United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
U.S. Government with modifications made by Offnfopt · Public domain · source
Court name	United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
Abbreviation	2d Cir.
Established	1891
Country	United States
Jurisdiction	Connecticut, New York, Vermont
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States
Chief judge	vacant
Judges assigned	13
Location	New York City, Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse

Contents

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is a federal appellate court that reviews decisions from federal district courts and certain federal agencies within Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. It sits primarily in New York City, hears appeals that often shape constitutional law, antitrust law, securities regulation, and intellectual property disputes, and its decisions are frequently reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Department of Justice, and litigants including American Civil Liberties Union, Securities and Exchange Commission, and major corporations such as Citigroup and Goldman Sachs.

History

The court was created by the Judiciary Act of 1891 during a period of judicial reorganization that followed debates in the United States Congress and reforms advocated by jurists influenced by cases from the Circuit Courts of the United States and the earlier Judiciary Act of 1789. Early panel decisions drew on precedent from judges who had served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the court grew in prominence during the 20th century through opinions addressing issues arising from the New Deal, World War II, and the postwar expansion of federal regulation. Prominent jurists associated with the court have included former judges who later influenced the Supreme Court of the United States and the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit itself became noted for influential opinions in cases involving litigants such as AT&T, IBM, Moore v. Massachusetts-era litigation, and high-profile prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The court's statutory jurisdiction derives from the Judiciary Act of 1891 and covers appeals from the federal district courts: the United States District Court for the District of Connecticut, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and the United States District Court for the District of Vermont. Its en banc composition and panel rotations follow rules codified in the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure and procedural orders influenced by practices at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; the court normally sits in three-judge panels drawn from its complement of judges appointed under Article III by presidents like Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Decisions from the court are binding on the covered district courts unless reversed by the Supreme Court of the United States or overruled by subsequent Second Circuit precedent, and influential panels have addressed doctrines tied to statutes including the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Sherman Antitrust Act, and the Copyright Act of 1976.

The court has authored landmark opinions affecting constitutional law and commercial litigation, including influential securities decisions involving SEC v. Texas Gulf Sulphur-type principles, antitrust rulings addressing United States v. Microsoft-style concerns, and First Amendment cases referenced by litigants such as the American Civil Liberties Union and agencies like the Federal Communications Commission. Significant criminal appeals from the Southern District of New York and cases prosecuted by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York yielded precedent on search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution and due process under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Second Circuit opinions in intellectual property and commercial disputes have been cited alongside decisions from the Second Circuit's sister courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, and have shaped doctrine cited in the Supreme Court of the United States's opinions, academic commentary in journals like the Harvard Law Review and the Yale Law Journal, and treatises published by legal scholars at institutions such as Columbia Law School and NYU School of Law.

The court's judges are Article III appointees confirmed by the United States Senate and include senior judges, active judges, and a chief judge selected by statute under 28 U.S.C. procedures similar to other circuits; notable former judges have included those elevated to the Supreme Court of the United States and legal academics who taught at Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School, and Yale Law School. Administrative functions are managed by the clerk's office, the circuit executive, and committees coordinating rule amendments with the Federal Judicial Center and the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The court interacts with entities such as the Federal Rules Committee, bar associations like the New York State Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and law firms including Sullivan & Cromwell and Cravath, Swaine & Moore that frequently appear before the court.

Clerkships with the court are competitive, drawing graduates from Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, and other leading law schools; former clerks have proceeded to careers at the Supreme Court of the United States, academia, and private practice at firms like Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Admission to the appellate bar and briefing requirements follow the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, local rules promulgated by the court, and electronic filing standards set by the Public Access to Court Electronic Records system, with oral argument calendars coordinated among panels and motions decided under precedents from cases argued by advocates from the Southern District of New York and appellate specialists from public interest organizations such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The court sits primarily in the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at 40 Centre Street in New York City, a landmark building near Chinatown, Manhattan and City Hall Park that also houses the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in proximity to law firms on Broadway and legal institutions such as Columbia Law School and the New York County Lawyers Association. Additional sittings and ceremonial sessions have been held at venues associated with regional legal institutions and universities, and the courthouse itself is managed under security and facilities guidelines coordinated with the United States Marshals Service and the General Services Administration.