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For fiscal year 2002 slightly more than 340,000 cases were commenced in the federal district courts.Criminal filings alone have risen 43 percent since 1993.
In 1995,50,072 appeals were filed in one ofthe regional circuit courts.This figure increased every year,to a high of60,847 appeals in 2003.How-ever,the number o fappeals terminat-ed by the courts ofappeals has also been steadily increasing,from 49,805in 1995 to 56,586 in 2002.
The overall caseload of the Supreme Court is large by historical standards;there were 8,255 cases on the docket for the 2002 term.The Supreme Court,however,has discre-tion to decide which cases merit its full attention.As a result,the number of cases argued before the Court has declined rather dramatically over the years.In the 2002 term only 84 cases were argued and 79 were disposed of in 71 signed opinions.Even prior to the Articles of Confeder-ation and the writing of the U.S.Constitution in 1787,the colonies,as sovereign entities,already had written constitutions.Thus,the development of state court systems can be traced from the colonial period to the present.