United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

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Tenth Circuit
Court of Appeals
US-CourtOfAppeals-10thCircuit-Seal.png
Judgeships
Posts: 12
Judges: 12
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Jerome Holmes
Active judges: Robert Bacharach, Joel Carson, Allison Eid, Richard Federico, Harris Hartz, Jerome Holmes, Scott Matheson, Carolyn McHugh, Nancy Moritz, Gregory Alan Phillips, Veronica Rossman, Timothy Tymkovich

Senior judges:
Stephen Anderson, Bobby Baldock, Mary Briscoe, Wade Brorby, David Ebel, Paul Kelly, Carlos F. Lucero, Michael R. Murphy, Terrence O'Brien, John Porfilio, Stephanie Seymour


The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal appellate court with appellate jurisdiction. It hears appeals from all of the circuit courts within its jurisdiction and its rulings may be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. Appeals are heard in the Byron White U.S. Courthouse in Denver.

One judge from the Tenth Circuit has served on the Supreme Court of the United States. Neil Gorsuch was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2017 by Donald Trump (R).

This page contains the following information on the Tenth Circuit.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on the Tenth Circuit, out of the court's 12 judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.


Active judges

Article III judges

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

Harris Hartz

George W. Bush (R)

December 10, 2001 -

Harvard College, 1967

Harvard Law School, 1972

Timothy Tymkovich

George W. Bush (R)

April 1, 2003 -

Colorado College, 1979

University of Colorado School of Law, 1982

Jerome Holmes

George W. Bush (R)

August 9, 2006 -

Wake Forest University, 1983

Georgetown University Law Center, 1988

Scott Matheson

Barack Obama (D)

December 27, 2010 -

Stanford University, 1975

Yale Law School, 1980

Robert Bacharach

Barack Obama (D)

February 28, 2013 -

University of Oklahoma, 1981

University of Washington School of Law, 1985

Gregory Alan Phillips

Barack Obama (D)

July 9, 2013 -

University of Wyoming, 1983

University of Wyoming College of Law, 1987

Carolyn McHugh

Barack Obama (D)

March 14, 2014 -

University of Utah, 1978

University of Utah College of Law, 1982

Nancy Moritz

Barack Obama (D)

July 29, 2014 -

Washburn University, 1982

Washburn Law School, 1985

Allison Eid

Donald Trump (R)

November 3, 2017 -

Stanford University, 1987

University of Chicago Law School, 1991

Joel Carson

Donald Trump (R)

May 17, 2018 -

Texas Tech University, 1994

University of New Mexico School of Law, 1997

Veronica Rossman

Joe Biden (D)

September 28, 2021 -

Columbia University, 1993

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, 1997

Richard Federico

Joe Biden (D)

December 13, 2023 -

Indiana University, 1999

University of Kansas School of Law, 2002


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.

  • Democrat appointed: 7
  • Republican appointed: 5

Senior judges

Senior status is a classification for federal 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.

Judge Appointed By Assumed Office Bachelors Law

John Porfilio

Ronald Reagan (R)

October 15, 1999 -

University of Denver, 1956

University of Denver College of Law, 1959

Stephen Anderson

Ronald Reagan (R)

January 1, 2000 -

University of Utah School of Law, 1960

Bobby Baldock

Ronald Reagan (R)

January 26, 2001 -

New Mexico Military Institute, 1956

University of Arizona College of Law, 1960

Wade Brorby

Ronald Reagan (R)

May 25, 2001 -

University of Wyoming, 1956

University of Wyoming College of Law, 1958

Stephanie Seymour

Jimmy Carter (D)

October 16, 2005 -

Smith College, 1962

Harvard Law School, 1965

David Ebel

Ronald Reagan (R)

January 16, 2006 -

Northwestern University, 1962

University of Michigan Law School, 1965

Michael R. Murphy

Bill Clinton (D)

December 31, 2012 -

Creighton University, 1969

University of Wyoming College of Law, 1972

Terrence O'Brien

George W. Bush (R)

April 30, 2013 -

University of Wyoming, 1965

University of Wyoming College of Law, 1972

Paul Kelly

George H.W. Bush (R)

December 31, 2017 -

University of Notre Dame, 1963

Fordham University School of Law, 1967

Carlos F. Lucero

Bill Clinton (D)

February 1, 2021 -

Adams State College, 1961

George Washington University Law Center, 1964

Mary Briscoe

Bill Clinton (D)

March 15, 2021 -

University of Kansas, 1969

University of Kansas, School of Law, 1973


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.

  • Democrat appointed: 4
  • Republican appointed: 7

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office of chief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on the United 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 the United States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by the president 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 learn more about the judges of the Tenth Circuit, see former federal judges of the Tenth Circuit.

Jurisdiction

United States Court of Appeals for the 10th CircuitUnited States District Court for the District of WyomingUnited States District Court for the District of UtahUnited States District Court for the District of ColoradoUnited States District Court for the District of KansasUnited States District Court for the District of New MexicoUnited States District Court for the Western District of OklahomaUnited States District Court for the Western District of OklahomaUnited States District Court for the Northern District of OklahomaUnited States District Court for the Northern District of OklahomaUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of OklahomaUnited States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma
Map of the Tenth Circuit. Click on a district to find out more about it.


The Tenth Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law. Appeals of rulings by the Tenth Circuit are petitioned to the Supreme Court of the United States. Justice Neil Gorsuch is the circuit justice for the Tenth Circuit.

The United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has jurisdiction over the United States district courts in the following federal judicial districts:

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2024.

Click [show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.


United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit caseload stats, 2010-2023
Year Appeals Filed Appeals Terminated Pending Appeals Terminations on the Merits (per Active Judge) Procedural Terminations (per Active Judge) Total Written Decisions (per Active Judge) Number of Judgeships Number of Sitting Senior Judges Number of Vacant Judgeship Months Median Time From Filing Notice of Appeal to Disposition
2010 2,225 2,375 1,341 242 102 82 12 9 18 9
2011 2,294 2,250 1,372 263 123 85 12 9 18 9
2012 2,156 2,176 1,353 322 62 105 12 8 24 8
2013 2,071 2,155 1,264 314 58 106 12 10 28 8
2014 1,964 2,058 1,171 295 51 101 12 10 6 8
2015 1,975 1,888 1,259 264 40 86 12 8 0 8
2016 2,281 2,256 1,288 346 46 118 12 8 0 6
2017 1,861 1,914 1,231 284 42 96 12 6 9 8
2018 1,788 1,805 1,214 252 39 85 12 6 12 9
2019 1,792 1,775 1,231 240 40 79 12 7 0 10
2020 1,700 1,725 1,206 244 35 81 12 7 0 10
2021 1,588 1,697 1,096 218 23 72 12 8 17 10
2022 1,647 1,622 1,123 218 32 73 12 7 12 9
2023 1,751 1,735 1,139 252 34 84 12 7 0 10
Average 1,935 1,959 1,235 268 52 90 12 8 10 9

History

Court history

The Tenth Circuit was established on February 28, 1929, under Tenth Circuit Reorganization Act of 1929, which broke the then-Eighth Circuit into the Eighth Circuit and the Tenth Circuit. All of the judges who resided in the newly created Tenth Circuit were transferred to the new appellate court. Over time, eight additional seats were added to the circuit, resulting in a total of 12 seats.[7] The court's current jurisdiction contains 560,625 square miles or roughly 20% of the total U.S. landmass. For a full history of the Tenth Circuit, please see the Tenth Judicial Circuit Historical Society's Official website.

Judicial posts

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

Year Statute Total Seats
February 28, 1929 45 Stat. 1346 4
August 3, 1949 63 Stat. 493 5
May 19, 1961 75 Stat. 80 6
June 18, 1968 82 Stat. 184 7
October 20, 1978 92 Stat. 1629 8
July 10, 1984 98 Stat. 333 10
December 1, 1990 104 Stat. 5089 12

Reversal rate

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

Since 2007, SCOTUS has released opinions in 1,250 cases. Of those, it reversed a lower court decision 891 times (71.3 percent) while affirming a lower court decision 347 times (27.8 percent).

In that time period, SCOTUS has decided 46 cases originating from the Tenth Circuit, affirming in 17 cases and reversing in 29 cases, for a reversal rate of 63 percent. As of the end of the 2023 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 the Fourth Circuit at 62.1 percent.


Noteworthy cases

The following were noteworthy cases heard before this court.

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.

2024-2025 term

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

The following case was scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2024-2025 term.

2024-2025 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 10th Circuit
Case Opinion author Decision Vote
United States v. Miller TBD TBD TBD
Velazquez v. Garland TBD TBD TBD
Waetzig v. Halliburton Energy Services TBD TBD TBD
Oklahoma v. Environmental Protection Agency (Consolidated with Pacificorp v. Environmental Protection Agency) TBD TBD TBD

2023-2024 term

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

The following case was scheduled for argument before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2023-2024 term.

2023-2024 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 10th Circuit
Case Opinion author Decision Vote
Office of the United States Trustee v. John Q. Hammons Fall 2006, LLC Ketanji Brown Jackson reversed and remanded 6-3


2022-2023 term

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.

2022-2023 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 10th Circuit
Case Opinion author Decision Vote
303 Creative LLC v. Elenis Neil Gorsuch reversed 6-3
Abitron Austria GmbH v. Hetronic International, Inc. Samuel Alito vacated and remanded 9-0


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.

2021-2022 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 10th Circuit
Case Opinion author Decision Vote
Denezpi v. United States Amy Coney Barrett affirmed 6-3


2020-2021 term

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

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

2020-2021 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 10th Circuit
Case Opinion author Decision Vote
Torres v. Madrid John Roberts vacated and remanded 5-3
Carr v. Saul (Consolidated with Davis v. Saul) Sonia Sotomayor reversed and remanded 9-0
HollyFrontier Cheyenne Refining, LLC v. Renewable Fuels Association Neil Gorsuch reversed 6-3


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.

2019-2020 U.S. Supreme Court cases from the 10th Circuit
Case Opinion author Decision Vote
Sharp v. Murphy Per curiam affirmed NA
Rodriguez v. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Neil Gorsuch vacated and remanded 9-0
Lomax v. Ortiz-Marquez Elena Kagan affirmed 9-0
Colorado Department of State v. Baca Per curiam reversed 8-0

Federal courthouse

The Tenth Circuit is located in the Byron White U.S. Courthouse in Denver. The courthouse was built between 1910 and 1916 replacing a previous building. The exterior of the building uses local Colorado Yule marble, the same material used on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Originally, the building held all of the federal agencies located in Denver. Over time, as the federal agencies grew, the building came to be occupied by only the Post Office. The building was expanded and renovated in 1994 to rehouse the federal courthouse, with the current value of the building estimated at $200 million.[14]

About United States Court of Appeals

The United States courts of appeals (or circuit courts) are the intermediate appellate courts of the United 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 the district 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 the Supreme Court of the United States.

There are thirteen United States courts of appeals. In addition, there are other federal courts (such as the Court 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 the D.C. Circuit are defined by geography. The thirteenth court of appeal is the Court 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 the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims, as well as appeals from the district courts in patent 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 on senior status at age 65, if they have served actively for 15 years.[15]

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of appeals court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the fourth year of each president's term in office. At this point in the term, President Trump had the most appeals court appointments with 53.


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 the United States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line. It is updated every Monday.



See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. United States Courts, "FAQs: Federal Judges: What is a senior judge?" accessed December 19, 2016
  2. 2.0 2.1 United States Courts, "Frequently Asked Questions," accessed January 25, 2022
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 136 - Chief judges; precedence of district judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 258 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 45 - Chief judges; precedence of judges," accessed January 25, 2022
  6. Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute, "28 U.S. Code § 171 - Appointment and number of judges; character of court; designation of chief judge," accessed January 25, 2022
  7. 7.0 7.1 Federal Judicial Center, "U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit: Legislative History," accessed May 4, 2021
  8. 8.0 8.1 United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, "Kitchen v. Herbert," June 25, 2014
  9. 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  10. Food Safety News, "10th Circuit Grants Temporary Injunction in Horse Case," November 5, 2013
  11. Associated Press, "Appeals court allows horse slaughterhouses to open," December 14, 2013
  12. National Law Journal, "Tenth Circuit Sides with Abercrombie in Hijab Case," October 3, 2013
  13. HuffPost, "Supreme Court Rules Against Abercrombie & Fitch In Discrimination Case," June 1, 2015
  14. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, "History of the Byron White Courthouse," accessed May 4, 2021
  15. United States Courts, "FAQs: Federal Judges," accessed May 5, 2021