 Between 1790 and 1797 , only 143 or 147 criminal cases were brought in the circuit courts , and 56 of those cases were brought in the Pennsylvania circuit court concerning the Whiskey Rebellion . And , between 1790 and 1801 , only 426 criminal cases were brought in all federal courts ( the district courts and the circuit courts combined ) . Between 1801 and 1828 , a total of 2 @,@ 718 criminal indictments were returned in the circuit courts : 596 resulted in guilty verdicts by juries ; 479 , not guilty verdicts by juries ; 902 , nolle prosequi ; and 741 , other ( either no disposition recorded , abated , quashed , discharged , discontinued , or prison break ) . 
