Court of Appeals Caseloads, 1892-2016

U.S. courts of appeals have dealt with the bulk of federal appeals since they began operation in 1892. As the graph below shows, the number of appeals filed with these courts generally increased gradually until the 1960s. From that time to the mid-2000s, the rate of increase grew more rapidly. You can use the controls to the right of the graph to zoom in on a particular period.