The Facts on the First Circuit Court of Appeals

What is the First Circuit Court of Appeals?

The First Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States of America is a federal court system that possesses appellate authorities and jurisdiction over the district courts in the following jurisdictions:

The District of Maine

The District of Massachusetts

The District of New Hampshire

The District of Puerto Rico

The District of Rhode Island

The First Circuit Court of Appeals of the United States is located at the john Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, Massachusetts. Although the majority of court cases within the First Circuit Court of Appeals are heard in Boston, the court system sits, for two weeks each year, in San Juan, Puerto Rico and occasionally at other court locations within the circuit.

The First Circuit Court of Appeals is administered and run by six active and three senior judges; through this composition, the First Circuit Court of Appeals is the smallest of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals.

Chief Judges of the First Circuit Court of Appeals:

The chief judges within the First Circuit Court of Appeals possess administrative responsibilities with respect to their underlying circuits; the chief judges within the First Circuit Court of Appeals must preside over any panel on which they serve unless the circuit justice of a higher court (for example the Supreme Court) is also on the panel. Dissimilar to the Supreme Court, where one specific justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of the chief judge will rotate among the circuit judges of the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

To sit as a chief judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, has not previously served as chief judge, and be under the age of 65 years old. Vacancies are filled by the judge who possesses highest seniority among the pool of qualified judges. The chief judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeals will serve for a term of seven years or until the age of 70, whichever takes place first; these age restrictions will be waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position within the First Circuit Court of Appeals.

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