How do the federal appellate courts decide cases?
The federal courts of appeal usually assign a three judge panel to hear an appeal, which decides the appeal for the entire court. In some cases, when the parties request it or there is a point of particular legal importance, the appeal may be heard by the entire court en banc. The appeals panel considers the entire trial court record, briefs submitted by the attorneys for each side and sometimes oral argument of the facts of the appeal and relevant law. The appeals court issues an opinion setting out its decision. Decisions of the appeals court may be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court if there is an issue relating to interpretation of the Constitution or important federal law, but very few cases are selected for review by the nation’s highest court.
