Congress eliminated the circuit courts and created the courts of appeals

Evidence

For the federal courts, the changes have been less dramatic. The Judiciary Act of 1789 created the three-level structure of the federal judicial system that has continued to the present day. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however, Congress established an entirely new set of courts, the courts of appeals, and eliminated the circuit courts. Congress also granted the Supreme Court the discretion to set its own agenda, thus facilitating its transformation into a court that deals with only the most important constitutional and other legal issues. Another recent change has been the proliferation of specialized federal courts, though most cases continue to be resolved by the federal district courts and courts of appeals. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 456

Categorization

• SHARE: The historical detail that the old circuit courts were abolished and replaced by courts of appeals is niche enough to interest a legal-history friend.
• XREF: connects to: The Judiciary Act of 1789 created courts whose structure survives today — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 278; The Constitution left the federal courts’ structure to Congress by design — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 277; Legislatures expanded into fields courts once exclusively governed — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 455 (+3 more)