1、U.S. Courts of Appeals Basically,Congress has granted the circuit courts appellate jurisdiction over two general categories ofcases.The first ofthese are ordinary civil and criminal appeals from the federal trial courts.In criminal cases the appellant is the defendant because the govern-ment is not
2、free to appeal a verdict of not guilty.In civil cases the party that lost in the trial court is usually the ap-pellant,but the winning party may appeal ifit is not satisfied with the lower-court judgment.The second broad category ofappellate jurisdiction includes appeals from certain federal administrative agencies and depart-ments and also from independent reg-ulatory commissions,such as the Secu-rities and Exchange Commission and the National Labor Relations Board.
