This report to the Federal Judicial Center examined the methods and facilities available for legal research in the U.S. courts of appeals and U.S. district courts.

In 1975, the Commission on Revision of the Federal Court Appellate System, chaired by Senator Roman L. Hruska, recommended to the Congress, the President and Chief Justice of the United States that the geographical boundaries of the Fifth and Ninth Circuits be altered to create four circuits.

The report on a sentencing experiment that revealed substantial disparity in determining both the need for incarceration and the lengths of prison terms to be imposed. Matters of disparity and the effects of particular case characteristics are discussed.

A description of procedures in six stages of the appellate process: notification, documentation, argumentation, decision, publication, and mandate.