework identifying why, where, how add judges courts. The existing distribution resources has created problem: relied too procedural shortcuts permit them be highly selective deciding cases receive attention. Some quantitative evidence—review rates from unpublished decisions—and some qualitative evidence—the attitude themselves—support observation. Ultimately, been uneven across country ways disparate impact communities color poor communities. To redress these systemic deficits, this works urges Congress engage reform by adding most under-resourced In so doing, would ensure periodic consistent congressional review needs. These consider indicia over-delegation, population growth, caseload demands—all while incentivizing over-rely first place.