History
The District Courts of Appeal were created by the Florida Legislature in 1957 to provide an intermediate level of appellate review between the trial courts (the county courts and circuit courts) and the Florida Supreme Court. This was done, as in other parts of the United States, to relieve the state supreme court's ever-increasing appellate docket; the lobbying effort by Florida Supreme Court Justice Elwyn Thomas played a large role in the DCAs' creation.
Three DCAs were initially created, with the Third District Court of Appeal was given jurisdiction over cases arising from Dade and Monroe counties. Later, the Fourth and Fifth District Courts of Appeal were created.
The existence of the DCAs was provided for in the Florida Constitution, which now requires the Legislature to divide the State into appellate court districts, providing each with a DCA.
At the time, Florida was the second state to have "District Courts of Appeal," as California had created its own District Courts of Appeal in 1904. However, in 1966, California dropped the word "District" from the names of the California Courts of Appeal, thus leaving Florida as the sole state with DCAs.
Read more about this topic: Florida District Courts Of Appeal
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