Federal district courts are trial courts, while the federal circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court are appellate courts. Federal district courts are headed by one judge, while the federal appellate courts hear cases before multiple judges or justices.

• How many different districts are there?
• Who was the most famous federal appeals court judge to never make it to the U.S. Supreme Court?
• Who are some of the nation’s leading federal appeals court judges?
• Has there been recent movement in Congress to change the circuit court structure?
• How many judges serve on the circuit courts?
• How do circuit courts of appeal hear cases?
• How does the federal court system created by the Founding Fathers compare and contrast with the current federal court system?
• Who was William Evarts?
• What was the Evarts Act?
• How many federal district courts and federal appeals courts are there?
• Which federal judges lost their jobs because of the Judiciary Act of 1802?
• When did Congress create separate judges for the circuit courts?
• What was circuit duty?
• What part of the Judiciary Act of 1789 gives the Supreme Court the power to review state laws?
• What three additional federal district courts were created within two years of the Judiciary Act of 1789?
• Who were the original federal district court judges in these thirteen districts?
• What type of federal court system did Congress create in the Judiciary Act of 1789?
• Who was the principal author of the Judiciary Act of 1789?
• What is Rule 10 of the Supreme Court?
• When did Congress establish the lower federal courts?