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34-586: The court is based at the Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse in Richmond, Virginia . With 15 authorized judgeships, it is mid-sized among the 13 United States Courts of Appeals . As of March 19, 2024: Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve, unless the circuit justice (the Supreme Court justice responsible for

68-577: A bay , and a cupola crowning the roof – the plan of Thomas Silloway , trained in Young's office from 1847 until 1851. The result was considered by architect Stanford White the finest example of the Greek Revival style in the country. Entering the 1837 competition to design the Boston Custom House , Young submitted another cruciform scheme combining a Greek Doric portico with a Roman dome. Planned on

102-524: A large scale at what was then the waterfront, the building reflected the strength and confidence of the young, growing nation. It won, defeating several other entries, including one by Asher Benjamin. Young was appointed supervisor of construction, which took from 1837 until 1847. In 1838, he established a Boston drafting room. The building's 32 columns were each carved from a single piece from Quincy granite. They measured 5 foot 4 inches in diameter, stood 32 feet high, and weighed 42 tons. Purists decried

136-546: A leading competitor, he lost to Thomas U. Walter . As a sort of compensation, he was appointed in 1852 as the first Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department, a position created by Thomas Corwin , Secretary of the Treasury during the Fillmore administration. From a studio in the Treasury, Young produced designs and specifications for federal buildings ordered by the government to facilitate its various functions throughout

170-483: A massive expansion of the courthouse, which increased the size of the original building twelve-fold. Matching wings on the east and west were constructed between 1910 and 1932. An Art Deco Annex was constructed in 1935–36 adjacent to the courthouse. In 1993, by which time the building housed only judicial functions, President Bill Clinton dedicated the building as the Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse in honor of

204-637: A trade center growing fast since the 1823 opening of the Champlain Canal which connected Lake Champlain with the Hudson River and New York City . Here he designed the 1832 St. Paul's Church in the Gothic Revival style. His first monumental work was the Second Vermont State House, a cruciform Greek Revival structure built between 1833 and 1838, which combined a Doric portico modeled on

238-610: A year, the most senior judge shall act as chief. Judges can forfeit or resign their chief judgeship or acting chief judgeship while retaining their active status as a circuit judge. When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire, on what has since 1958 been known as senior status , or declined to serve as chief judge. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become or remain chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982. The court has fifteen seats for active judges, numbered in

272-602: Is always assigned to the Fourth Circuit as the circuit justice, due to Richmond's close proximity to Washington, D.C. The Fourth Circuit is considered an extremely collegial court. By tradition, the judges of the Fourth Circuit come down from the bench following each oral argument to greet the lawyers. 37°32′16″N 77°26′05″W  /  37.53769°N 77.43481°W  / 37.53769; -77.43481 Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse The Lewis F. Powell Jr. United States Courthouse , also known as

306-744: The Federal style First Congregational Church, built in Lebanon in 1828, borrows significantly from Plate K of The American Builder's Companion . Early commissions included dormitories at nearby Dartmouth College , where his brother, Ira Young, was Professor of Natural Philosophy. But the novice architect also learned from working in the Boston office of Alexander Parris , whose characteristic work in granite influenced Young's subsequent governmental commissions. In 1830, Young opened his own office in Burlington, Vermont ,

340-677: The U.S. Post Office and Customhouse , is a historic custom house , post office and courthouse located in Richmond, Virginia . Originally constructed in 1858, it was for decades a courthouse for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit . A new federal district courthouse opened in 2008, but the Powell Courthouse still houses

374-520: The Fourth Circuit. The United States Congress renamed the building for Supreme Court justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. , in 1993. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as U.S. Post Office and Customhouse . The courthouse is one of only two buildings in the historic core of Richmond to survive the devastating 1865 fire that marked the evacuation of the Confederate Army during

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408-546: The Roman dome on a Greek form. Far less sympathetic to the building's Greek form, however, would be the soaring Custom House Tower which replaced the dome from 1913 to 1915. Boston's first skyscraper , it was designed by Peabody & Stearns to add both office space and presence to a building obscured by later others. Young entered the 1850 competition to design enlargements to the U.S. Capitol in Washington . Although considered

442-624: The South Wing, he invented a column capital which symbolized the department, substituting acanthus leaves of the Corinthian order with eagles and a fist holding a key. Young held the role until he retired on July 24, 1862, dismissed by Salmon P. Chase of the Lincoln administration. Chase's friend from Cincinnati , Isaiah Rogers , succeeded him as Supervising Architect, although the Civil War curtailed

476-696: The Temple of Theseus in Athens , with a low saucer dome inspired by the Pantheon in Rome . The building's granite blocks were hauled to Montpelier on the frozen Winooski River from quarries at Barre . But a fire in 1857 destroyed much of the building, except for the portico and some of the walls. With considerable respect for Young's original design, the Vermont State House was rebuilt, although now with wings extended by

510-509: The U.S. Postal Service had vacated the building and only judicial functions remained. The courts undertook a master plan for the renovation and preservation of some of the most significant spaces within the original building, hoping to restore the finishes to their 1858 appearance. The first phase of the work, which took place in 1996–99, included the restoration of a part of the Greek Revival Main Street Lobby and office space on

544-510: The United States District Court met on the third floor and indicted Davis for treason. Davis returned to the courthouse in 1867 for a hearing, but was granted amnesty and never stood trial. Pressure to enlarge the courthouse began in the first decade of the 20th century, when the antitrust policies of President Theodore Roosevelt and associated legislation created an expansion of judicial oversight. In 1910, construction began on

578-491: The additions: the cornice was extended along Bank and Main streets with restrained classical motifs to encompass the new wings, and the Italianate windows were replaced with windows featuring semicircular transoms. So precisely was the work carried out that today it is nearly impossible to distinguish between the four phases of construction. The courthouse was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. By 1991,

612-486: The building's corners, giving the courthouse an I-shaped plan. The Bank Street facade, including its portico, was moved forward to the property line, and a classical pediment added to the Main Street entrance. Federal courts expanded the range of their oversight at the beginning of the twentieth century, requiring an expansion of court facilities. The Richmond courthouse was enlarged in 1910–12 and 1930–32, expanding to fill

646-457: The circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit judges. To be chief, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as chief judge. A vacancy is filled by the judge highest in seniority among

680-669: The department's activities. Several of Young's buildings would play a part in the rebellion, particularly his custom house in Richmond, Virginia , which served as the Confederate Treasury. When Richmond in April 1865 was evacuated by the Army of Northern Virginia , with orders to burn warehouses and factories, the Richmond Custom House survived the conflagration —a testament to its fire-proofing. Indeed, from its courtroom Jefferson Davis

714-545: The entire city block. Once again the designs emanated from the Office of the Supervising Architect under James Knox Taylor for the earlier addition, and under James A. Wetmore for the latter. The enlargement called for demolition of the courthouse interiors, the addition of a fourth floor and expansion to Tenth and Eleventh streets. While maintaining the general features of the original design, stylistic changes evolved in

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748-511: The exterior, when not stone, were cast iron painted to look like stone—which drew criticism of parsimony by the federal architect. Cast iron components were manufactured to Young's specifications in New York state, then shipped to building sites. At the same time, ongoing modifications to the Treasury Building concerned Young, expected to create working drawings based on plans by Walter. For

782-588: The first floor and ashlar limestone on the second and third floors. The remaining elements of the original construction can still be seen on the lower levels of the Bank and Main street facades, including the Main Street arcade and the Bank Street portico. The Courthouse exhibits an early use of iron as a structural material in a federal building. As noted in a letter from Secretary of the Treasury James Guthrie ,

816-409: The group of qualified judges, with seniority determined first by commission date, then by age. The chief judge serves for a term of seven years, or until age 70, whichever occurs first. If no judge qualifies to be chief, the youngest judge over the age of 65 who has served on the court for at least one year shall act as chief until another judge qualifies. If no judge has served on the court for more than

850-580: The imposing Italianate forms that characterized the original building. The building played a significant role in the American Civil War when the Congress of the new Confederate States of America selected Richmond as its capital. The courthouse provided offices for Confederate President Jefferson Davis . Following the conflict, the federal government reoccupied the building. Then, in 1866, the Grand Jury of

884-506: The last days of the Civil War. It is the oldest courthouse in GSA's inventory. Constructed as the U.S. Custom House, Post Office and Courthouse, the original portion of the building was completed in 1858 to designs of Ammi B. Young , then Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department. The building received additions that were completed in 1889, 1912, and 1932, all three of which hewed closely to

918-434: The nation. Mandated to be fire-proof, the custom houses, post offices, courthouses and hospitals he built featured masonry foundations, walls and vaulting, with cast iron interior structural and decorative elements, including columns, stairways and railings. Heavy iron shutters were mounted on the inside of windows. Floors and treads were marble , and roofs were galvanized metal. Column capitols, fascia and pediments on

952-505: The order in which they were initially filled. Judges who assume senior status enter a kind of retirement in which they remain on the bench but vacate their seats, thus allowing the U.S. President to appoint new judges to fill their seats. From 2000 to 2008, the Court had the highest rate of non-publication (92%) on the Federal Circuit. The Chief Justice

986-471: The original block of the courthouse was designed by Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department Ammi B. Young. Five round arches formed an arcade marking the entrance on Main Street, and a heavy granite portico of three arches, reached by three granite steps, fronted the Bank Street entrance, which was set back from the property line. The three-story exterior of the courthouse was clad in ashlar granite on

1020-492: The retired Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Lewis F. Powell Jr. , a native Virginian. The building is an impressive example of the Italianate architecture that became popular in this country during the third quarter of the 19th century. Originally sited in the middle of the block between Tenth and Eleventh Streets, the two primary facades of the courthouse faced Main and Bank streets. Constructed between 1855 and 1858,

1054-545: The third floor. Ammi B. Young Ammi Burnham Young (June 19, 1798 – March 14, 1874) was a 19th-century American architect whose commissions transitioned from the Greek Revival to the Neo-Renaissance styles. His design of the second Vermont State House brought him fame and success, which eventually led him to become the first Supervising Architect of the U.S. Treasury Department . As federal architect, he

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1088-399: The use of "wrought iron beams and girders" in federal building construction at that time was "wholly new." The structural system employed groin vaults to support upper floors, with cast-iron columns supporting beams and girders. The 1887–89 additions to the building, completed under the direction of Supervising Architect Mifflin E. Bell , consisted of one-by-one-bay wings attached to each of

1122-515: Was responsible for creating across the United States numerous custom houses , post offices , courthouses and hospitals , many of which are today on the National Register . His traditional architectural forms lent a sense of grandeur and permanence to the new country's institutions and communities. Young pioneered the use of iron in construction. Born in Lebanon , New Hampshire , Ammi B. Young

1156-475: Was the son of Rebecca Burnham and Samuel Young, a builder-designer of churches, courthouses and academy buildings in the Lebanon area. He showed a talent for mathematics and drawing , and at the age of 14, began work in his father's trade. In 1823, Young married his first wife, Mary Hough of Lebanon. Like many aspiring builder-designers of the day, he learned the classical orders from pattern books by New England architect Asher Benjamin . Indeed, his design for

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