Information About the Location and Duties of the Maine District Court

Unlike the Supreme Court, which was established by Article III of the Constitution, it was the Congress that established the district courts. One of the original 13 district courts set up under by the Judiciary Act of 1789 was that of Maine (then part of Massachusetts).

After the Constitution had been ratified, there were some who opposed a strong federal judiciary, and wanted the federal court system limited to the Supreme Court to hear appeals from state courts. This view lost out, and the first Congress created today’s district court system.

The Maine district court is part of the U.S. federal court structure, which has 94 district courts in the U.S., and these are the general trial courts (89 districts in the 50 States, and 5 more in the territories).

Each and every federal justice district needs to have 1 courthouse at least, and in many districts there are more than that. A district court is formally referred to as “the U.S. District Court” for that district – for example, the U.S. District Court for the State of Maine.

Locating the Maine District Court

In Maine, you will find the Edward T. Gignoux Courthouse at 156 Federal Street, Portland. You will find the Margaret Chase Smith Courthouse at 202 Harlow Street, Bangor. The Maine District Court has subject matter jurisdiction over Bankruptcy Courts, Court of Federal Claims, Armed Forces and Veteran’s Claims, Tax Court, International Trade and Intelligence Surveillance.

Both criminal and civil cases need to be filed in a court in the district that is a designated court of “law, equity, and admiralty”. A U.S. bankruptcy court is also associated with each United States district court.

Other federal courts of trial have jurisdiction all over the country on some case types, but it is the district court that has concurrent jurisdiction on many of these cases. A district court also exercises jurisdiction over criminal cases.

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims is the only federal court with jurisdiction over the claims for money related to damages against the U.S., and disputes over unlawfully taking private property by the government.

The U.S. Tax Court is authorized to contest pre-assessment tax determinations.

Maryland District Court Case Filings

If you have any filings to make in the federal district court in Maine, do keep in mind that in keeping with the terms of the E-Government Act of 2002 you are expected to make sure that you do not include, or partially redact where inclusion is necessary, a number of personal data from all filings submitted to the court.

These include Social Security numbers, names of minor children, dates of birth, financial account numbers and home addresses (in criminal cases only). For additional information, you can look up Section (i) of the Administrative Procedures Governing the Filing and Service by Electronic Means at http://www.med.uscourts.gov/ecf/adminprocedures.htm.

If you are dissatisfied with a federal district court (or equivalent court) decision, you may appeal to a U.S. Court of Appeals, and failing that, ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision. Understand, though, that the Supreme Court usually is not bound to do so, and it is the final arbiter of federal constitutional questions.