• Three-judge courts were virtually abolished in 1976 when Congress restricted their jurisdiction to constitutional challenges to congressional reapportionments. Occasionally, Congress creates three-judge courts in special legislation, as with the 2002 campaign-finance law. Appeals from a three-judge court go directly to the Supreme Court. See 28 USCA § 2284. [Cases: Federal Courts 991–1013. C.J.S. Injunctions § 177.]
three judge court
A court made up of three judges; esp., a panel of three federal judges convened to hear a trial in which a statute is challenged on constitutional grounds.