United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit | |
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(5th Cir.) | |
Location |
John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building New Orleans, Louisiana |
Appeals from | |
Established | June 16, 1891 |
Chief judge | Carl E. Stewart |
Active judges | 17 |
Senior judges | 8 |
Circuit justice | Clarence Thomas |
Official website |
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
The court is one of 13 United States courts of appeals. Composed of 17 active judges, it is based at the John Minor Wisdom United States Court of Appeals Building in New Orleans, Louisiana, with the clerk's office located at the F. Edward Hebert Federal Building in New Orleans.
This court was created by the Evarts Act on June 16, 1891, which moved the circuit judges and appellate jurisdiction from the Circuit Courts of the Fifth Circuit to this court. At the time of its creation, the Fifth Circuit covered Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
On June 25, 1948, the Panama Canal Zone was added to the Fifth Circuit by 62 Stat. 870.
On October 1, 1981, under Public Law 96-452, the Fifth Circuit was split: Alabama, Georgia, and Florida were moved to the new Eleventh Circuit.
On March 31, 1982, the Fifth Circuit lost jurisdiction over the Panama Canal Zone, which transferred to Panamanian control.
During the late 1950s, Chief Judge Elbert Tuttle and his three colleagues (John Minor Wisdom, John Brown, and Richard Rives) became known as the "Fifth Circuit Four", or simply "The Four", for decisions crucial in advancing the civil rights of African-Americans. In this, they were usually opposed by their fellow Fifth Circuit Judge, Benjamin F. Cameron of Mississippi, until his death in 1964.