The Judiciary Act of 1891, commonly known as the Evarts Act, restructured the federal judiciary. This law created the now well-known district courts of appeal. At that time, there were nine district courts of appeal. Now there are twelve of them.
Before the Evarts Act, there were district courts in the states. For example, there was a US District Court for the District of Maryland. (This judgment may be made familiar to those who have read Ex Parte Merryman). And Judge Bushrod Washington decided Corfield v. Coryell while driving a circuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
I have a question that I can’t find an answer to. Would a decision by the US District Court for the District of Maryland, which was in the 4th Circuit, prior to 1892 be binding precedent for the US District Court for the Fourth Circuit after 1891?
In a related context, I know that the decisions of the “old” Fifth Circuit are binding precedent for the Eleventh Circuit, which split from the Fifth Circuit in 1981. But I’m not sure about the relationship between the pre-Evarts Act Circuit Courts and the post-Evarts Acts Circuit Appeal Courts.
If you have any knowledge please email me. I never check comments or tweets. (but you all already knew that).