Historical Society of the District of Columbia Circuit SUPPORT THE
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SUPPORT THE MISSION OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY TO RECORD, PRESERVE AND PUBLICIZE THE LIFE AND HISTORY OF THE COURTS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT Annual individual membership fees: Academic $35 OFFICERS Contributing $50 Sustaining $100 Stephen J. Pollak – Chair Sponsoring $500 James E. Rocap, III – President E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse Patron $1,000 or more Ezra B. Marcus – Treasurer and William B. Bryant Annex Eva Petko Esber – Secretary Photo Courtesy of Michelle Ryan Annual law firm and corporate membership fees: Daniel R. Ernst – Historian Maeva Marcus – Historian Friend $1,500 HISTORICAL SOCIETY Partner $3,000 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Benefactor $5,000 OF THE Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Honorary Chair DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Jodi L. Avergun Caroline D. Krass CIRCUIT To join, visit our website at dcchs.org/join, Beth S. Brinkmann Sara Kropf complete the online membership form and submit. Mary Patrice Brown Richard J. Leon Tanya S. Chutkan Jessie K. Liu Alternatively, make your check payable to John F. Cooney William F. Marmon Laying the cornerstone of the Prettyman Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit Jan Crawford Patricia A. Millett Courthouse in 1952, President Truman and mail it to John P. Elwood Randolph D. Moss recognized the significance of the Courts of Eva Petko Esber Channing D. Phillips Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit Roger A. Fairfax, Jr. Stephen J. Pollak this Circuit: “These courts hear cases which E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse Andrea Ferster James E. Rocap, III 333 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Room 4714 are not only important to the private parties Washington, DC 20001 Meredith Fuchs Addy R. Schmitt John Vincent Geise William B. Schultz concerned, but which involve issues vital Beryl A. Howell Steven A. Steinbach to the welfare and growth of the Nation. Please include your name and street and Ketanji Brown Jackson Karen L. Stevens Nowhere else, outside the Supreme email addresses. Amy Jeffress Stuart S. Taylor, Jr. Court of the United States, will so many Questions or comments? Phone us at William H. Jeffress, Jr. K. Chris Todd 202.216.7346 or email us at Gregory G. Katsas Helgi C. Walker legal questions of national magnitude be Peter D. Keisler Betsy K. Wanger [email protected]. decided as in this building before us.” Kevin King The Historical Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Linda J. Ferren, Executive Director Look for us at www.dcchs.org or at organization independent of the Courts. David W. McCarthy, Administrator www.facebook.com/CircuitHistory The Society is marking its 30th Anniversary as it celebrates: Visit the Society’s website, optimized for mobile and desktop • Its15th annual Mock Court Program for District of Columbia high school students who argue devices, to view: cases before federal judges to develop advocacy • A timeline beginning in 1800 that skills and learn about the federal courts and highlights decades of history of the the rule of law D.C. Circuit Courts, judges, and others • Publication on its website, www.dcchs.org, of as well as events of importance the 100th oral history of judges, attorneys, and Outstanding Mock Court Advocate, Leah Hornsby, others who have played key roles in the Courts • Portraits of judges who have served on School Without Walls, with Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell of the D.C. Circuit the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. • Presentation on the website of over 40 articles Circuit and the U.S. District Court for The Society is supported by the U.S. Court of introducing judges and others who have given the District of Columbia Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the U.S. District their oral histories courts of the district of columbia circuit • Exhibits on display The History of the Courts Court for the District of Columbia, individuals, • Sponsorship of Judge Patricia M. Wald Programs in the Courthouse of the D.C. Circuit and the following law firms and foundation: Created amidst the controversy over President John 1801 Congress establishes the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia. The Chief Judge also sits as the District Court of the District of Columbia. The Circuit Court has appellate jurisdiction over the judgments of the Adams’s appointment of the so-called “Midnight Judges,” District Court. Also, the Circuit Court has original jurisdiction over criminal law matters. Because there is no courthouse, the Circuit Court sits in a variety of locations—everywhere from a room in the Capitol to various taverns—as it hears cases in the three towns then within the the Courts of the District of Columbia Circuit have been District of Columbia: Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria. 1820 Cornerstone laid for Old City Hall, the first permanent home of the transformed and transformative over the two centuries District of Columbia Courts, at 451 D St. N.W. on historic cases litigated in the D.C. Circuit 1838 Congress establishes a separate Criminal Court. and online 1863 Congress abolishes the Circuit, District, and Criminal Courts. It replaces of their existence. all three with the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. 1893 Congress establishes the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, which has appellate jurisdiction over the judgments of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. 1901 The local Justices of the Peace are officially recognized as an inferior court in the District of Columbia. 1909 The Justices of the Peace are reorganized as the Municipal Court of the The Creation District of Columbia. One year after Congress moved to Washington, D.C., the Federalist-controlled The federal courts have been organized as follows: 1910 Cornerstone laid for a new courthouse, at 450 E St. N.W., to house the Court of Appeals. It currently is the home of the U.S. Court of Appeals Congress passed—and President John Adams signed—the Judiciary Act of 1801. Trial Court Courts, including: for the Armed Forces. 1801–1863 District Court of the District of Columbia The Act reformed the federal judiciary and created the predecessors to today’s Benefactors 1838–1863 Criminal Court of the District of Columbia 1927 The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that the Court of Appeals is an highlighting major Courts of the District of Columbia Circuit. 1863–1936 Supreme Court of the District of Columbia Article III court. FTC v. Klesner, 274 U.S. 145. 1936–1948 District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia 1933 The U.S. Supreme Court recognizes that the District of Columbia Courts Because of the peculiar nature of the District of Columbia—the seat of the 1948– U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia are analogous to the federal circuit courts of appeals and district Court of Appeals courts. O’Donoghue v. United States, 289 U.S. 516. federal government, not a State, yet needing all of the services traditionally 1801–1863 Circuit Court of the District of Columbia 1934 The Court of Appeals is renamed the “United States Court of Appeals for provided by state governments—Congress has repeatedly reorganized the D.C. 1863–1893 Supreme Court of the District of Columbia the District of Columbia.” courts, reallocating jurisdiction for federal and local matters between the various 1893–1934 Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia 1934–1942 U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 1936 The Supreme Court of the District of Columbia is renamed the “District courts, sometimes unifying the courts, sometimes dividing them. Court of the United States for the District of Columbia.” 1942– U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit 1937 Congress gives the District of Columbia Courts representation on the Judicial Conference of the United States. The Earliest Judges 1942 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is renamed the “United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.” The first three judges appointed were William Cranch, Thomas Johnson (who cases heard by the refused to serve), and James Marshall (brother of Chief Justice John Marshall), in 1948 The District Court of the United States for the District of Columbia is renamed the “United States District Court for the District of Columbia.” 1801. Buckner Thruston, a former U.S. Senator, was appointed in 1809, and James “In the Case of Statutory Ambiguity, Who 1950 Cornerstone laid for what is now the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse. Morsell joined in 1815. Cranch, Thruston, and Morsell sat together from 1815 until LLP 2005 William B. Bryant Annex opens. Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer Cranch’s retirement in 1855. The three served for a combined 108 years. Cranch alone served for 54, including 49 as Chief Judge. Chief Judge Chief Judge Chief Justice William Cranch James Dunlop David Cartter The Courthouses Circuit Court of the Circuit Court of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia District of Columbia District of Columbia Although the D.C. Circuit was created in 1801, it had no permanent home until the 1801–1855 1845–1863 1863–1887 1820s. The judges held court in taverns, hotels, homes, and, when they could, in (Chief 1806–1855) (Chief 1855–1863) Courts of the Circuit the Supreme Court chamber in the Capitol. In the 1820s, the courts moved to City Hall, which housed both the courts and city officials. The courts remained there The original four justices of the The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Supreme Court of the District of of Columbia (ca. 1939) Decides? – Chevron Revisited,” exploring the until 1952, when what is now the E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse Columbia. Standing: was opened. President Truman boasted that this courthouse would be one of the Left to Right: Judge Henry Edgerton*, Judge Fred Justice Andrew Wylie, Chief Justice Vinson, Judge Wiley Rutledge LLP “biggest and finest” in the Nation.