Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless the circuit justice (theSupreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit judges.
To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on the court for more than a year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as a circuit judge.[6]
When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known assenior status, or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.[7]
The court has fifteen seats for active judges, numbered in the order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assumesenior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing theU.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats.
From 2000 to 2008, the Court had the highest rate ofnon-publication (92%) on the Federal Circuit.[8]
TheChief Justice is always assigned to the Fourth Circuit as the circuit justice, due to Richmond's close proximity to Washington, D.C.[b][citation needed]
The Fourth Circuit is considered an extremely collegial court. By tradition, the judges of the Fourth Circuit come down from the bench following eachoral argument to greet the lawyers.[9][10]
^Recess appointment by Bill Clinton on December 27, 2000, re-nominated by George W. Bush on May 9, 2001 and confirmed by theUnited States Senate on July 20, 2001.
^Under the originalJudiciary Act of 1789 and subsequent acts, thejustices of theSupreme Court of the United States inWashington, D.C. had theresponsibility of "riding circuit" and personally hearing both appeals and trials in the circuit courts, in addition to their caseload back in the capital. This duty was reasonable when the United States consisted of the originalThirteen Colonies along theEast Coast of the United States, but became increasingly onerous and impractical with the country'srapid westward expansion during the 19th century, and was repealed byCongress with the enacting of theJudiciary Act of 1891. The U.S. Supreme Court justices still retain vestiges of the days of riding circuit; each justice is designated to hear certaininterlocutory appeals from specific circuits and can unilaterally decide them or refer them to the entire court. The court's customary summer recess originated as the time during which the justices would leave Washington and ride circuit (since dirt roads were more passable in the summer).
^Knapp did not have a permanent seat on this court. Instead, he was appointed to the ill-fatedUnited States Commerce Court in 1910 byWilliam Howard Taft. Aside from their duties on the Commerce Court, the judges of the Commerce Court also acted as at-large appellate judges, able to be assigned by theChief Justice of the United States to whichever circuit most needed help. Knapp was assigned to the Second Circuit upon his commission and then to the Fourth Circuit in 1916.
