United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is the federal trial court for the state of Massachusetts, and its appeals go to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. The Judiciary Act of 1789 organized Massachusetts as one judicial district and authorized a single judgeship for the court, originally within the Eastern Circuit. The Judiciary Act of 1801 reassigned the district to the First Circuit, and after that act was repealed the Judiciary Act of 1802 again placed it there. Congress later enlarged the bench in steps, from three judgeships in 1922 to ten in 1978, twelve in 1984 and fourteen in 1995 before a reduction to thirteen in 2001. The court's legislative history also records that Judge Rya Zobel's move to direct the Federal Judicial Center in 1995 produced an additional appointment.