<P> In the United States federal court system , the intermediate appellate courts are divided into thirteen `` circuits , '' each covering some range of territory ranging in size from the District of Columbia alone up to seven states . Each panel of judges on the court of appeals for a circuit is bound to obey the prior appellate decisions of the same circuit . Precedent of a United States court of appeals may be overruled only by the court en banc , that is , a session of all the active appellate judges of the circuit , or by the United States Supreme Court , not simply by a different three - judge panel . </P>
when is the court of appeal not bound by its own previous decisions
may be overruled only by the court en banc , that is , a session of all the active appellate judges of the circuit , or by the United States Supreme Court , not simply by a different three - judge panel