UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS

any of 12 intermediate appellate courts included in the U.S. federal judicial system and created by act of Congress of March 3, 1891. Each Court of Appeals is empowered to review all final decisions and certain interlocutory decisions of district courts (see United States District Court) within its jurisdiction, except those few appealable directly to the United States Supreme Court. A Court of Appeals may also review and enforce orders of various federal regulatory agencies, such as the Federal Trade Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the National Labor Relations Board. All decisions of a Court of Appeals are subject to discretionary review or appeal in the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. Each Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over 1 of 12 judicial circuits: District of Columbia Circuit, for Washington, D.C.; 1st Circuit, for Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico; 2nd Circuit, for Vermont, Connecticut, and New York; 3rd Circuit, for New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the Virgin Islands; 4th Circuit, for Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina; 5th Circuit, for Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas; 6th Circuit, for Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, and Tennessee; 7th Circuit, for Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin; 8th Circuit, for Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; 9th Circuit, for California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Hawaii, and certain Pacific islands; 10th Circuit, for Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Kansas; and 11th Circuit, for Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. In addition to these geographically apportioned courts, there is a United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (created by act of Congress of April 2, 1982), whose jurisdiction is subject-oriented. Its jurisdiction is nationwide, and it hears appeals from U.S. district and territorial courts primarily in patent, trademark, and copyright cases but also in other cases in which the United States or its agencies is a defendant, as in alleged breaches of contract or in disputes over internal revenue. The court sits primarily in Washington, D.C.