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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Circuit split</span></span>
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<p>In <a href="United_States_federal_courts" class="mw-redirect" title="United States federal courts">United States federal courts</a>, a <b>circuit split</b>, also known as a <b>split of authority</b> or <b>split in authority</b>, occurs when two or more different <a href="United_States_court_of_appeals" class="mw-redirect" title="United States court of appeals">circuit courts of appeals</a> provide conflicting rulings on the same legal issue.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The existence of a circuit split is one of the factors that the <a href="Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court of the United States</a> considers when deciding whether to grant review of a case.<sup id="cite_ref-SCRule10a_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SCRule10a-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Some scholars suggest that the Supreme Court is more likely to grant review of a case to resolve a circuit split than for any other reason.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Despite the desire of the Supreme Court to resolve conflicts between circuit courts, legal scholars disagree about whether circuit splits are ultimately detrimental or beneficial. Some argue that circuit splits are harmful because they create confusion and encourage <a href="Forum_shopping" title="Forum shopping">forum shopping</a>, while other scholars argue that variation among circuits allows local courts to experiment with new laws that reflect the values of the local residents.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Scholars have also observed that regional variations in different areas of the United States have provided certain circuits with a particular specialization or expertise in some subjects of law.<sup id="cite_ref-Hansford_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hansford-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Origins">Origins</h2></div>
<p><a href="Article_III_of_the_United_States_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="Article III of the United States Constitution">Article III of the United States Constitution</a> specifies that "[t]he judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish."<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1789, <a href="Judiciary_Act_of_1789" title="Judiciary Act of 1789">Congress created</a> the first system of intermediate <a href="Appellate_courts" class="mw-redirect" title="Appellate courts">appellate courts</a>, known as <a href="United_States_circuit_court" title="United States circuit court">federal circuit courts</a>, which had appellate jurisdiction over certain matters decided by <a href="United_States_district_court" title="United States district court">district courts</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These federal circuit courts consisted of two justices from the <a href="Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court of the United States</a> and one district court judge.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In 1891, Congress created the existing system of <a href="United_States_courts_of_appeals" title="United States courts of appeals">United States courts of appeals</a>, which hear appeals from United States district courts within limited geographic areas.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, the <a href="United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Fifth_Circuit" title="United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit">United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit</a> hears appeals originating from United States district courts in <a href="Louisiana" title="Louisiana">Louisiana</a>, <a href="Mississippi" title="Mississippi">Mississippi</a>, and <a href="Texas" title="Texas">Texas</a>. Decisions in circuit courts are usually made by rotating three-judge panels chosen from judges sitting within that circuit, and circuit courts also occasionally decide cases <i><a href="En_banc" title="En banc">en banc</a></i>.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Circuit courts do not collaborate or work with other circuits to resolve legal issues, and different circuit courts may reach conflicting conclusions about the same legal issue.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Furthermore, cases decided in one circuit are not binding authority on other circuits.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> If the Supreme Court of the United States has not ruled on a legal issue, federal courts of appeals resolve these issues "as they see fit, subject only to a norm of intracircuit <a href="Stare_decisis" class="mw-redirect" title="Stare decisis">stare decisis</a>."<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> When a circuit split occurs, there is rarely an even numeric division among courts of appeals with regard to how the dispute should be resolved.<sup id="cite_ref-Cummins_14-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Cummins-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In fact, one study found that courts of appeals split evenly in less than one third of all circuit splits.<sup id="cite_ref-Cummins_14-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Cummins-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Occasionally, separate courts of appeals will reach three or more different conclusions with regard to the same legal issue.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Significance">Significance</h2></div>
<p>Some scholars criticize the existence of circuit splits,<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> while other scholars suggest that circuit splits may, in fact, be beneficial.<sup id="cite_ref-Frost_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Frost-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Others simply argue that circuit splits may not be ideal, but problems associated with inter-circuit conflicts are overstated.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge <a href="Harvie_Wilkinson" class="mw-redirect" title="Harvie Wilkinson">Harvie Wilkinson</a> once stated the "world will not end because a few circuit splits are left unresolved."<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Criticisms_of_circuit_splits">Criticisms of circuit splits</h3></div>
<p>Legal analysts have identified problems associated with circuit splits.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Jesse M. Boodoo, for example, suggests that circuit splits create a state of confusion and uncertainty for citizens.<sup id="cite_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Because different laws are applied and enforced in different jurisdictions, Daniel J. Meador has argued that Circuit splits may create a judicial "<a href="Tower_of_Babel" title="Tower of Babel">Tower of Babel</a>."<sup id="cite_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additionally, <a href="Wayne_Logan" title="Wayne Logan">Wayne A. Logan</a> has argued that if courts speak with a unified voice, this will "secure popular respect for judicial authority."<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Likewise, Matthew Lund cautions that circuit splits will lead to <a href="Forum_shopping" title="Forum shopping">forum shopping</a>, where litigants flock to jurisdictions with more favorable laws.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Judge <a href="Kimberly_A._Moore" title="Kimberly A. Moore">Kimberly A. Moore</a> also suggests that circuit splits and forum shopping lead to <a href="Economic_inefficiency" class="mw-redirect" title="Economic inefficiency">economic inefficiency</a> because outcomes are unpredictable and litigants are less likely to <a href="Settlement_(litigation)" title="Settlement (litigation)">settle</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Scholars have also argued that inconsistent application of laws in different circuits is inherently unfair.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="Trevor_W._Morrison" class="mw-redirect" title="Trevor W. Morrison">Trevor W. Morrison</a>, for example, claims that circuit splits create potential <a href="Due_process" title="Due process">due process</a> conflicts if criminal defendants are unaware that their behavior constitutes criminal activity in that circuit.<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> An article in the <i>New England Journal on Criminal &amp; Civil Confinement</i> also suggested that there is the potential for the unconstitutional <i><a href="Ex_post_facto" class="mw-redirect" title="Ex post facto">ex post facto</a></i> application of law after circuit splits are resolved.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additionally, Jesse M. Boodoo argues that <a href="List_of_United_States_federal_agencies" class="mw-redirect" title="List of United States federal agencies">federal agencies</a> tasked with enforcing laws throughout the United States may face challenges implementing regulatory measures when federal legislation is interpreted differently in separate circuits.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Arguments_in_favor_of_circuit_splits">Arguments in favor of circuit splits</h3></div>
<p>Legal scholars have also identified benefits associated with circuit splits.<sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, <a href="Associate_Justice_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court" class="mw-redirect" title="Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court">Justice</a> <a href="Louis_Brandeis" title="Louis Brandeis">Louis Brandeis</a> praised the fact that splits of opinion among courts allow jurisdictions to experiment with new developments in law without risking harm to other jurisdictions.<sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Judge <a href="Diane_P._Wood" class="mw-redirect" title="Diane P. Wood">Diane P. Wood</a> has suggested that circuit splits and "disagreements with colleagues force judges to sharpen their writing, push them to defend their positions, and from time to time persuade them that someone else's perspective is preferable".<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Amanda Frost has argued that negative attitudes toward circuit splits may hinder progress and creative problem solving because "[c]ourts of appeals are generally hesitant to depart from precedent set in other jurisdictions, despite being under no obligation to adhere to decisions by sister circuits."<sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Consequently, Frost suggests that uniformity among circuits may be "overvalued."<sup id="cite_ref-Frost_17-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Frost-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Likewise, <a href="Wayne_Logan" title="Wayne Logan">Wayne A. Logan</a> suggests that circuit splits may also be beneficial by virtue of the fact that citizens in different parts of the country have different preferences for how to structure their laws.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additionally, Judge <a href="J._Clifford_Wallace" title="J. Clifford Wallace">J. Clifford Wallace</a> has argued that there is nothing inherently wrong with different laws existing in different circuits,<sup id="cite_ref-35" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and "if conflicts were by their very nature unacceptable, the traditional rule denying precedential status to out-of-circuit decisions probably would not have enjoyed its long history."<sup id="cite_ref-36" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-36"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>36<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Resolving_circuit_splits_at_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States">Resolving circuit splits at the Supreme Court of the United States</h2></div>
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<p>"[T]he ultimate guiding rule, should be announced by the Supreme Court, so that there may be uniformity of decision in the several circuits courts of appeal, and also uniformity of decision in the State Courts insofar as federal matters are concerned."
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<div style="padding-bottom: 0; padding-top: 0.5em"><cite class="left-aligned" style="">—Associate Supreme Court Justice <a href="Willis_Van_Devanter" title="Willis Van Devanter">Willis Van Devanter</a> testifying before the <a href="United_States_Senate_Committee_on_the_Judiciary" title="United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary">United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary</a> in 1924<sup id="cite_ref-37" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-37"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>37<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></cite></div>
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<p>One of the primary functions of the <a href="Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States" title="Supreme Court of the United States">Supreme Court of the United States</a> is to ensure that laws are interpreted uniformly among intermediate courts of appeal.<sup id="cite_ref-38" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-38"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>38<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Unless <a href="United_States_Congress" title="United States Congress">the legislature</a> takes action, the United States Supreme Court is the only source of resolution for conflicts among intermediate courts of appeal.<sup id="cite_ref-39" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-39"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>39<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Consequently, the existence of a circuit split may be a key factor when the Supreme Court <a href="Procedures_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States#Selection_of_cases" title="Procedures of the Supreme Court of the United States">decides whether to accept a case</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-40" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-40"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>40<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Although the Court always maintains discretion over whether it should grant review of a case, the Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States specifically state that the existence of a circuit split is one of the factors the Court considers when deciding whether to grant review.<sup id="cite_ref-SCRule10a_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-SCRule10a-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Philip Allen Lacovara and H.W. Perry both claim that the existence of a circuit split is "the single most important generalizable factor" that determines whether the Supreme Court will grant review of a case.<sup id="cite_ref-41" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-41"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>41<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Indeed, justices sometimes cite the lack of a circuit split as a reason to deny review in a case.<sup id="cite_ref-42" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-42"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>42<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>Although federal judges are prohibited from commenting publicly "on the merits of a matter pending or impending in any court",<sup id="cite_ref-43" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-43"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>43<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Judge <a href="Alfred_T._Goodwin" class="mw-redirect" title="Alfred T. Goodwin">Alfred T. Goodwin</a> has stated that circuit court judges will occasionally create circuit splits to "hold the Supreme Court's toes to the fire" and force the Supreme Court to overrule precedent in other circuits.<sup id="cite_ref-44" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-44"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>44<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Goodwin also wrote that "some of our number actually found it intellectually stimulating to challenge the Supreme Court from time to time" but that those judges "usually were rewarded by a Nine Zip reversal".<sup id="cite_ref-45" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-45"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>45<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Likewise, <a href="Charles_R._Wilson_(judge)" title="Charles R. Wilson (judge)">Judge Charles R. Wilson</a> noted that when he drafted dissenting opinions, he would consider whether the parties planned to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of the United States, and "[i]f I believe that the parties will [file an appeal], I write the dissent with the Supreme Court in mind".<sup id="cite_ref-46" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-46"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>46<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> C. Steven Bradford has also argued that circuit courts will "disregard a Supreme Court precedent if convinced that the Supreme Court would not follow it".<sup id="cite_ref-47" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-47"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>47<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>A study of Supreme Court cases during the first six terms of the <a href="Roberts_Court" title="Roberts Court">Roberts Court</a> (2005–2010) resolving circuit splits found that the Supreme Court upheld the view held by the majority of circuits in 51.5 percent of all cases.<sup id="cite_ref-48" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-48"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>48<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This same study found the greatest agreement when deciding legal issues between the Fifth and Tenth circuits (80.6 percent), the First and Second circuits (73.5 percent), and the Fifth and Fourth circuits (73.0 percent).<sup id="cite_ref-Summers_49-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Summers-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The circuit courts that agreed the least frequently were the Ninth and Fourth circuits (39.0 percent) and the Ninth and Seventh circuits (39.2 percent).<sup id="cite_ref-Summers_49-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Summers-49"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>49<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Additionally, a study analyzing cases from the 2010 term found that nearly two thirds of Supreme Court decisions resolving circuit splits were decided unanimously or by an 8-1 vote.<sup id="cite_ref-Cummins_14-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Cummins-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Specialization_among_circuit_courts_of_appeals">Specialization among circuit courts of appeals</h2></div>
<p>The eleven numbered circuit courts of appeals and the District of Columbia Circuit have appellate jurisdiction over cases in almost every area of the law<sup id="cite_ref-50" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-50"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>50<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> arising within the boundaries of that circuit.<sup id="cite_ref-51" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-51"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>51<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> However, the subjects that appear more frequently in each circuit vary according to the kinds of cases that arise more often within the circuit's boundaries.<sup id="cite_ref-Hansford_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hansford-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, the District of Columbia Circuit, which contains the <a href="Washington%2C_D.C." title="Washington, D.C.">federal capital</a>, hears a large number of <a href="Administrative_law" title="Administrative law">administrative law</a> cases.<sup id="cite_ref-52" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-52"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>52<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Likewise, the Second Circuit, which contains <a href="New_York_City" title="New York City">New York</a>, hears nearly one third of all federal <a href="Securities_law" class="mw-redirect" title="Securities law">securities law</a> appeals, while the Fifth Circuit, which covers more than half of the <a href="Mexico%E2%80%93United_States_border" title="Mexico–United States border">Mexico–United States border</a>, hears approximately half of all federal immigration appeals.<sup id="cite_ref-53" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-53"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>53<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Eric Hansford argues that this has led to "specialized" courts with particular expertise with the subjects that appear before the court more frequently.<sup id="cite_ref-Hansford_5-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Hansford-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Studies also suggest that the Supreme Court is more likely to affirm decisions of circuit courts when the circuit court has ruled on a case for which they possess special expertise.<sup id="cite_ref-54" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-54"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>54<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>In some specialized areas of the law, cases are assigned to a court of appeals that possesses expertise in that area of the law.<sup id="cite_ref-55" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-55"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>55<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> For example, Congress created the <a href="Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Federal_Circuit" class="mw-redirect" title="Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit">Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit</a> as an exclusive federal court of appeals for <a href="Patent" title="Patent">patent</a> cases.<sup id="cite_ref-56" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-56"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>56<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Congress noted that consolidating cases in a single court of appeals would "strengthen the United States patent system in such a way as to foster technological growth and industrial innovation."<sup id="cite_ref-57" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-57"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>57<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Because of its role as a specialist court, circuit splits rarely exist between the Federal Circuit and other circuit courts of appeal.<sup id="cite_ref-58" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-58"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>58<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In his opinion in <i><a href="Markman_v._Westview_Instruments%2C_Inc." title="Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.">Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.</a></i>, Justice <a href="David_Souter" title="David Souter">David Souter</a> observed that avoiding conflicting rulings among circuit courts in patent law cases benefits the economy by providing legal certainty to businesses.<sup id="cite_ref-59" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-59"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>59<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Examples_of_existing_circuit_splits">Examples of existing circuit splits</h2></div>
<p>The following are examples of existing splits of authority between different circuit courts of appeals:<sup id="cite_ref-60" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-60"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>60<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p>
<ul><li>The Sixth Circuit and the Tenth Circuit disagree with regard to whether police may seize an individual, without a warrant, based solely on the officers' reasonable suspicion that the individual being seized committed a misdemeanor.<sup id="cite_ref-61" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-61"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>61<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li>
<li>The Third Circuit, Fifth Circuit, and Ninth Circuit disagree with regard to whether the "special needs" exception permits warrantless strip searches of juveniles.<sup id="cite_ref-62" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-62"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>62<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li>
<li>The Fifth Circuit and the Eleventh Circuit disagree with regard to whether prisoners have a reasonable expectation of privacy for correspondence with their attorney.<sup id="cite_ref-63" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-63"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>63<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li>
<li>The First Circuit and the Fifth Circuit disagree with regard to the appellate standard of review for a trial court's determination of the scope of defendant's consent to search.<sup id="cite_ref-64" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-64"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>64<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
<ul><li><a href="List_of_United_States_courts_of_appeals_cases" title="List of United States courts of appeals cases">List of United States courts of appeals cases</a></li>
<li><a href="State_supreme_court" title="State supreme court">State supreme court</a></li>
<li><a href="Judicial_appointment_history_for_United_States_federal_courts" title="Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts">Judicial appointment history for United States federal courts</a></li>
<li><a href="Plurality_decision" title="Plurality decision">Plurality decision</a></li></ul>
<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
<p>The citations in this article are written in <a href="Bluebook" title="Bluebook">Bluebook</a> style. Please see the talk page for more information.
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<li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2013RulesoftheCourt.pdf">Sup. Ct. R. 10(a) (2013)</a>; see also Tom Cummins &amp; Adam Aft, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://journaloflaw.us/0%20JoL/2-1/JoL2-1.pdf"><i>Appellate Review</i></a>, 2 <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r920966791">
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</style><span class="smallcaps">J.L.: Periodical Laboratory of Leg. Scholarship</span> 59, 60 (2012) (discussing definition of the term "circuit split").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-SCRule10a-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-SCRule10a_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-SCRule10a_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2013RulesoftheCourt.pdf">https://www.supremecourt.gov/ctrules/2013RulesoftheCourt.pdf</a> </span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Philip Allen Lacovara, <span class="smallcaps">Federal Appellate Practice</span> 647 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Clifford Wallace, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2139&amp;context=californialawreview"><i>The Nature and Extent of Intercircuit Conflicts: A Solution Needed for a Mountain or a Molehill?</i></a>, 71 <span class="smallcaps">Cal. L. Rev.</span> 913 (1983) (assessing arguments on both sides of the debate).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Hansford-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Hansford_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Hansford_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Hansford_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Eric Hansford, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/Hansford-63_Stan-L-Rev-1145.pdf"><i>Measuring the Effects of Specialization with Circuit Split Resolutions</i></a>, 63 <span class="smallcaps">Stan. L. Rev.</span> 1145, 1150 (2011).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a href="United_States_Constitution" class="mw-redirect" title="United States Constitution">U.S. Const.</a> art. III, §&nbsp;1.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Daniel John Meador &amp; Jordana Simone Bernstein, <span class="smallcaps">Appellate Courts in the United States</span> 7 (1994); Ruth A. Moyer, <i>Disagreement About Disagreement: The Effect of A Circuit Split or "Other Circuit" Authority on the Availability of Federal Habeas Relief for State Convicts</i>, 82 <span class="smallcaps">U. Cin. L. Rev.</span> 831, 836 (2014) (discussing history of federal circuit courts).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ruth A. Moyer, <i>Disagreement About Disagreement: The Effect of A Circuit Split or "Other Circuit" Authority on the Availability of Federal Habeas Relief for State Convicts</i>, 82 <span class="smallcaps">U. Cin. L. Rev.</span> 831, 836 (2014).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Daniel John Meador &amp; Jordana Simone Bernstein, <span class="smallcaps">Appellate Courts in the United States</span> 7 (1994).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Arthur D. Hellman, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.law.siu.edu/_common/documents/law-journal/articles-2008/hellman.pdf"><i>"The Law of the Circuit" Revisited: What Role for Majority Rule?</i></a>, 32 <span class="smallcaps">S. Ill. U. L.J.</span> 625 (2008); see also Fed. R. App. P. 35(a).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Arthur March Brown, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1326408"><i>Comity in the Fed. Courts</i></a>, 28 <span class="smallcaps">Harv. L. Rev.</span> 589, 590 (1915) ("Each District Court is independent of every other District Court, each Circuit Court of Appeals of every other Circuit Court of Appeals.").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Chad Flanders, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://adams.law.ou.edu/olr/articles/vol62/621-2%20flanders%20article%20blu2.pdf"><i>Toward a Theory of Persuasive Authority</i></a>, 62 <span class="smallcaps">Okla. L. Rev.</span> 55, 77 (2009) ("[T]he fact that a court in a different circuit has ruled one way does not mean that all the circuits have to rule that way; indeed, even if every other court has ruled one way, this does not mandate the outcome for the remaining circuit.").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wayne A. Logan, <i><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/89/2012/10/Logan_65_Vand_L_Rev_1137.pdf">Constitutional Cacophony: Federal Circuit Splits and the Fourth Amendment</a></i>, 65 <span class="smallcaps">Vand. L. Rev.</span> 1137, 1139 (2012).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Cummins-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Cummins_14-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cummins_14-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Cummins_14-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Tom Cummins &amp; Adam Aft, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://journaloflaw.us/0%20JoL/2-1/JoL2-1.pdf"><i>Appellate Review</i></a>, 2 <span class="smallcaps">J.L.: Periodical Laboratory of Leg. Scholarship</span> 59 (2012).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Deborah J. Buswell, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.djcl.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/FOREIGN-TRADE-ANTITRUST-IMPROVEMENTS-ACT-A-THREE-RING-CIRCUS-THREE-CIRCUITS-THREE-INTERPRETATIONS.pdf"><i>Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act: A Three Ring Circus — Three Circuits, Three Interpretations</i></a>, 28 <span class="smallcaps">Del. J. Corp. L.</span> 979 (2003).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Trevor W. Morrison, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/constitutional-governance/files/Fair-Warning-and-the-Retroactive-Judicial-Expansion.pdf"><i>Fair Warning &amp; the Retroactive Judicial Expansion of Federal Criminal Statutes</i></a>, 74 <span class="smallcaps">S. Cal. L. Rev.</span> 455 (2001).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-Frost-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Frost_17-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Frost_17-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Amanda Frost, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25470597"><i>Overvaluing Uniformity</i></a>, 94 <span class="smallcaps">Va. L. Rev.</span> 1567, 1571 (2008).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., J. Clifford Wallace, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2139&amp;context=californialawreview"><i>The Nature and Extent of Intercircuit Conflicts: A Solution Needed for a Mountain or a Molehill?</i></a>, 71 <span class="smallcaps">Cal. L. Rev.</span> 913, 923, 929 (1983).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">J. Harvie Wilkinson III, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.yalelawjournal.org/forum/if-it-aint-broke-"><i>If It Ain't Broke . . .</i></a>, 119 <span class="smallcaps">Yale L.J. Online</span> 67, 69 (2010).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wayne A. Logan, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/content/articles/2012/10/Logan_65_Vand_L_Rev_1137.pdf"><i>Constitutional Cacophony: Federal Circuit Splits &amp; the Fourth Amendment</i></a>, 65 <span class="smallcaps">Vand. L. Rev.</span> 1137, 1147–48 (2012) (noting that researchers have identified "unique problems they present").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jesse M. Boodoo, <i>Compounding Problems &amp; Compounding Confusion: Federal Regulation of Compounded Drug Products &amp; the FDAMA Circuit Split</i>, 36 <span class="smallcaps">Am. J.L. &amp; Med.</span> 220, 243 (2010) ("The split between the Fifth and Ninth Circuits on the severability of the FDAMA creates a confusing state of affairs.").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Daniel J. Meador, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/1599847"><i>A Challenge to the Judicial Architecture: Modifying the Regional Design of the U.S. Courts of Appeal</i></a>, 56 <span class="smallcaps">U. Chi. L. Rev.</span> 603, 640 (1989).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wayne A. Logan, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/content/articles/2012/10/Logan_65_Vand_L_Rev_1137.pdf"><i>Constitutional Cacophony: Federal Circuit Splits &amp; the Fourth Amendment</i></a>, 65 <span class="smallcaps">Vand. L. Rev.</span> 1137, 1173 (2012).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Matthew Lund, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digitalcommons.law.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2425&amp;context=lawreview"><i>Rockwell International, Pondcrete, and an A La Carte Three-Step Test for Determining an "Original Source" in Qui Tam Lawsuits</i></a>, 2008 <span class="smallcaps">B.Y.U. L. Rev.</span> 1243, 1244 (2008).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Kimberly A. Moore, <i>Forum Shopping in Patent Cases: Does Geographic Choice Affect Innovation?</i>, 79 <span class="smallcaps">N.C. L. Rev.</span> 889, 893-94 (2001).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Kiran H. Griffith, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://seattle.lawreviewnetwork.com/files/2013/02/FugitivesinImmigration.pdf"><i>Fugitives in Immigration: A Call for Legislative Guidelines on Disentitlement</i></a>, 36 <span class="smallcaps">Seattle U.L. Rev.</span> 209, 243 (2012) (arguing that it is "intolerable" for one result to be reached "in one circuit and the opposite result in another").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Trevor W. Morrison, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/constitutional-governance/files/Fair-Warning-and-the-Retroactive-Judicial-Expansion.pdf"><i>Fair Warning &amp; the Retroactive Judicial Expansion of Federal Criminal Statutes</i></a>, 74 <span class="smallcaps">S. Cal. L. Rev.</span> 455 (2001) (discussing due process implications of circuit splits in federal criminal law).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Retrospective Application of State Firearm Prohibitions Triggering Enhanced Sentencing Under Federal Law: A Violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause? The Circuits Split</i>, 27 <span class="smallcaps">New Eng. J. on Crim. &amp; Civ. Confinement</span> 307, 323 (2001) (discussing <i>ex post facto</i> application of law).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jesse M. Boodoo, <i>Compounding Problems &amp; Compounding Confusion: Federal Regulation of Compounded Drug Products &amp; the FDAMA Circuit Split</i>, 36 <span class="smallcaps">Am. J.L. &amp; Med.</span> 220 (2010) (discussing challenges with FDA's initial assertion of regulatory jurisdiction over compounded drugs in light of existing circuit split).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g., Amanda Frost, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25470597"><i>Overvaluing Uniformity</i></a>, 94 <span class="smallcaps">Va. L. Rev.</span> 1567, 1578 (2008); J. Clifford Wallace, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2139&amp;context=californialawreview"><i>The Nature and Extent of Intercircuit Conflicts: A Solution Needed for a Mountain or a Molehill?</i></a>, 71 <span class="smallcaps">Cal. L. Rev.</span> 913, 923, 929 (1983).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See <i>New State Ice Co. v. Liebmann</i>, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_285" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 285">285</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/285/262/#311">262, 311</a> (1932) (Brandeis, J., dissenting) ("It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Diane P. Wood, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11396&amp;context=journal_articles"><i>Is It Time to Abolish the Federal Circuit's Exclusive Jurisdiction in Patent Cases?</i></a>, 13 <span class="smallcaps">Chi.-Kent J. of Intell. Prop.</span> L. 1, 5-6 (2013).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Amanda Frost, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25470597"><i>Overvaluing Uniformity</i></a>, 94 <span class="smallcaps">Va. L. Rev.</span> 1567, 1578 (2008) (arguing that "nonuniformity has too often been given priority at the expense of other values").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wayne A. Logan, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/content/articles/2012/10/Logan_65_Vand_L_Rev_1137.pdf"><i>Constitutional Cacophony: Federal Circuit Splits &amp; the Fourth Amendment</i></a>, 65 <span class="smallcaps">Vand. L. Rev.</span> 1137, 1161–62 (2012).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">J. Clifford Wallace, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2139&amp;context=californialawreview"><i>The Nature and Extent of Intercircuit Conflicts: A Solution Needed for a Mountain or a Molehill?</i></a>, 71 <span class="smallcaps">Cal. L. Rev.</span> 913, 923, 929 (1983) (noting that it is "not clear that there is anything intrinsically unacceptable about conflicts").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-36"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-36">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">J. Clifford Wallace, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2139&amp;context=californialawreview"><i>The Nature and Extent of Intercircuit Conflicts: A Solution Needed for a Mountain or a Molehill?</i></a>, 71 <span class="smallcaps">Cal. L. Rev.</span> 913, 929 (1983).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-37"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-37">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Testimony of <a href="Justice_Van_Devanter" class="mw-redirect" title="Justice Van Devanter">Justice Van Devanter</a>, <span class="smallcaps">Hearings before Subcomm. of Sen. Comm. on Judiciary</span>, 68th Cong., 1st Sess., at 29-30 (1924).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-38"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-38">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Testimony of <a href="Justice_Van_Devanter" class="mw-redirect" title="Justice Van Devanter">Justice Van Devanter</a>, <span class="smallcaps">Hearings before Subcomm. of Sen. Comm. on Judiciary</span>, 68th Cong., 1st Sess., at 29-30 (1924); see also <i>Wright v. North Carolina</i>, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_415" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 415">415</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/415/936/">936</a>, cert. den. (Douglas, J., dissenting).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-39"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-39">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Wright v. North Carolina</i>, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_415" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 415">415</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/415/936/">936</a>, cert. den. (Douglas, J., dissenting) ("We are, of course, the only source of resolution for this conflict and it is our obligation to provide uniformity on such important federal constitutional questions.").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-40"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-40">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">H.W. Perry, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEDxr2-dda8C&amp;pg=PA251/"><span class="smallcaps">Deciding to Decide: Agenda Setting in the United States Supreme Court</span></a>, Harvard University Press 251 (1991); see also <i>Moskal v. United States</i>, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_498" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 498">498</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/498/103/#106">103, 106</a> (1990) ("[W]e granted certiorari to resolve a divergence of opinion among the Courts of Appeals.").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-41"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-41">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Quoting Philip Allen Lacovara, <span class="smallcaps">Federal Appellate Practice</span> 647 (2008) (internal quotation marks omitted); see also H.W. Perry, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=ZEDxr2-dda8C&amp;pg=PA251/"><span class="smallcaps">Deciding to Decide: Agenda Setting in the United States Supreme Court</span></a>, Harvard University Press 246 (1991); Ryan Stephenson, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://georgetownlawjournal.org/files/2013/11/Stephenson.pdf"><i>Federal Circuit Case Selection at the Supreme Court: An Empirical Analysis</i></a> 102 <span class="smallcaps">Geo. L.J.</span> 271, 274 (2013) (discussing Perry's findings).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-42"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-42">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><i>Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky Inc.</i>, No. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&amp;vol=000&amp;invol=18-483">18-483</a>, ___ <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> ___, slip op. at 3 (2019)</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-43"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-43">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><span class="smallcaps">Code of Conduct for United States Judges</span>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.uscourts.gov/judges-judgeships/code-conduct-united-states-judges"><i>Canon 3: A Judge Should Perform the Duties of the Office Fairly, Impartially and Diligently</i></a>.</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-44"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-44">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stephen L. Wasby, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2245&amp;context=mlr"><i>Intercircuit Conflicts in the Courts of Appeals</i></a>, 63 <span class="smallcaps">Mont. L. Rev.</span> 119, 140 (2002) (internal citations and quotations omitted) (noting that Goodwin "always took the view that we should not hesitate to create splits if we thoughtfully and carefully concluded that [another] Circuit was wrong").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-45"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-45">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Stephen L. Wasby, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://scholarship.law.umt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2245&amp;context=mlr"><i>Intercircuit Conflicts in the Courts of Appeals</i></a>, 63 <span class="smallcaps">Mont. L. Rev.</span> 119, 140 n.53 (2002) (internal citations and quotations omitted).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-46"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-46">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Charles R. Wilson, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.stetson.edu/law/lawreview/media/how-opinions-are-developed-in-the-united-states-court-of-appeals-for-the-eleventh-circuit.pdf"><i>How Opinions Are Developed in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit</i></a>, 32 <span class="smallcaps">Stetson L. Rev.</span> 247, 266 n.102 (2003).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-47"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-47">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">C. Steven Bradford, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2936&amp;context=flr"><i>Following Dead Precedent: The Supreme Court's Ill-Advised Rejection of Anticipatory Overruling</i></a>, 59 <span class="smallcaps">Fordham L. Rev.</span> 39, 43 (1990).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-48"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-48">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">John S. Summers &amp; Michael J. Newman, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.hangley.com/ufiles/summers_toward_a_better_understanding_of_ussc_decisions.pdf"><i>Towards a Better Measure and Understanding of U.S. Supreme Court Review of Courts of Appeals Decisions</i></a>, 80 U.S.L.W. 393 (2011); cf. Tom Cummins &amp; Adam Aft, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://journaloflaw.us/0%20JoL/2-1/JoL2-1.pdf"><i>Appellate Review</i></a>, 2 <span class="smallcaps">J.L.: Periodical Laboratory of Leg. Scholarship</span> 59 (2012) (finding agreement with majority of circuits in ninety percent of cases).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-Summers-49"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Summers_49-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Summers_49-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">John S. Summers &amp; Michael J. Newman, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.hangley.com/ufiles/summers_toward_a_better_understanding_of_ussc_decisions.pdf"><i>Towards a Better Measure and Understanding of U.S. Supreme Court Review of Courts of Appeals Decisions</i></a>, 80 U.S.L.W. 393 (2011).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-50"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-50">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Ruth Bader Ginsburg, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5685&amp;context=lalrev"><i>An Overview of Court Review for Constitutionality in the United States</i></a>, 57 <span class="smallcaps">La. L. Rev.</span> 1019, 1021 (1997) ("With some notable exceptions . . . federal courts are not specialized tribunals; typically, they are generalist courts, and none of their members sit, as continental judges do, in sections divided by subject matter.").</span>
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<li id="cite_note-51"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-51">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See 28 U.S.C. §§&nbsp;1291, 1294 (2006).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-52"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-52">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">John G. Roberts, Jr., <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.virginialawreview.org/sites/virginialawreview.org/files/375_0.pdf"><i>What Makes the D.C. Circuit Different? A Historical View</i></a>, 92 <span class="smallcaps">Va. L. Rev.</span> 375 (2006).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-53"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-53">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Eric Hansford, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/Hansford-63_Stan-L-Rev-1145.pdf"><i>Measuring the Effects of Specialization with Circuit Split Resolutions</i></a>, 63 <span class="smallcaps">Stan. L. Rev.</span> 1145, 1150 (2011) (noting that these totals are slightly misleading, because they do not account for discrepancies between the geographic size of the circuit courts).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-54"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-54">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Eric Hansford, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/Hansford-63_Stan-L-Rev-1145.pdf"><i>Measuring the Effects of Specialization with Circuit Split Resolutions</i></a>, 63 <span class="smallcaps">Stan. L. Rev.</span> 1145, 1167 (2011) (concluding that "partial specialization improves judicial performance").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-55"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-55">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g. <i>Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.</i>, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_517" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 517">517</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/517/370/">370</a> (1996) (discussing formation of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-56"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-56">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">H.R.Rep. No. 97–312, pp. 20–23 (1981).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-57"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-57">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">H.R.Rep. No. 97–312, p. 20 (1981).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-58"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-58">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Eric Hansford, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/sites/default/files/articles/Hansford-63_Stan-L-Rev-1145.pdf"><i>Measuring the Effects of Specialization with Circuit Split Resolutions</i></a>, 63 <span class="smallcaps">Stan. L. Rev.</span> 1145, 1150 (2011) ("[t]he Federal Circuit rarely opposes other circuits in circuit splits").</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-59"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-59">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See, e.g. <i>Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc.</i>, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_517" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 517">517</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/517/370/">370</a> (1996) (discussing economic consequences of creating the Federal Circuit as a specialized tribunal).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-60"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-60">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">See Wayne A. Logan, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.vanderbiltlawreview.org/content/articles/2012/10/Logan_65_Vand_L_Rev_1137.pdf"><i>Constitutional Cacophony: Federal Circuit Splits &amp; the Fourth Amendment</i></a>, 65 <span class="smallcaps">Vand. L. Rev.</span> 1137, 1195 (2012).</span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-61"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-61">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Compare <i>United States v. Moran</i>, 503 F.3d 1135 (10th Cir. 2007) with <i>Gaddis v. Redford</i>, 364 F.3d 763 (6th Cir. 2007)), cert. denied, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_553" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 553">553</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/553/1035/">1035</a> (2008).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-62"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-62">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Compare <i>Roe v. Tex. Dep't of Prot. &amp; Regulatory Servs.</i>, 299 F.3d 395, 407-08 (5th Cir. 2002) with <i>Landstrom v. Ill. Dep't of Children &amp; Family Servs.</i>, 892 F.2d 670, 676 (9th Cir. 1990) (noting disagreement with <i>Good v. Dauphin Cnty. Soc. Servs. for Children &amp; Youth</i>, 891 F.2d 1087, 1092 (3d Cir. 1989)).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-63"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-63">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Compare <i>Al-Amin v. Smith</i>, 511 F.3d 1317 (11th Cir.), cert. denied, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_555" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 555">555</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/555/820/">820</a> (2008) with <i>Brewer v. Wilkinson</i>, 3 F.3d 816 (5th Cir. 1993), cert. denied, <a href="List_of_United_States_Supreme_Court_cases%2C_volume_510" title="List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 510">510</a> <a href="United_States_Reports" title="United States Reports">U.S.</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/510/1123/">1123</a> (1994).</span>
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<li id="cite_note-64"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-64">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Compare <i>United States v. Melendez</i>, 301 F.3d 27, 32 (1st Cir. 2002) with <i>United States v. Stewart</i>, 93 F.3d 189, 192 (5th Cir. 1996).</span>
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