Data were provided by the State court administrators of 46 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. These jurisdictions reported 12,992,132 civil cases; 10,577,151 criminal cases; and 1,147,357 juvenile cases; for a total of 24.7 million cases filed during 1983. In addition, over 57 million traffic cases were filed, mostly parking violations, which are reported in some States as traffic offenses. Appellate court filings increased at a faster pace than trial court filings, with a 30-percent increase between 1978 and 1983. One figure, six tables, footnotes, and a narrative description of the findings are included.