Federal Judicial Caseload Statistics 2022

This report presents data on the work of the appellate, district, and bankruptcy courts and on the probation and pretrial services systems. During the time covered by this report, the COVID-19 pandemic affected the workload of most components of the federal Judiciary. When COVID cases rose in their regions, federal courts modified their operations, employing teleconferencing and other electronic methods to conduct business, maintaining social distancing requirements, and implementing other safety measures that presented challenges for staging proceedings, including trials.

The following is a summary of key findings for the year ending March 31, 2022.

• In the U.S. courts of appeals, filings decreased 7 percent.
• The bankruptcy appellate panels reported that filings fell 7 percent.
• Filings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dropped 15 percent.
• In the U.S. district courts, filings of civil cases declined 33 percent after rising 39 percent the previous year in response to multidistrict litigation filed in a single district court. Filings for criminal defendants grew 9 percent.
• The U.S. bankruptcy courts received 16.5 percent fewer petitions.
• The number of persons under supervision by the federal probation system on March 31, 2022, was less than 1 percent below the total reported one year earlier.
• Pretrial services cases activated in the past 12 months climbed 14 percent.

U.S. Courts of Appeals

Filings in the 12 regional courts of appeals fell 7 percent to 42,900 (down 3,265 appeals) in 2022. This decrease stemmed from lower filings of appeals of administrative agency decisions, original proceedings and miscellaneous applications, civil appeals, and bankruptcy appeals, which more than offset an increase in criminal appeals.

Civil appeals decreased by 939 cases to 22,794.

• Prisoner petitions dropped 11 percent.
• Civil appeals not filed by prisoners rose 2 percent.

Criminal appeals climbed 5 percent to 10,355, mainly because of a 19 percent increase in appeals related to firearms and explosives offenses and a 50 percent rise in appeals addressing immigration offenses.

• Seventy-five percent of criminal appeals involved four offense categories: drugs, firearms and explosives, property offenses (including fraud), and sex offenses.

Appeals of administrative agency decisions fell 24 percent to 5,695, mostly due to a reduction in appeals of decisions by the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA).

• BIA appeals accounted for 87 percent of administrative agency appeals and constituted the largest category of administrative agency appeals filed in each circuit except the DC Circuit.

Original proceedings and miscellaneous applications fell 23 percent to 3,396, largely because of a 34 percent decrease in original proceedings related to second or successive motions for writs of habeas corpus (down 910 proceedings).

• Sixty percent of original proceedings involved second or successive motions for writs of habeas corpus, and 37 percent involved writs of mandamus.
• Of the 440 miscellaneous applications reported, motions for class actions accounted for 43 percent of the total.

Bankruptcy appeals fell 5 percent to 660.

Case terminations remained stable, rising less than 1 percent to 47,322. Pending cases decreased 12 percent to 33,582.

For data on activity of the appellate courts, see the B series of tables.

Bankruptcy Appellate Panels

The Bankruptcy appellate panels (BAPs) reported that total filings decreased 7 percent to 403 (down 30 appeals). BAPs are three-judge panels authorized to hear appeals of bankruptcy court decisions. BAPs are units of the federal courts of appeals, and each BAP must be established by a circuit judicial council. Five federal judicial circuits—the First, Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits—have BAPs.

This year, BAP filings fell in four of these circuits and increased in one circuit. Filings dropped by 26 appeals (down 45 percent) in the Tenth Circuit, by 10 appeals in both the Sixth Circuit (down 26 percent) and the First Circuit (down 24 percent), and by 9 appeals (down 41 percent) in the Eighth Circuit. Filings grew by 25 appeals (up 9 percent) in the Ninth Circuit.

For data on activity of the BAPs, see Tables BAP-1 and Tables BAP-2. 

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

Filings in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decreased 15 percent to 1,390.

• Filings involving the U.S. Court of Federal Claims fell by 151 appeals to 158 (down 49 percent).
• Filings related to petitions for writs of certiorari had the largest numeric growth, a rise of 29 appeals to 97 (up 43 percent).

Terminations of appeals declined 6 percent to 1,386 (down 93 appeals). The pending caseload remained relatively unchanged (up 2 appeals).

For data on activity of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, see Table B-8.

U.S. District Courts

Combined filings in the U.S. district courts for civil cases and criminal defendants decreased by 146,264 (down 28 percent) to 380,213. Terminations rose by 5,473 (up 2 percent) to 331,550. As filings exceeded terminations, the total for pending civil cases and criminal defendants grew by 49,250 (up 7 percent) to 761,028.

Civil Filings

Civil case filings in the U.S. district courts dropped 33 percent (down 152,376 cases) to 309,102. This change occurred largely because of a reduction in multidistrict litigation (MDL) cases directly filed in the Northern District of Florida that alleged that the 3M Company sold its Combat Arms earplugs to the U.S. military without disclosing defects that reduced hearing protection.

Filings of cases involving diversity of citizenship (i.e., disputes between citizens of different states and/or between U.S. citizens and citizens of foreign nations) fell 49 percent to 141,125.

• Personal injury/product liability filings declined 58 percent (down 133,430 cases) as cases involving other personal injury/product liability fell by 129,049 filings (down 64 percent). The previous year, more than 190,000 MDL cases addressing 3M Combat Arms earplugs had been filed in the Northern District of Florida, compared with 64,089 filed in the 12-month period ending March 31, 2022.
• Health care/pharmaceutical cases decreased 15 percent (down 4,251 cases).
• Contract actions dropped 2 percent (down 555 cases) to 22,274.
• Filings under RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act) fell 13 percent (down 18 cases).
• Real property actions increased 3 percent (up 62 cases) as cases related to foreclosure grew 21 percent (up 114 cases). However, filings involving rent, lease, and ejectment went down 61 percent (down 118 cases).

Filings with the United States as defendant fell 28 percent to 33,965.

• Social Security case filings dropped 44 percent (down 11,052 cases) as cases involving disability insurance decreased 45 percent (down 6,028 cases).
• Prisoner petition filings declined 41 percent (down 5,242 petitions) as motions to vacate sentence fell 41 percent (down 2,250 cases), petitions for habeas corpus relief for alien detainees declined 77 percent (down 1,580 cases), and petitions for writs of mandamus and other writs went down 46 percent (down 560 petitions).
• Civil cases involving immigration rose 85 percent (up 2,673 cases) as filings categorized as immigration-related civil actions grew 90 percent (up 2,574 cases).

Filings with the United States as plaintiff dropped 13 percent to 2,844.

• Real property actions decreased 62 percent (down 245 cases) as cases involving foreclosures fell 55 percent (down 113 cases).
• Environmental matters dropped 21 percent (down 20 cases).
• Cases involving recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments grew 83 percent (up 25 cases).

Federal question filings went down 3 percent to 131,168.

• Civil rights filings decreased 1 percent (down 501 cases) as cases dealing with claims under the American with Disabilities Act (Other) fell 8 percent (down 950 cases) and cases related to voting dropped 52 percent (down 137 cases). However, filings in the category of other civil rights increased 5 percent (up 672 cases).
• Intellectual property rights filings rose 16 percent (up 1,702 cases) as copyright cases jumped 42 percent (up 1,345 cases) and cases filed under the Defend Trade Secrets Act grew 111 percent (up 314 cases).
• Real property filings climbed 25 percent (up 258 cases) as cases involving rent, lease, and ejectment rose 62 percent (up 124 cases) and cases addressing foreclosure went up 24 percent (up 58 cases).

Civil case terminations declined 3 percent to 261,192.

• The Eastern District of Louisiana terminated 9,763 cases. Most were MDL cases related to the blood-thinning drug Xarelto (rivaroxaban).
• The Northern District of Florida terminated 7,949 cases. Most were MDL cases involving 3M Combat Arms earplugs.

Pending civil cases grew 8 percent to 638,264.

For data on activity related to civil cases in the district courts, see the C series of tables.

Criminal Filings

Criminal defendant filings (including transfers) in the U.S district courts increased 9 percent (up 6,112 defendants) to 71,111.

Filings involving drug offenses, which accounted for 30 percent of total defendant filings, went up 1 percent to 21,344.

• Defendants charged with crimes involving drugs other than marijuana rose 2 percent to 20,044.
• Defendants charged with marijuana offenses dropped 16 percent to 1,300.

Filings for defendants charged with immigration offenses, which constituted 26 percent of all defendant filings, grew 15 percent to 18,334 (this total does not include defendants charged with immigration crimes in petty offense cases disposed of by magistrate judges).

• Eighty-nine percent of immigration defendant filings occurred in the five southwestern border districts. Immigration defendant filings within the southwestern border districts increased 18 percent.
• Filings rose in four of the southwestern border districts, climbing 58 percent in the Southern District of California (after dropping 70 percent last year), 45 percent in the District of New Mexico (after declining 79 percent last year), 33 percent in the District of Arizona (after falling 33 percent last year), and 18 percent in the Western District of Texas (after decreasing 51 percent last year). Filings held relatively steady in the Southern District of Texas, going down less than 1 percent (after dropping 39 percent last year).

Growth also occurred in filings for the following categories of criminal defendants.

• Defendant filings for firearms and explosives crimes rose 1 percent to 11,253.
• Filings associated with property offenses increased 21 percent to 8,051.
• Defendants accused of sex offenses went up 12 percent to 3,260.
• Defendants charged with crimes in the category of general offenses (e.g., public-order crimes such as money laundering) rose 31 percent to 2,029.
• Traffic offense filings climbed 66 percent to 1,668 (this total does not include defendants charged with traffic crimes in petty offense cases disposed of by magistrate judges).
• Defendants charged with justice system offenses (i.e., crimes related to judicial proceedings, such as obstruction of justice or failure to appear) went up 17 percent to 846.

Terminations for criminal defendants increased 24 percent to 70,358. The number for defendants pending rose 1 percent to 122,764.

For data on activity related to criminal defendants in the district courts, see the D series of tables.

U.S. Bankruptcy Courts

Filings of bankruptcy petitions fell 16.5 percent (down 77,976 petitions) to 395,373 (this total includes filings in the territorial courts—i.e., the Districts of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where bankruptcy cases are heard by district court judges or visiting bankruptcy judges). Of the 90 bankruptcy courts, 89 reported lower filings. The reduction in bankruptcy petitions has been attributed mainly to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The largest percentage decrease was a 59 percent drop in the District of Delaware. The largest numeric decline was a decline of 4,374 filings in the Central District of California.
• The highest percentage increase was a rise of 5 percent in the Western District of Louisiana.

Fewer petitions were filed under chapters 7, 11, 12, and 15 of the bankruptcy code. More petitions were filed under chapters 9 and 13.

• Chapter 7 filings dropped 23 percent to 265,071.
• Chapter 11 filings decreased 45 percent to 4,333.
• Chapter 12 filings declined 53 percent to 228.
• Chapter 15 filings fell 74 percent to 82.
• Chapter 9 filings grew 33 percent to 4.
• Chapter 13 filings increased 5 percent to 125,655.

Petitions filed by debtors with predominantly business debts fell 34 percent to 13,160. Debtors with nonbusiness (i.e., largely consumer) debts filed 382,213 petitions, 16 percent fewer than the previous year. Nonbusiness cases accounted for 97 percent of all petitions.

Terminations of bankruptcy cases declined 18 percent to 518,805, and the number of cases pending on March 31 decreased 15 percent from the previous year’s total to 705,394 (both totals include terminated and pending cases in the territorial courts).

For data on the activity of the bankruptcy courts, see the F series of tables.

Adversary Proceedings

Adversary proceedings are separate civil lawsuits that arise in bankruptcy cases, including actions to object to or revoke discharges, to obtain injunctions or other equitable relief, and to determine the dischargeability of debt. Adversary proceedings may be associated with consumer bankruptcy cases, but most arise in cases filed under chapter 11 (which is typically associated with business bankruptcies). Because of time limits imposed by Section 546 of the bankruptcy code, the number of adversary proceedings filed usually is related to the number of chapter 11 cases filed two years earlier.

During the 12-month period ending March 31, 2022, filings of adversary proceedings declined 18 percent to 14,762 (this total includes filings in the territorial courts—i.e., the Districts of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, where bankruptcy cases are heard by district court judges or visiting bankruptcy judges). Seventy-six of the 90 bankruptcy courts reported reductions in filings, 13 of the bankruptcy courts experienced increases in filings, and filings in 1 bankruptcy court remained unchanged during this reporting period.

The number of adversary proceedings terminated fell 14 percent to 18,035. The number of pending adversary proceedings dropped 7 percent from the previous year to 20,147. These totals include terminated and pending adversary proceedings in the territorial courts.

For data on adversary proceedings filed in the bankruptcy courts, see Table F-8.

Post-Conviction Supervision

The number of persons under post-conviction supervision as of March 31, 2022, changed little from the total 12 months earlier, falling less than 1 percent from the prior year to 124,205 (down 921 persons). Persons serving terms of supervised release on that date following release from a correctional institution also remained relatively steady, decreasing less than 1 percent to 110,852.

• Eighty-nine percent of persons under post-conviction supervision on March 31, 2022, were serving terms of supervised release.
• Ten percent of persons under post-conviction supervision were under supervision following the imposition of sentences of probation, and less than 1 percent were on parole.

Cases remaining open on March 31, 2022, that involved probation imposed by district and magistrate judges were fairly stable, rising less than 1 percent from the previous year’s total to 12,418.

Persons on parole, special parole, military parole, and mandatory release on the last day of the reporting period declined 11 percent to 674.

The number of persons received for post-conviction supervision was 61,734, an increase of 7 percent from the previous year.

Closings of post-conviction supervision cases (excluding transfers and deaths) grew 3 percent to 51,711 (up 1,597 cases).

In addition to their supervision duties, probation officers conduct investigations and prepare comprehensive reports to aid judges in sentencing convicted defendants. The officers’ presentence reports contain detailed background information on defendants and discuss issues related to the advisory sentencing guidelines.

• In 2022, probation officers wrote 61,340 presentence reports, 26 percent more than the previous year.
• Ninety-eight percent of the presentence reports addressed offenses for which the U.S. Sentencing Commission has promulgated sentencing guidelines.

For data on post-conviction supervision activity, see the E series of tables.

Pretrial Services

The number of cases activated in the pretrial services system equaled 74,119, an increase of 14 percent from 2021.

• A total of 373 pretrial diversion cases were activated, up 17 percent from the previous year.

The number of defendants received for supervision in the pretrial services system was 25,197, which was 7 percent more than the number received in 2021.

• Defendants received for pretrial services supervision rose 7 percent to 24,664.
• Defendants received for pretrial diversion supervision went up to 533, growing 5 percent from the previous year.

A total of 72,958 pretrial services cases were closed, an increase of 25 percent.

Pretrial services officers prepare reports for judges to use in determining whether to order the release or detention of defendants. They also provide information judges use in establishing appropriate conditions for released defendants.

• Pretrial services officers interviewed 48,353 defendants (up 9 percent) and prepared 70,676 pretrial services reports (up 14 percent).

For persons under pretrial supervision, officers monitored their compliance with release conditions set by the courts, made referrals for support services that offer alternatives to detention (such as substance abuse treatment), and informed the courts and U.S. attorneys of apparent violations of release conditions.

• Defendants with release conditions increased 9 percent to 28,609.

For data on pretrial services activity, see the H series of tables.