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Court/District History

Below is an attached document containing a lecture prepared by the late Judge Roger J. Miner United States Court of Appeals Judge for the Second Circuit. In detail it describes the history and development of the Northern District Court of New York.

To view this lecture in PDF form visit The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York -Its History and Antecedents by Honorable Roger J. Miner.

For a brief history of the Northern District of New York:

The United States District Court for the Northern District of New York (in case citations, N.D.N.Y.) serves one of the 94 judicial districts in the United States and one of four in the state of New York. The U.S. Attorney for the district is Carla B. Freedman. Appeals from the Northern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the four districts of New York, the District of Connecticut and the District of Vermont (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appealed to the Federal Circuit).

The Northern District is a successor to the original District of New York, which was split into Northern and Southern Districts on April 9, 1814. The United States District Court for the District of New York was the first District Court ever convened under the sovereignty of the United States, with Judge James Duane presiding on November 3, 1789. The Northern District was split again in 1900, giving rise to the United States District Court for the Western District of New York. The first judge in the Northern District of New York was Matthias Burnett Tallmadge. The district now covers thirty-two counties in upstate New York, with an extensive border with Canada to the north.

Its jurisdiction comprises the counties of Albany, Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Clinton, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Montgomery, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Schoharie, St. Lawrence, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Warren, and Washington.

The court has offices in Albany, Binghamton, Plattsburgh, Syracuse, and Utica. The court also holds court at facilities in Watertown. The court accepts filings from members of the bar through an automated case management system CM/ECF over the Internet.

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