It’s time for another update on the Sixth Circuit statistics people ask about all the time. The most important is how long a Sixth Circuit appeal will take. Other than questions about the political leanings of individual judges, this is the most-asked question from clients. The latest numbers from the Judiciary show the median time … Continue Reading
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
This blog recently covered an interesting antitrust case that upheld the Supreme Court’s bright line rule established in Illinois Brick: indirect buyers are barred from pursuing money damages under the federal antitrust laws. The Sixth Circuit has now decided against rehearing the case en banc. The denial, however, drew two dueling statements. Judge Bush agreed … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit completed a hat-trick when the NYU’s Classical Liberal Institute invited Judge Murphy to give its 19th annual Friedrich A. von Hayek Lecture, in honor of the famous economist and philosopher. As we discussed a few years ago, Judge Kethledge delivered the 15th Hayek Lecture, discussing administrative law, and Chief Judge Sutton delivered … 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
A recent Sixth Circuit decision by Judge Murphy highlighted that sometimes the decisive antitrust issue is identifying who was harmed and where they sit in the distribution chain. In Academy of Allergy & Asthma et al. v. Amerigroup Tennessee, Inc, the court affirmed that a provider’s federal antitrust claims were too indirect to recover under … 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 legislation through—and … 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
We have looked through the last ten years of en banc decisions in the interest of the perennial question of what makes the Sixth Circuit more likely to grant a petition for en banc review. But first a word on how many cases the judges accept . After increasing to six en banc cases per … Continue Reading
On October 29 in Cincinnati, the Federal Bar Association is hosting the Sixth Circuit Practice Institute. The Institute is planned in coordination with the Sixth Circuit and features a terrific line-up. Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton, eight other Sixth Circuit judges, and several District Court judges will speak. This special single-day CLE will provide a unique … 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
Given the continuing discussion about the Supreme Court’s decision to overrule Chevron in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, we thought that a review of the decision (and its limits) is in order. The Loper Bright decision The 6-3 decision written by Chief Justice Roberts launched a full-throated attack on deference to administrative agencies: “Chevron gravely … 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
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
Yesterday evening, the Sixth Circuit issued a blockbuster decision in consolidated cases addressing the constitutionality of Tennessee’s and Kentucky’s laws limiting minors experiencing gender dysphoria from certain sex-transition treatments. Chief Judge Sutton wrote the majority opinion, which Judge Thapar joined. Judge White dissented. The majority and dissenting opinions cumulatively span over 70 pages.… Continue Reading
Earlier this week, we blogged about the social media censorship cases that have been working their way through various courts of appeals, including the Sixth Circuit, and how one of those cases – the Fifth Circuit case – has now landed on the Supreme Court’s emergency docket. As a reminder, the Sixth Circuit held that … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit opened a rift with the Fifth Circuit last Thursday in Changizi v. HHS, No. 22-3573 (6th Cir. Sep. 14, 2023). Judge Bush wrote the opinion for the Court, which Judge Boggs and Judge White joined. The decision affirmed the dismissal of a complaint alleging that the Biden Administration had violated the First … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit recently heard argument in L.W. v. Skrmetti, involving Tennessee’s law prohibiting healthcare providers from performing gender-affirming surgeries and administering hormones or puberty blockers to transgender minors. The district court facially enjoined enforcement of the law as applied to hormones and puberty blockers and applied the preliminary injunction statewide. Tennessee appealed and sought … Continue Reading
