2010 Annual Director's Report - Judicial Discipline Reform

12 Adminstrative Office of the United States Courts
Caseload Highlights
U.S. Courts of Appeals
U.S. District Courts
• Filings in the regional appeals
courts fell 3 percent to 55,992.
• Civil appeals remained stable.
• Criminal appeals dropped 7 percent,
appeals of administrative agency
decisions declined 9 percent, and bankruptcy
appeals decreased 15 percent.
• Original proceedings rose 2 percent.
• Appeals involving pro se litigants fell 2
percent.
• Combined filings of civil and criminal cases in
the U.S. district courts increased 2 percent to
361,323.
Civil Filings
• Civil filings grew 2 percent to 282,895.
• Diversity of citizenship filings rose 4 percent.
• Federal question filings climbed 2 percent.
• Filings with the United States as plaintiff or
defendant held steady.
Criminal Filings
• Filings of criminal cases (including transfers)
increased 2 percent to 78,428, and the number
of criminal defendants grew 2 percent to
an all-time high of 100,366.
• Immigration cases climbed 9 percent, and
defendants in those cases rose 8 percent.
• Fraud cases and defendants set new records
as they went up 12 percent and 13 percent,
respectively.
• Drug cases dropped 5 percent, and drug
crime defendants decreased 2 percent.