# When did judges stop riding the circuit? (or do they still?) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 24, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-judges-stop-riding-the-circuit-or-do-they-still/220800 "2003-12-24T05:48:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-judges-stop-riding-the-circuit-or-do-they-still/220800/1 "2003-12-24T05:48:45Z")
The late Sen. Paul Simon, in his book _Advice and Consent,_ wrote of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention: ``` They also operated with the understanding- not spelled out in the Constitution- that Supreme Court Justices would "ride circuits," would have a designated territory to cover to hold trials when the Supreme Court was not sitting as a body. ``` Sen. Simon did not go into the practical implications of this circuit-riding. How exactly did this work, and when did it stop? In a related matter, Norman Mailer’s the _Executioner’s Song,_ notes that “(i)n his job, travelling the six-state Circuit,” Judge Lewis “had flown a million miles…” Do judges still travel? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 7:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-judges-stop-riding-the-circuit-or-do-they-still/220800/2 "2003-12-24T07:54:16Z")
From [this site](http://www.fjc.gov/history/home.nsf/page/ss_bdy?OpenDocument&Click=): > [@](#): > > The duties of circuit riding required the Supreme Court justices to spend most of their time traveling and prompted recurrent efforts to reduce or eliminate this responsibility. In 1793, Congress reduced the number of justices required to hold circuit court from two to one. In the Judiciary Act of 1801, Congress created separate circuit judgeships and freed the justices from any circuit court duties, but this exemption was short-lived. In 1802 Congress again assigned the justices to serve on the U.S. circuit courts, although it allowed the district judge to preside alone in some instances. The establishment of separate circuit judgeships in 1869 further relieved the circuit obligations of the justices. When Congress established the circuit courts of appeals in 1891, it finally made the justices’ circuit duty optional. For more info, check [here](http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/web/sdocuments.nsf/0/1314333b51a1bfb188256453007a911c?OpenDocument). Note that each judge of the Supreme Court is still assigned to a particular circuit, as set out on the [Supreme Court’s website](http://www.supremecourtus.gov/about/about.html): > [@](#): > > For the District of Columbia Circuit, William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice. > For the First Circuit, David H. Souter, Associate Justice. > For the Second Circuit, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice. > For the Third Circuit, David H. Souter, Associate Justice. > For the Fourth Circuit, William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice. > For the Fifth Circuit, Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice. > For the Sixth Circuit, John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice. > For the Seventh Circuit, John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice. > For the Eighth Circuit, Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice. > For the Ninth Circuit, Sandra Day O’Connor, Associate Justice. > For the Tenth Circuit, Stephen Breyer, Associate Justice. > For the Eleventh Circuit, Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice. > For the Federal Circuit, William H. Rehnquist, Chief Justice. Exactly what duties they have in connexion with their circuit I don’t know, except I believe that there are some powers that can be exercised by a single judge of the court, like entering an interim stay of the lower court’s order pending decision on application for cert. (E.g. - when a convicted person is facing the death penalty and is trying a last attempt to get the Supreme Court to review the conviction.) ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-judges-stop-riding-the-circuit-or-do-they-still/220800/3 "2003-12-24T08:08:40Z")
In Iowa they do, at least until recently. A school friend of mine was a[District Court](http://www.sos.state.ia.us/publications/redbook/judicial/3-6.html) Judge in northwest Iowa until he retired. A judicial district covered a number of counties and the judges in the smaller and less busy districts) traveled to the country seat in each one on set schedules to hold court. ---
**Author:** ![herman\_and\_bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@herman\_and\_bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/herman_and_bill)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-judges-stop-riding-the-circuit-or-do-they-still/220800/4 "2003-12-24T12:58:50Z")
[West Virginia](http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/circuits/map.htm) has circuit courts ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-judges-stop-riding-the-circuit-or-do-they-still/220800/5 "2003-12-24T13:16:44Z")
They have circuit judges in Arkansas, I believe. I do know that the county where I grew up had two seats and county judges split time between the two, 20 miles apart, though that prolly doesn’t count.