UNITED STATES COURT 

OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

THE PEOPLE’S COURT
he role of the United States Court of Federal

Claims is integrally related to the fundamental

principle of the United States Constitution that

individuals have rights against the government. The

court traces its origins directly back to 1855, when

Congress established the United States Court of

Claims to provide

for the

determination of

private claims

against the United

States government.

The legislation was

signed into law on

February 24, 1855,

by President

Franklin Pierce.

Throughout its 160-

year history, 

although it has

undergone notable

changes in name,

size, scope of jurisdiction, and procedures, its

purpose has remained the same: in this court the

federal government stands as the defendant and may

be sued by citizens seeking monetary redress. For

this reason, the court has been referred to as the

“keeper of the nation’s conscience” and “the People’s

Court.”

As originally created in 1855, the court lacked the

essential judicial power to render final judgments. 

This oversight was resolved by legislation passed in

1866, in response to President Abraham Lincoln’s

insistence in his Annual Message to Congress in 1861

that, “It is as much the duty of Government to

render prompt justice against itself,

T

Abraham Lincoln
Franklin Pierce

President

1853 — 1857

Benjamin Harrison

President

1889 — 1893

White House Historical Association (White House Collection)
in favor of citizens, as it is to administer the same, between

private individuals.”

In 1887, Congress passed the Tucker Act, which significantly

expanded the court’s jurisdiction to include all claims against the

government except tort, equitable, and admiralty claims. The

court thus today has nationwide jurisdiction over most suits for

monetary claims against the government and sits, without a jury, 

to determine issues of law and fact. The general jurisdiction of

the court, described in 28 U.S.C. § 1491, is over claims for just

compensation for the taking of private property, refund of federal 

taxes, military and civilian pay and allowances, and damages for

breaches of contracts with the government. The court also

possesses jurisdiction over claims for patent and copyright

infringement against the United States, as well as over certain
Judges of the U.S. Court of Claims 1903 —1916

suits by Indian tribes. In 1987, the court’s

jurisdiction was expanded by the National

Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, which created the

court’s Office of Special Masters to rule on petitions

for compensation due to injuries attributed to

specified vaccines. This vaccine injury jurisdiction

has been enlarged in recent years to encompass

claims stemming from a number of additional

vaccines, including, for example, varicella, hepatitis

B, and influenza.

Additionally, the court has jurisdiction to hear 

both pre-award and post-award bid protest suits by

unsuccessful bidders on government contracts.
B

Although a provision of the Administrative Dispute

Resolution Act of 1996 gave the Court of Federal

Claims and U.S. district courts concurrent

jurisdiction over post-award protests, subsequent

legislation provided that as of January 2001, this

court would be the exclusive judicial forum for bid

protest litigation.

A unique aspect of the court’s jurisdiction

throughout its history has been the authority to act

on congressional references of legislative proposals

for compensation of individual claims. As

eventually codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1492, either House

of Congress may refer a bill to the Chief Judge of the

court for an investigation and a report to Congress.

A judge of the court is assigned to act as the hearing

officer and preside over the judicial proceedings.

Then a three-judge review panel submits a report to

Congress for its consideration and disposition of

such claims for compensation.

efitting its unique role, the court has been

located throughout its history in

Washington, DC, in the vicinity of the White

House or in the U.S. Capitol Building. It first met in

May 1855 at Willard’s Hotel. In July of that year, it

moved into the Capitol. After briefly using the

Supreme Court’s chamber in the basement of the

Capitol, it then acquired its own rooms there. In

1879, the court obtained space on the ground floor

of the Freedman’s Bank Building, which stood at the

place now occupied by the Treasury Annex, adjacent

to the southeast corner of Lafayette Park. Two

decades later, in 1899, the court moved to the

building formerly occupied by William Corcoran’s

art collection across Lafayette Park at the

intersection of 17th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.
Freedman’s Bank Circa 1879
It remained there for 65 years. This building was designed by,

and is presently named for, the architect James Renwick, who

also designed the Smithsonian Institution’s Castle on the

National Mall and St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. 

When the facilities there were deemed inadequate by the mid1950s, the court asked Congress for a new location. Eventually,

the site at 717 Madison Place, NW, was chosen and the court

moved to its present home on August 1, 1967.

The court’s original composition of three judges was

expanded to five in 1863. They would consider evidence

proffered by claimants and weigh testimony taken by permanent

or special commissioners employed by the court, who were

dispersed across the United States. One of the first

commissioners was Benjamin Harrison of Indiana, who would

later become President. If oral argument was requested, the five

judges would hear the case en banc. Appeal to the Supreme

Present Home of the Court
Courtyard of National Courts Building

Court was by right if the amount in dispute was 

over $3,000. The growth in government caused by

and coinciding with World War I made the system

unworkable, as the number of filed cases increased

considerably. In 1925, legislation enacted by 

Congress at the request of the court created a

separate trial division of seven commissioners and

elevated the five judges to an appellate role. 

Initially, the trial commissioners would function as 

special masters in chancery and conduct formal

proceedings either at the court’s home in 

Washington, DC, or elsewhere in the United States

in a court facility amenable to the parties. The trial

procedures evolved to resemble a non-jury civil trial

in district court.

In 1948, the commissioners were authorized to

make recommendations for conclusions of law. The

number of commissioners was increased in 1953 to 15. 

In 1966, Congress provided that there would be seven

appellate judges to be appointed by the President

with life tenure. In 1973, the title of the

commissioners was changed to trial judge and by 
1977, the Court of Claims had 16 trial judges who

conducted trials of cases in the first instance. 

Judgments, which are required to be paid out of

appropriations by Congress, were originally paid by

individual appropriations passed separately or as

part of other appropriations bills. In 1955, Congress

provided for a standing appropriation for judgments

of $100,000 or less. Finally, in 1977, Congress created 

a permanent, indefinite appropriation for all

judgments awarded by the court.

he Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982

created the modern court. While the appellate

division of the Court of Claims was combined

with the United States Court of Customs and Patent

Appeals to comprise the new United States Court of

Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the trial division of the 

Court of Claims became the United States Claims

Court (and in 1992, the Claims Court name was 

changed to the Court of Federal Claims). Appeals

from the Court of Federal Claims are taken to the 

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

and a judgment there is conclusive unless reviewed by

the Supreme Court on writ of certiorari. Decisions of

the Court of Claims are binding precedent on both its 

appellate and trial court successors.

The court as now constituted consists of 16 judges,

appointed by the President and subject to confirmation

by the U.S. Senate for terms of 15 years. In addition,

judges who have completed their statutory terms of

office are authorized to continue to take cases as senior

judges of the court. This ongoing tenure serves as a

mechanism to ensure judicial impartiality and 

independence.

In recent years, the court’s docket has been

increasingly characterized by complex, high-dollar

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demands, and high profile cases in such areas as, for example, the

savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, the World War II internment of

Japanese-Americans, and the federal repository of civilian spent

nuclear fuel.

evertheless, despite the nature of the claim, the

notability of the claimant, or the amount in dispute, the

Court of Federal Claims acts as a clearing house where

the government must settle up with those it has legally wronged.

As observed by former Chief Judge Loren A. Smith, the Court is

the institutional scale that weighs the government’s actions

against the standard measure of the law and helps make concrete

the spirit of the First Amendment’s guarantee of the right “to

petition the Government for redress of grievances.”

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Judges of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims 2018
Dear Friend,

The Court of Federal Claims has an extraordinary heritage

and unique pedigree within the federal judiciary. Founded

in 1855 as the United States Court of Claims, ours is one of

the oldest federal courts in the nation.

I trust that this brief history and description of the Court

justly presents our mission and will further serve to

enhance your interest in the jurisprudence of citizens’

claims against the government itself.

Today, with over 150 years of practice informing and 

guiding the Court in its duties, we rededicate ourselves to

the Court’s mission to administer prompt justice between 

the United States and its citizens.

Sincerely,

Elaine D. Kaplan

Chief Judge

Printed Courtesy of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims Bar Association