In any civil or criminal action before a United States District Court or a United States Court of Appeals in which the United States is a litigant and a reviewable, appealable decision is rendered adverse to the government's position (including final judgments and certain adverse interlocutory determinations), the United States Attorney must immediately transmit electronically a copy of the decision to the appellate section of the division responsible for the case. Any decision holding a statute unconstitutional must be reported.

In criminal cases in the district court, prosecutors must report an adverse sentence only if it is outside the statutory limits (e.g., below the mandatory minimum, above the statutory maximum, failure to impose mandatory forfeiture or restitution, or a Rule 35 reduction without jurisdiction to do so) or if the sentence was based on a prohibited factor, such as race, religion, or national origin. For all other sentencing errors, a prosecutor needs to report only if he or she would like to appeal. In the courts of appeals, prosecutors must report all published adverse decisions. Adverse unpublished or non-precedential decision by a court of appeals need not be reported if the appeal was brought by the defendant and the United States Attorney does not recommend further review.In cases in which the government appealed, prosecutors must report the decision even if unpublished.

In civil cases in the district court, all adverse final decisions must be reported, with the exception of individual Social Security benefits cases, which must be reported only if there is a recommendation in favor of an appeal. Appealable, non-final decisions must be reported if any interested component wants to appeal. Such decisions include, for example, preliminary injunctions or denials of qualified immunity in individual liability cases. In the court of appeals, all adverse civil decisions must be reported, whether published or not, including adverse decisions in individual Social Security benefits cases.

See JM 2-2.300, 2-2.320 for description of interlocutory orders that may be appealable.