We learned last week that two panel decisions of the Sixth Circuit will receive another round of review. First, the Supreme Court granted certiorari to the Sixth Circuit in Salazar v. Paramount Global. Second, the Sixth Circuit granted rehearing en banc in Clippinger v. State Farm Auto Ins. Co. We preview both cases in a … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit just held that Michigan’s talk-therapy ban infringes free speech. Pending at the Supreme Court is the constitutionality of Colorado’s equivalent law. That case, Chiles v. Salazar, was argued in October. And the Sixth Circuit panel could fairly foreshadow the justices’ upcoming decision. Judge Kethledge and Judge Larsen formed the majority with Judge … Continue Reading
It is not every day that sitting judges give lawyers specific instruction on how to write their briefs. Judge Kethledge wrote a helpful primer about effective writing a while back. This week, Chief Judge Pryor and Judge Newsom from the Eleventh Circuit offer their own nugget of free advice: Begin briefs with an introduction. We … Continue Reading
An “an assortment of legal and regulatory actions” has spun off from the high-profile corruption prosecution and conviction of former Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder. Back in 2016, the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation designed to bail out energy giant FirstEnergy from dire financial straits. Speaker Householder accepted a hefty campaign bribe to see the … Continue Reading
Under the Constitution, the federal government runs on congressional appropriations. But Congress has not passed funding beyond October 1, thus the government is “shut down.” Federal courts generally and the Sixth Circuit particularly have proceeded apace without new funds. But the federal judiciary’s coffers have run dry. As of yesterday, October 20, the courts entered … Continue Reading
“Let’s Go Brandon” was the message on the sweatshirts two siblings wore to middle school. Everyone knows what that phrase means – including their teachers, so the school required the boys to change clothes. That left their mother unhappy; she sued the school for silencing her kids. This week, a divided Sixth Circuit panel sided … Continue Reading
The “maxim that wrongdoers may not profit from their wrongs” is having a big week at the Sixth Circuit. In two cases—one about ERISA, the other about restitution—sons betrayed their mothers for financial gain. The facts in these cases are devastating, though the legal issues are fascinating nonetheless. In short, the murderer lost, but the … Continue Reading
In Department of Education v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court issued a rare August opinion to maintain two preliminary injunctions that block the Department of Education’s new rule. That rule expands Title IX to prevent sexual-orientation and gender-identity discrimination. State coalitions brought challenges; district courts in Louisiana and Kentucky enjoined the rule during the litigation; the … Continue Reading
A Tennessee law prevents changing one’s designation of sex on his or her birth certificate, even if that person has changed gender identity on other official documents as in life. In Gore v. Lee, the Sixth Circuit affirmed this law’s constitutionality. This decision is best understood in tandem with another gender-rights case from Tennessee: L.W. … Continue Reading
The Supreme Court’s recent spate of high-profile decisions gives Court watchers much to process. At this blog, we hope to explore many of those decisions as summer progresses. In the meantime, we note a couple details from the Court’s Order List this week following its “clean-up conference.” I count 30 cases the Court granted, summarily … Continue Reading
Congratulations are in order to the forty-something law clerks that swore in to the Sixth Circuit bar Wednesday. That was a prelude to the court’s en banc argument on campaign finance restrictions in National Republican Senatorial Committee v. FEC. The Committee challenges the constitutionality of part of the Federal Election Campaign Act that places limits … Continue Reading
Today, the Sixth Circuit took the relatively rare step of granting a criminal defendant’s release from prison before deciding the merits of his case. That followed last week’s oral argument in the high-profile criminal appeal of Alexander “P.G.” Sittenfeld, the former Cincinnati City Councilperson. Sittenfeld’s counsel closed his rebuttal argument by renewing his request for … Continue Reading
Tomorrow marks the first Saturday in May, so the sporting world will turn its attention to Louisville, Kentucky for the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Perhaps $200 million will be wagered on “the fastest two minutes in sports.” And while the Derby is “the most storied race of them all,” West … Continue Reading
Last week, the Ohio Supreme Court published a new and improved writing manual. The Third Edition is “a comprehensive guide . . . designed to improve the readability of opinions issued by, and briefs filed in,” Ohio’s courts. The unquestionable headline is that the new manual abandons the cumbersome triple-parallel-citation format of old in favor of citing … Continue Reading
Four years ago, the Supreme Court declined a federal habeas petitioner’s request to review the Sixth Circuit’s decision in Avery v. United States, 770 F. App’x 741. Justice Kavanaugh, the Sixth Circuit’s assigned circuit justice, attached a “statement” to the Supreme Court’s cert. denial to highlight a circuit split that Avery implicated and to note … Continue Reading
