The Power of District Judges and the Responsibility of Courts of Appeals

FOR some years, the most prestigious commentator on federal practice, Charles A. Wright, has been expressing concern about the apparent evolution of the relation between trial and appellate courts, particularly in the federal judicial system. With his distinguished colleague, Leon Green, he has deplored the fact that "the appellate courts have drawn unto themselves practically all the power of the judicial system."  Although sympathetic with the desires of appellate judges to achieve right results in cases coming before them, Professor Wright urges that this desire has too often been permitted to predominate, that our appellate judges have too often failed to recognize the limits of their own capacities and wisdom.