Court of appeals

“ A court of appeals is not 'powerless * * * to give any guidance when a single judge has erroneously invaded the province of a three-judge court.' Idlewild Bon Voyage Liquor Corp. v. Epstein, supra, at 716, 82 S.Ct., at 1296. Thus, if a single judge oversteps his limited authority under § 2284 (3) , a court of appeals may correct his error. ”

“ We therefore request that the supreme court will examine into the question, and will determine whether, in admiralty appeals, the parties have the right to offer upon the trial of the appeal such evidence (whether new evidence or evidence taken in the district court) as they shall see fit, or whether the taking of new evidence is a mere privilege, to be granted or not by the judge of the circuit court of appeals, in his discretion. ”

“ A circuit court of appeals is not limited to issuing a writ of habeas corpus only when it finds that it is 'necessary' in the sense that the court could not otherwise physically discharge its appellate duties. ”

“ Part of the Court's concern has been to protect the rights of the party whose jury verdict has been set aside on appeal and who may have valid grounds for a new trial, some or all of which should be passed upon by the district court, rather than the court of appeals, because of the trial judge's firsthand knowledge of witnesses, testimony, and issues because of his 'feel' for the overall case. These are very valid concerns to which the court of appeals should be constantly alert. Where a defendant moves for n.o.v. ”

“ It is the staple business of Courts of Appeals to examine records for the sufficiency of evidence. To undertake an independent review of the review by the Court of Appeals of evidence is neither our function nor within our special aptitude through constant practice. Such disregard of sound judicial administration is emphasized by the fact that the judges of the Court of Appeals are, by the very nature of the business with which they deal, far more experienced than we in dealing with evidence, ascertaining the facts, and determining the sufficiency of evidence to go to a jury. ”

“ To remit a controversy like this to the circuit court of appeals where it properly belongs is not to be indifferent to claims of importance but to be uncompromising in safeguarding the conditions which alone will enable this Court to discharge well the duties entrusted exclusively to us. The tremendous and delicate problems which call for the judgment of the nation's ultimate tribunal require the utmost conservation of time and energy even for the ablest judges. Listening to arguments and studying records and briefs constitute only a fraction of what goes into the judicial process. ”

“ We think, as the Court of Appeals held and respondent concedes, that, apart from the prescribed penalty, the offense of which petitioner was convicted is, by its nature, of this class, and that were it not for the severity of the punishment, the offender could not, under our decisions, claim a trial by jury as of right. ”

“ It is clear from Rule IV of the Criminal Appeals Rules [2] that the Circuit Court of Appeals has the right to exercise sound judicial discretion in supervising and controlling the proceedings on appeal. ”

“ The Court of Appeals invoked against the Commission the familiar doctrine that a lower court is bound to respect the mandate of an appellate tribunal and cannot reconsider questions which the mandate has laid at rest. ”

“ Where the appeal statutes establish the conditions of appellate review an appellate court cannot rightly exercise its discretion to issue a writ whose only effect would be to avoid those conditions and thwart the Congressional policy against piecemeal appeals in criminal cases. ”

“ The enactment, alike by its language and by its purpose, is not restricted to the case of a judge's sitting on a direct appeal from his own decree upon a whole cause, or upon a single question. A judge who has sat at the hearing below of a whole cause at any stage thereof is undoubtedly disqualified to sit in the circuit court of appeals at the hearing of the whole cause at the same or at any later stage. ”

“ Section 25b provides for appeals from any final decision of a court of appeals allowing or rejecting a claim under the act, under such rules and within such time as may be prescribed by the Supreme Court of the United States. ”

“ If in a rare instance a district judge abuses the discretionary authority the want of which precludes an effective, independent judiciary, there is always the opportunity for corrective review by a Court of Appeals and ultimately by this Court. ”

“ The Court concedes that a court of appeals should ordinarily review the denial of a preliminary injunction under an abuse of discretion standard, and it concedes that a court of appeals should ordinarily confine itself to assessing the "probability that the plaintiffs would succeed on the merits." ”