United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit is the court overseeing the Federal District courts in the mid-Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia. It was formed in 1891. It has ten active judges, headed by Chief Judge Karen J. Williams. There are three retired or semiretired Senior Judges.

Recently, it has been the appellate court for a number of terrorism-related cases that originated in the Eastern District of Virginia, such as el-Mastri v. Tenet.