Out of nearly 5,000 reported opinions in the last five years, no one will be surprised that the Sixth Circuit cited its own cases in all but five opinions. But what other circuits does the Sixth Circuit rely on? From the raw numbers, Sixth Circuit judges cite cases from the Second, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits … Continue Reading
In a previous post, we looked at how often various circuits issue unpublished opinions and the differences between their rules on published decisions. The Sixth Circuit’s most recent directive is that “[u]npublished decisions in the Sixth Circuit are, of course, not binding precedent on subsequent panels, but their reasoning may be ‘instructive’ or helpful.” Crump v. … Continue Reading