United States Courts of Appeals
Cases in United States Courts of Appeals are heard by a three-judge panel. A majority of the active circuit judges may decide to hear or rehear a case en banc. Parties may suggest an en banc hearing to the judges, but have no right to it. Federal law states en banc proceedings are disfavored but may be ordered in order to maintain uniformity of decisions within the circuit or if the issue is exceptionally important. Fed. R. App. P. 35(a). Each court of appeals also has particular rules regarding en banc proceedings. Only a court sitting en banc or the Supreme Court of the United States can overrule a prior decision in that circuit; in other words, one panel cannot overrule another.
Pub.L. 95-486 states that for courts with more than 15 judges, an en banc hearing may consist of "such number of members of its en banc courts as may be prescribed by rule of the court of appeals." So far, only the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with 29 judges, utilizes that procedure, and its en banc court consists of 11 judges. Theoretically, the Ninth Circuit can hear the case with all judges participating. In practice, however, such a hearing has only been requested four times; the requests have all been denied.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, with 17 judges, is eligible to adopt a similar procedure and has done so in 1986. State of La. ex rel. Guste v. M/V TESTBANK, 752 F.2d 1019 (5th Cir. 1985) (en banc).
Read more about this topic: En Banc
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