The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit is the smallest of the thirteen circuits. (While the D.C. Circuit is smaller geographically, it has nearly twice the number of judges.) The First Circuit’s jurisdiction covers Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, and Rhode Island. The court sits at the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse in Boston, with semi-annual sittings in Old San Juan.
The Eastern Circuit
The Judiciary Act of 1789 organized the federal district courts into three circuits: Eastern, Middle, and Southern. The Eastern Circuit encompassed New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York, with the notable exception of the District of Maine, which, although then a part of Massachusetts, was excluded. The Eastern Circuit Court sat twice yearly in each district and was made up of two Supreme Court justices and a district judge from within the circuit. The District of Maine was given the powers of a circuit court in its own right, but appeals were heard by the circuit court sitting in Massachusetts. Rhode Island had not yet ratified the Constitution; Puerto Rico remained an administrative district of the Spanish Empire.
The Midnight Judges Act
The Judiciary Act of 1801, enacted in the final weeks of John Adams’s presidency and known as the “Midnight Judges” Act, created the first “First Circuit,” which included the districts of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. The court was given three permanent circuit judges. When the Jeffersonian Congress repealed the Act in March 1802, the replacement Judiciary Act of 1802 kept New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island in the First Circuit but removed Maine. The district court in Maine was restored to exercising circuit-court powers, and the circuit bench reverted to a Supreme Court justice sitting with the local district judge.
Maine Joins the Circuit
Weeks after Maine was admitted to the Union as the twenty-third state on March 15, 1820, Congress added the new District of Maine to the First Circuit and withdrew from the district court the circuit-court powers it had previously exercised.
The Evarts Act and the Modern Court
The Judiciary Act of 1891, known as the Evarts Act, created the modern system of intermediate appellate courts. The new U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit was given jurisdiction over most appeals from the district courts, sharply limiting the right of direct appeal to the Supreme Court. The court initially had two judges, which Congress expanded to three in 1905. The first judges to serve on the newly constituted court were LeBaron Bradford Colt and William LeBaron Putnam, who both jointly served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the U.S. Circuit Court for the First Circuit. The U.S. Circuit Court for the First Circuit was formally abolished in 1911.
Puerto Rico Joins the Circuit
In 1915, Congress added “Porto Rico” (the island’s official name until 1932) to the First Circuit, directing appeals from the U.S. District Court for Porto Rico to the Court of Appeals. At that time, the district court was an Article IV territorial court. In 1966, Congress converted the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico into an Article III court, granting its judges life tenure.
The Office of Chief Judge
The position of chief judge of the courts of appeals was formally established in 1948. Calvert Magruder, who had served on the First Circuit since 1939, became its first chief judge and held the position until 1959.
Expansion to Six Seats
Congress authorized a fourth judgeship for the First Circuit in 1978, and two additional seats in 1984, bringing the total to its present-day bench of six active judges. This number remains the fewest of any federal circuit.
The Moakley Courthouse
The First Circuit sits primarily at the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse on Fan Pier in the Seaport District of Boston, which was completed in 1998. The courthouse is named after the late U.S. Representative John Joseph Moakley and also houses the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The court holds regular sittings in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico each March and November at the Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse.
Chief judges of the First Circuit
| Chief Judge | Tenure | Appointed by |
|---|---|---|
| Calvert Magruder | 1948–1959 | F.D. Roosevelt |
| Peter Woodbury | 1959–1964 | F.D. Roosevelt |
| Bailey Aldrich | 1965–1972 | Eisenhower |
| Frank M. Coffin | 1972–1983 | Kennedy |
| Levin H. Campbell | 1983–1990 | Ford |
| Stephen G. Breyer | 1990–1994 | Carter |
| Juan R. Torruella | 1994–2001 | Reagan |
| Michael Boudin | 2001–2008 | G.H.W. Bush |
| Sandra L. Lynch | 2008–2015 | Clinton |
| Jeffrey R. Howard | 2015–2022 | G.W. Bush |
| David J. Barron | 2022–present | Obama |