TheUnited States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is afederal appellate court with appellatejurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to theSupreme Court of the United States.

Appeals are heard in the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse inBoston, Massachusetts. There is another circuit courthouse located in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where the court sits for two weeks a year.

Two judges of the First Circuit went on to serve on theSupreme Court of the United States.Stephen Breyer was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1994 byBill Clinton (D), andDavid Souter was appointed in 1990 byGeorge H. W. Bush (R).

This page contains the following information on the First Circuit.

• A list of the court'scurrent vacancies
• A list of the court'sactive and senior judges
• An overview of the court'sjurisdiction
• Selectedcase management statistics
• Abrief history of the court
• Case reversal statistics by the Supreme Court of the United States
• Noteworthy cases heard by the court
• Where the court islocated
• Information aboutU.S. Courts of Appeals

Vacancies

See also:Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on theFirst Circuit, out of the court's six judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 5
• Republican appointed: 1

Senior judges

Senior status is a classification forfederal judges at all levels who are semi-retired. Senior judges are Article III judges who, having met eligibility through age and service requirements, continue to serve on federal courts while typically hearing a reduced number of cases. Some senior judges, however, elect to retain a full caseload after taking senior status. According to the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, senior judges "typically handle about 15 percent of the federal courts' workload annually."^[1] The date listed under assumed office in the table below reflects the date that the judge took senior status.

Senior judges by appointing political party

Below is a display of the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 4
• Republican appointed: 2

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office ofchief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on theUnited States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.^[2]

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.^[3][4][5]

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.^[3][4][5]

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.^[2][3][4][5]

On theUnited States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by thepresident of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.^[6]

Former judges

To see a list of judges who previously served the First Circuit,click here.

Jurisdiction

Map of the First Circuit. Click on a district to find out more about it.

The First Circuit hasappellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases fall under federal law, and may be either civil or criminal in nature. Appeals of rulings by theFirst Circuit Court of Appeals are petitioned to theSupreme Court of the United States. U.S. Supreme Court JusticeKetanji Brown Jackson is thecircuit justice for theFirst Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has jurisdiction over the followingU.S. district courts:

• District of Maine
• District of Massachusetts
• District of New Hampshire
• District of Puerto Rico
• District of Rhode Island

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2025.Click[show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

History

First Circuit Court of Appeals (1891-present)

Congress established the U.S. circuit courts of appeals for nine judicial circuits in 1891. In 1905, an additional seat was added to the First Circuit and in 1915, theDistrict of Puerto Rico was added to the First Circuit. Additional judicial seats were added in 1978 and two more in 1984.^[7]

Circuit Courts for the First Circuit (1802-1891)

TheEvarts Act in 1891 added a fourth tier to the federal judiciary by establishingcourts of appeals in each circuit. Circuit court judges were reassigned to the court of appeals.^[8] TheJudicial Code of 1911 abolished the entire circuit court system and established the three-tiered judicial system that is in place today.^[9][10]

Circuit Court for the First Circuit (1801-1802)

The United States Circuit Court for the First Circuit was created by theJudiciary Act of 1801. Prior to this act, appeals were reviewed by a three-judge panel composed of two judges from theSupreme Court and the district court judge who had issued the decision being appealed. It provided the first circuit with three new judges.^[11][12] The act was repealed thirteen months later when a new Congressional majority took power. They returned to the previous system, with slight modifications to lighten the travel load of the Supreme Court Justices.^[11][13]

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the First Circuit:^[7]

Reversal rate

See also:SCOTUS case reversal rates (2007 - Present)

Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in1,313 cases. Of those, it reversed a lower court decision938 times (71.4 percent) while affirming a lower court decision363 times (27.6 percent).

In that time period, SCOTUS has decided37 cases originating from the First Circuit, affirming in 14 cases and reversing in 23 cases, for a reversal rate of62.2 percent. As of the end of the2023 term, of the Article III circuits—the ordinal circuits, the D.C. Circuit, and the Federal Circuit—the court with the lowest rate of overturned decisions is theFourth Circuit at 62.1 percent.

Noteworthy cases

The following are noteworthy cases heard before this court. To suggest cases we should cover here,email us. To read opinions published by this court, clickhere.

Before the U.S. Supreme Court

This section focuses on cases the U.S. Supreme Court heard that originated in this court. To suggest cases we should cover here,email us.

2025-2026 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2025-2026

The following case was scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2025-2026 term.

2024-2025 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2024-2025

The following case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2024-2025 term.

2023-2024 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2023-2024

The following case was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2023-2024 term.

2022-2023

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2022-2023

The following cases were scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2022-2023 term.

2021-2022 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2021-2022

The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2021-2022 term.

2020-2021 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2020-2021

The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2020-2021 term.

2019-2020 term

See also:Supreme Court cases, October term 2019-2020

The following cases were heard before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2019-2020 term.

Federal courthouse

The court is based at the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse inBoston, Massachusetts. The court normally meets in Boston, but for two weeks each year it assembles in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, and occasionally at other locations within the circuit.

The John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse was designed by Henry Cobb, whose notable work includes Boston's John Hancock Tower and the headquarters for the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C.Stephen Breyer led the architect selection process.^[16] Construction on the Moakley Federal Courthouse was finished in 1998. The building overlooks Boston Harbor, houses 27 courtrooms and is home to both theFirst Circuit and theUnited States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The dominant feature of the building is an 88-foot tall glass wall overlooking a park with views of downtown Boston and the Harbor.^[17] You can find directions to the courthouse on the official website,MoakleyCourthouse.com under the contact tab.

About United States Courts of Appeal

TheUnited States courts of appeals (orcircuit courts) are the intermediateappellate courts of theUnited States federal courts. The court of appeals was originally created in 1891 and has grown to include thirteen courts.

A court of appeals decides appeals from any of thedistrict courts that are in its federal judicial circuit. The appeals courts also can hear appeals from some administrative agencies. Decisions of the federal appeals courts can, in turn, be appealed to theSupreme Court of the United States.

There are thirteen United States courts of appeals. In addition, there are other federal courts (such as theCourt of Appeals for the Armed Forces, which hears appeals in court-martial cases) that have "Court of Appeals" in their titles.

The eleven numbered circuits and theD.C. Circuit are defined by geography. The thirteenth court of appeal is theCourt of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. This court has nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of appeals based on what the underlying legal case is about.

All of the courts of appeals also hear appeals from some administrative agency decisions and rulemaking. The largest share of this type of case is heard by the D.C. Circuit. The Federal Circuit hears appeals from specialized trial courts, primarily theCourt of International Trade and theCourt of Federal Claims, as well as appeals from the district courts inpatent cases and certain other specialized matters.

Federal circuit court judges are appointed for life. They are paid approximately $179,500 annually. At the age of 65, a federal judge may choose to retire with his or her full salary. Judges may also choose to go onsenior status at age 65, if they have served actively for 15 years.^[18]

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through February 1 of the second year of each president's second term in office. At this point in the term, President Obama had the most appeals court appointments with 12.

Judges by circuit

See also:Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each circuit and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies on a circuit and how many pending nominations for that circuit are before theUnited States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line. It is updated every Monday.

See also

• Federal courts
• Federal judge
• United States Court of Appeals
• United States District Court for the District of Maine
• United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
• United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire
• United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
• United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island

External links

• United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit
• Judges of the First Circuit
• List of opinions
• Federal Judicial Center - About the First Circuit
• John Joseph Moakley Courthouse Official Website

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served theU.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Active judges	•  Gustavo Gelpí  •  David Barron  •  Lara Montecalvo  •  Julie Rikelman  •  Seth Aframe  •  Joshua D. Dunlap
Senior judges	Levin Hicks Campbell  •  Jeffrey R. Howard  •  Kermit Lipez  •  Sandra Lea Lynch  •  O. Rogeriee Thompson  •  William Kayatta  •
Former judges	Stephen Breyer  •  David Souter  •  Norman Stahl  •  Bruce Marshall Selya  •  Michael Boudin  •  Juan Torruella  •  Hugh Bownes  •  Benjamin Bourne  •  John A. Lowell  •  Jeremiah Smith  •  John Lowell (federal judge, 1865-1884)  •  George Foster Shepley  •  LeBaron Bradford Colt  •  William LeBaron Putnam  •  Francis Cabot Lowell  •  Frederic Dodge  •  James Madison Morton  •  William Schofield  •  George Weston Anderson  •  George Hutchins Bingham  •  Charles Fletcher Johnson  •  Scott Wilson (Maine)  •  John Christopher Mahoney  •  Calvert Magruder  •  Bailey Aldrich  •  John Patrick Hartigan  •  Frank Coffin  •  Edward McEntee  •  Peter Woodbury  •
Former Chief judges	Stephen Breyer  •  Levin Hicks Campbell  •  Jeffrey R. Howard  •  Michael Boudin  •  Juan Torruella  •  Sandra Lea Lynch  •  Calvert Magruder  •  Bailey Aldrich  •  Frank Coffin  •  Peter Woodbury  •