Monday, April 25, 2022
The United States Supreme Court recently issued its 2021 year-end report on the federal judiciary. While federal filings fell across the board, appellate filings experienced a notable decline. Continuing its downward trend over the last five years, the number of federal appellate filings decreased 8% from 48,190 in 2020 to 44,546 in 2021. This is a 13% drop from 2017. Pro se appeals, which accounted for 48% of filings, fell 9%. Civil appeals decreased 9% to 23,256. The only increase was criminal appeals, which rose 10% to 10,625.