25-827: The Special Division is a division of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit . 28 U.S.C. § 49 (1982 ed., Supp. V) (Title VI of the Ethics in Government Act ). It consists of three circuit court judges or justices appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States . One of the judges must be a judge of the DC Circuit, and no two of the judges may be named to
50-453: A 25 percent caseload or meet other criteria for activity, they remain entitled to maintain a staffed office and chambers, including a secretary and their normal complement of law clerks , and they continue to receive annual cost-of-living increases. The president may appoint new full-time judges to fill the vacancies in full-time judgeships caused by senior status. Some U.S. states have similar systems for senior judges. State courts with
75-477: A judge not meeting any of these criteria may be certified as being in senior status by the chief judge if the criteria were not met "because of a temporary or permanent disability". The United States Code does not refer to senior status in its body text, although the title of 28 U.S.C. § 371 is "Retirement on salary; retirement in senior status." The term senior judge is explicitly defined by 28 U.S.C. § 294 to mean an inferior court judge who
100-504: A pension for the rest of their life; afterward, a judge who qualified for retirement could assume senior status. John Wesley Warrington became the first federal judge to exercise this option on October 6, 1919. At that time, Warrington had been on the bench for ten years and six months and was 75 years old. In 1937, the option was extended to Supreme Court justices, although justices so electing are generally referred to as "retired" justices rather than having senior status. A senior justice
125-589: A similar system include Iowa (for judges on the Iowa Court of Appeals ), Pennsylvania , and Virginia (for justices of the Virginia Supreme Court ). Senior status at the federal level is defined by statute: 28 U.S.C. § 371 . To qualify for senior status, § 371(e)(1) requires that a judge be annually certified by the chief judge as having met at least one of three criteria: In addition, §371(e)(1)(e) provides that
150-528: Is essentially an at-large senior judge, able to be assigned to any inferior federal court by the chief justice , but receiving the salary of a retired justice. However, a retired justice no longer participates in the work of the Supreme Court itself. That same year, Willis Van Devanter became the first Supreme Court justice to exercise the option. Since this option became available to Supreme Court justices, only ten have died while still in active service,
175-435: 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
200-460: Is filled by the next circuit judge appointed by the president . Senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges . To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and have served at least 10 years, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at least 80 years. As long as senior judges carry at least
225-437: Is in senior status. A justice of the Supreme Court who (after meeting the age and length of service requirements prescribed in 28 U.S.C. § 371) retires is thereafter referred to as a "retired justice". No mention is made, either in section 371 or in section 294 (which does address the assignment of retired justices), of senior justice . In practice, when a circuit or district judge on senior status sits on an inferior court case,
250-704: The U.S. Supreme Court in status and prestige, and it is sometimes unofficially termed "the second highest court in the land". Because its jurisdiction covers the District of Columbia, it tends to be the main federal appellate court for issues of U.S. administrative law and constitutional law . Four of the nine current Supreme Court justices were previously judges on the D.C. Circuit: Chief Justice John Roberts and associate justices Clarence Thomas , Brett Kavanaugh , and Ketanji Brown Jackson . Past justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg , Antonin Scalia , Warren E. Burger , Fred M. Vinson , and Wiley Blount Rutledge also served on
275-474: The Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, it had a chief justice, and the other judges were called associate justices, which was similar to the structure of the Supreme Court. The chief justiceship was a separate seat: the president would appoint the chief justice, and that person would stay chief justice until he left the court. On June 25, 1948, 62 Stat. 869 and 62 Stat. 985 became law. These acts made
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#1732783736181300-524: The D.C. Circuit before their appointments to the Supreme Court. Because the D.C. Circuit does not represent any state, confirmation of nominees can be procedurally and practically easier than for nominees to the Courts of Appeals for the other geographical districts, as home-state senators have historically been able to hold up confirmation through the blue slip process. As of January 16, 2024 : When Congress established this court in 1893 as
325-489: The District of Columbia Circuit (in case citations , D.C. Cir. ) is one of the thirteen United States Courts of Appeals . It has the smallest geographical jurisdiction of any of the U.S. courts of appeals, and it covers only the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia . It meets at the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, DC . The D.C. Circuit is often considered to be second only to
350-591: The Special Division from a particular court. The judges are appointed for 2-year terms, with any vacancy being filled only for the remainder of the 2-year period. Its constitutionality was upheld in Morrison v. Olson . On December 19, 1986, Lawrence Walsh was appointed Independent Counsel for Iran/Contra Matters by the Special Division. United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for
375-468: The Supreme Court) that the justice is willing to accept. Theoretically, a retired justice could also be assigned to act as circuit justice for a circuit, but this has never occurred. In 1919, Congress created the senior status option for inferior court judges. Before that, a judge who reached the age of seventy with at least ten years of service as a federal judge was allowed to retire and receive
400-413: The chief justice a chief judge. In 1954, another law, 68 Stat. 1245, clarified what was implicit in those laws: that the chief judgeship was not a mere renaming of the position but a change in its status that made it the same as the chief judge of other inferior courts. Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless
425-454: The chief justice can assign a senior judge to any court. This is referred to as an assignment by designation , and requires that a certification of necessity be issued by the appropriate supervisor of the court. For a circuit or district court, this supervisor is either the chief judge or the circuit justice of the circuit. For any other court, this supervisor is the chief judge of the court. Retired justices can be assigned to any court (except
450-478: The circuit justice (the Supreme 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
475-628: 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. 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 as senior 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. The court has eleven seats for active judges after
500-489: The elimination of Seat 8 under the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007. The seat that was originally the chief justiceship is numbered as Seat 1; the other seats are numbered in order of their creation. If seats were established simultaneously, they are numbered in the order in which they were filled. Judges who retire into senior status remain on the bench but leave their seat vacant. That seat
525-404: The judge is referred to as "Senior Judge" in the opinion, while a retired justice is referred to as "Associate Justice" when doing so. The rules governing assignment of senior judges are laid out in 28 U.S.C. § 294. In essence, under normal conditions, the chief judge or judicial council of a circuit may assign a senior judge belonging to that circuit to perform any duty within the circuit that
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#1732783736181550-444: The judge is willing and able to perform. A senior district judge can be assigned to an appellate case, and a circuit judge can be assigned to preside over a trial. For courts that do not fall within a circuit, such as the United States Court of International Trade , the chief judge of that court can assign a senior judge of that court to perform any duty within the circuit that the judge is willing and able to perform. In special cases,
575-434: The most recent being Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020. In 1954, Congress revised requirements for senior status. Federal judges or justices could still assume senior status at seventy with ten years of service, but they could also assume senior status at 65 with fifteen years of service. In 1984, the requirements were further revised to what is often called the "Rule of 80": once a judge or justice reached age 65, if
600-406: The sum of years of age and years of service on the federal bench is eighty or more, the judge is entitled to senior status. The "senior status" option was referred to as "retired judge" in 1919, when it was created. The title of "senior judge" was used to refer to the active judge with the most seniority in a given court. After 1948, the most senior judge was given the title "chief judge". In 1958,
625-534: The term "senior judge" was given its current meaning of a judge who had assumed senior status. In a 2007 article in the Cornell Law Review , David Stras and Ryan Scott suggested that senior status may be unconstitutional . In the United Kingdom, retired justices of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and certain other retired senior judges may, with the approval of the president of
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