Federal appellate court to hear three cases in Cape Girardeau

The federal courthouse in Cape Girardeau will make history Friday when it hosts a special session of the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

U.S. Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh said the session, which is being held in conjunction with a continuing legal education program for area attorneys, is the first of its kind in Cape Girardeau.

Chief Judge William Jay Riley of Omaha, Neb., and Eighth Circuit judges Raymond W. Gruender of St. Louis and Duane Benton of Kansas City, Mo., will hear three cases beginning at 9 a.m. Friday at the Rush Hudson Limbaugh Sr. U.S. Courthouse, 599 Independence St.

The public is welcome to come and hear the arguments, which should last about an hour and 20 minutes, Limbaugh said.

Unlike trial court, appellate proceedings do not involve witnesses, juries or the introduction of new evidence, Benton said.

"You'll see three judges in robes, and you hear a debate between the lawyers, and it's relatively boring to the average person," he said. "It doesn't look like 'Perry Mason' or even 'The Good Wife.' It is a debate: Did the district court make an error -- a legal error?"

The Eighth Circuit handles all the appeals for seven states -- Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska, Limbaugh said.

While appeals typically are not as flashy or dramatic as trials, their outcomes can have lasting repercussions, Benton said.

"The only court higher than us is the United States Supreme Court, which rules on 80, 90 cases a year for the whole country," he said. "We, alone in our circuit, an average-sized circuit, have 3,600 appeals a year."

The Supreme Court does not typically hear a case unless two or three appellate courts have issued differing opinions on similar cases, Benton said. Even then, the justices are under no obligation to hear a case, so the outcome of an appeal can set the tone for the way similar cases are handled in the future.

"Sometimes precedent is set," he said.

epriddy@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

599 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.