court of appeals

noun phrase

often capitalized C&A
: a court hearing appeals from the decisions of lower courts

called also court of appeal

Examples of court of appeals in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web During their terms, the Trump-Pence administration appointed 223 federal district court and court of appeals judges, and the Biden-Harris administration has thus far appointed more than 210 district court and court of appeals judges. Paul M. Collins Jr., The Conversation, 3 Oct. 2024 The disgraced movie mogul appeared in New York Supreme Criminal Court in Manhattan on Wednesday for the first time since the state's court of appeals threw out his 2020 rape conviction last week. Naledi Ushe, USA TODAY, 1 May 2024 Puget Sound city These included tens of thousands in clerk fees, printing fees, docket fees, court of appeals fees, interpreter fees, honorary court costs, a court tax and an exit tax on the settlement, the documents show – and more than $100,000 more directly to the government entities. Steve Fisher, USA TODAY, 14 Mar. 2024 The trial court had initially dismissed the charge for possession of child pornography in 2012, but the state's court of appeals reinstated the charge in 2014. Joseph Diaz, ABC News, 26 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for court of appeals 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'court of appeals.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1768, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of court of appeals was in 1768

Dictionary Entries Near court of appeals

Cite this Entry

“Court of appeals.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/court%20of%20appeals. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

Legal Definition

court of appeals

often capitalized C&A
: a court hearing appeals from the decisions of lower courts: as
a
: an intermediate court of the U.S. federal judicial system
b
: a state appellate court

called also court of appeal

Note: Not all of the states have intermediate-level courts but of those that do, many are called the Court of Appeals or, in California and Louisiana, the Court of Appeal. In Hawaii, such a court is called the Intermediate Court of Appeals. In some states, appeals are divided between a court of criminal appeals and a court of civil appeals. In the District of Columbia, Maryland, and New York the court of last resort is called the Court of Appeals, and the intermediate court in Maryland is called the Court of Special Appeals. In West Virginia the court of last resort is called the Supreme Court of Appeals. In England the Court of Appeal is a division of the Supreme Court of Judicature.

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