
From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access
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[Laws in effect as of January 2, 2001]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
  January 2, 2001 and January 28, 2002]
[CITE: 28USC42]

 
               TITLE 28--JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
 
                     PART I--ORGANIZATION OF COURTS
 
                      CHAPTER 3--COURTS OF APPEALS
 
Sec. 42. Allotment of Supreme Court justices to circuits

    The Chief Justice of the United States and the associate justices of 
the Supreme Court shall from time to time be allotted as circuit 
justices among the circuits by order of the Supreme Court. The Chief 
Justice may make such allotments in vacation.
    A justice may be assigned to more than one circuit, and two or more 
justices may be assigned to the same circuit.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 646, 62 Stat. 870.)


                      Historical and Revision Notes

    Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Sec. 215 (Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 
231, Sec. 119, 36 Stat. 1131; Dec. 23, 1944, ch. 724, 58 Stat. 925).
    The authority of the Chief Justice in vacation to assign a circuit 
justice to more than one circuit was extended by omitting the phrase 
``whenever by reason of death or resignation, no Justice is allotted to 
a circuit.''
    The provision in section 215 of Title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., that, 
for the purposes of said section, the ``District of Columbia shall be 
deemed to be a judicial circuit,'' was omitted, since the District of 
Columbia is made a judicial circuit by section 41 of this title.
    The last paragraph was added to make clear the intent of Congress 
that the powers of the Court to assign the justices among the several 
circuits should be completely flexible.
    Changes were made in phraseology.
