To ease the caseload of the Court of Appeals, the state's second-highest court, the Court of Special Appeals, was created in 1966, following a constitutional amendment. Except as otherwise provided by law, the Court of Special Appeals has exclusive initial appellate jurisdiction over any reviewable judgment, decree, order, or other action of a circuit court or an orphans' court, except for appeals in criminal cases in which the death penalty is imposed. Generally, it hears cases appealed from the circuit courts.