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United States Court of Appeals - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | There currently are thirteen United States courts of appeals, although there are other tribunals (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. |
 | | Although the courts of appeals are frequently referred to as "circuit courts," they should not be confused with the historical United States circuit courts, which existed from 1789 to 1911 and were primarily trial courts. |
 | | A court of appeals applies the law as it exists at the time of the appeal, otherwise it would be handing down decisions that were instantly obsolete, and this would be a waste of resources since such decisions could not be cited as precedent. |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/United_States_court_of_appeals (1309 words) |