U.S. Courts of Appeals — Judicial Business 2019

Appeals by pro se litigants, which constituted 49 percent of filings, dropped 4 percent to 23,728 cases. Forty-five percent of all filings by pro se litigants were prisoner petitions. Eighty-seven percent of the 12,365 prisoner petitions received were filed pro se, as were 86 percent of the 4,985 original proceedings and miscellaneous applications.

Seventy-six percent of filings arose from cases originating in the U.S. district courts. Civil appeals, which amounted to 56 percent of total appellate court filings, fell 3 percent to 26,936.  

Criminal appeals, which accounted for 21 percent of total filings in the appeals courts, grew 2 percent to 10,001. Appeals in cases addressing drugs, firearms and explosives, violent offenses, justice system offenses, and sex offenses increased. Appeals in cases involving property, general offenses, regulatory offenses, and immigration decreased. Appeals related to traffic offenses remained the same.

Administrative agency appeals went down 3 percent to 5,929 and represented 12 percent of total filings in the courts of appeals. Appeals of Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) decisions, which declined 1 percent, constituted 86 percent of administrative agency appeals. Fifty-three percent of BIA appeals were filed in the Ninth Circuit, and 12 percent were filed in the Second Circuit. Appeals of decisions by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission decreased 58 percent to 47.

Original proceedings filed in the appellate courts dropped 1 percent to 4,985. Bankruptcy appeals fell 3 percent and amounted to 1 percent of total appellate filings.

Case terminations decreased 5 percent to 47,889. As filings exceeded terminations, pending cases rose 2 percent to 38,837.

Since 2015, filings in the courts of appeals have declined 8 percent. Civil appeals (including prisoner petitions) have fallen 6 percent. Administrative agency appeals have dropped 17 percent. Criminal appeals filings have gone down 12 percent. Bankruptcy appeals have decreased 24 percent. Original proceedings and miscellaneous applications have risen 4 percent.

For data on the activity of the U.S. courts of appeals, see the B series of tables.

Bankruptcy Appellate Panels

Bankruptcy Appellate Panels (BAPs) are three-judge panels authorized to hear appeals of bankruptcy court decisions. BAPs are units of the federal courts of appeals, and each BAP must be established by a circuit judicial council. Five federal judicial circuits—the First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits—have BAPs.

Total appeals case filings in the BAPs fell to 525 in 2019 (down 15 percent). This was the lowest total in the last 20 years. BAP case filings tend to lag bankruptcy case filings by about two years.

Two of the five circuits with BAPs saw growth in filings. The largest was in the First Circuit, where filings rose by six appeals (up 10 percent). The Eighth Circuit received two more appeals (up 6 percent). The Ninth and Tenth Circuits each received 44 fewer filings (down 12 percent and 42 percent, respectively). The Sixth Circuit received 12 fewer filings (down 26 percent).

Since 2015, BAP filings have fallen 25 percent (down 171 appeals). All BAP circuits reported reductions in filings over this period. The Ninth Circuit had the greatest numeric decline, a decrease of 130 appeals (down 28 percent). The Sixth Circuit had 18 fewer appeals (down 35 percent), the Eighth Circuit had 12 fewer appeals (down 25 percent), the Tenth Circuit had 6 fewer appeals (down 9 percent), and the First Circuit had 5 fewer appeals (down 7 percent).

For data on the activity of the BAPs, see Table BAP-1 and Table BAP-2.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

The jurisdiction of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is defined by subject matter rather than by geographic boundaries. This court is responsible for appeals involving customs and patents; rulings by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, U.S. Court of International Trade, and U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and decisions by several federal administrative bodies.

Filings in the Federal Circuit declined 1 percent to 1,511 (down by 19 cases). Total filings per panel went down from 383 to 378. Decreases were spread across seven types of appeals, with the largest numeric reductions occurring in appeals of decisions by the U.S. district courts, which fell by 103 to 321 (down 24 percent), and in petitions for writs of mandamus, other extraordinary writs, permission to appeal, and discretionary review, which dropped by 36 to 26 (down 58 percent).

The largest numeric increase was in appeals of decisions by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which rose by 70 to 659 (up 12 percent), and by the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, which grew by 27 to 103 (up 36 percent).

Terminations of cases declined 2 percent to 1,602. The number of pending cases fell 6 percent to 1,355.

Filings in the Federal Circuit were 12 percent lower in 2019 than in 2015 (down 199 cases). However, the circuit has received more appeals of decisions by the Patent and Trademark Office, which likely has occurred in response to the America Invents Act of 2011. Since 2015, case terminations have risen 6 percent (up 89 appeals), and pending cases have grown 5 percent (up 60 appeals).

For data on the activity of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, see Table B-8.