The United States District Court for the District of Potomac was a short-lived
United States federal court. Named for the
Potomac River, it had jurisdiction over the
District of Columbia and pieces of
Maryland and
Virginia, making it the first (and one of the only) United States district courts to cross state lines. It was established in the
Judiciary Act of 1801 – also known as the "Midnight Judges Act", because it sought to redistrict the federal courts to allow outgoing President
John Adams to make additional appointments – and was abolished in the
Judiciary Act of 1802.
The language of the first Judiciary Act, setting forth the geographic jurisdiction of the District, was as follows:
See also
*
Courts of Maryland
*
Courts of Virginia Courts of Virginia include:
;State courts of Virginia
* Supreme Court of Virginia
**Court of Appeals of Virginia
***Virginia Circuit Court (120 courts divided among 31 judicial circuits)
****Virginia General District Court (courts in 32 districts) ...
*
List of courts of the District of Columbia
References
Potomac
1801 establishments in the United States
1802 disestablishments in the United States
Courts and tribunals established in 1801
Courts and tribunals disestablished in 1802
{{US-law-stub