When a panel of the Sixth Circuit denied rehearing in a criminal case last month, Judge Moore issued a separate opinion, joined by Judge White, that highlights an important point for appellate advocacy. That is, regardless of how common some knowledge may be to the litigants at the trial level, the judges on appeal know … Continue Reading
In another of the many strands of the Flint water cases, a Sixth Circuit panel (Moore, White, JJ., Sutton, J. concurring) on August 5 reaffirmed its May 2020 decision in Waid vs. Snynder that plaintiffs plausibly alleged the City of Flint and City and State officials (including former Governor Rick Snyder) violated plaintiffs’ substantive due … Continue Reading
Last night Chief Judge Cole announced a one-year delay in the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference, which had been scheduled for June 2020. Rumor had it that our own Ben Glassman was to participate, so now fans of Ben and Simone Biles alike will all have to set their sights to 2021. Full statement below. Stay … Continue Reading
The Administrative Office of the Courts now maintains a single page with links to courthouse and filing notices for all federal courts. You can find the page and its updates here. No new news from the Sixth Circuit since the March 16 notice we published last week. Many thanks for the hard work of keeping … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs is excited to welcome Ben Glassman back to the firm as a partner in the Cincinnati and Columbus offices. As recently reported in the Cincinnati Enquirer, Ben joins after serving as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio from 2016 to 2019. At least as important for readers of the … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit has joined other circuits in unanimously holding that HIPAA creates no private right of action. That was the easy part. The panel divided 2-1 in ruling that a Tennessee statute likewise provides no remedy for patients allegedly overcharged by Ciox, a medical-records company. But Faber v. Ciox Health wasn’t a complete blowout: … Continue Reading
Six Ohio cities represented by Tom Goldstein filed a petition at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals opposing Judge Polster’s certification of the negotiation class in the opioid MDL. The cities’ petition urges the Sixth Circuit to immediately review the certification of the negotiation class now rather than on appeal—lest they risk wasting the time and … Continue Reading
Sixth Circuit Judge Damon J. Keith died this weekend at the age of 96. He served on the Sixth Circuit for over 40 years. A civil rights icon, he issued notable opinions addressing racial desegregation in public education, warrantless Nixon-era wiretaps, and blanket secrecy for deportation hearings of terrorism suspects after 9/11. In remembrance, the … Continue Reading
In an opinion colored by aviation-themed puns, Judge Thapar, writing for the Sixth Circuit in Flight Options, LLC v. Int’l Bhd. of Teamsters, Local 1108, ordered airlines and pilot unions to arbitrate their long-running dispute. A few years ago, two luxury airlines merged, leading to a spate of litigation. Most recently, the airlines attempted to … Continue Reading
University policies on responding to sexual assault claims have been hotly debated around the country. The Sixth Circuit recently weighed in on the constitutional dimension of this issue. Last month, in John Doe v. University of Cincinnati, et al., the Sixth Circuit found a strong likelihood that an accused student’s constitutional due process rights were … Continue Reading
Normally, a regulatory-takings plaintiff must seek compensation through “procedures the State has provided,” before suing in federal court. Last week, in a unanimous unpublished opinion, Lilly Investments v. City of Rochester, the Sixth Circuit joined the Second and Fourth Circuits by holding that, by removing the case, a defendant-city waives this exhaustion requirement. The Court reasoned … Continue Reading
The saga of a shipwreck treasure trove continues in Williamson, et al. v. Recovery Limited Partnership, et al., “yet another skirmish in the legal battle over the treasure from the S.S. Central America,” a shipwreck discovered over 130 years after it sank in September 1857. (Earlier litigation has previously been a topic of this blog, … Continue Reading
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
Last week in United States of America v. Gabriel Llanez-Garcia, the Sixth Circuit vacated sanctions imposed against an assistant federal public defender and dismissed the sanctions proceedings against her. In a strongly-worded repudiation, the panel found no indication of the bad faith required to warrant sanctions under a court’s inherent authority. Noting that “[a]n attorney’s … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, the Sixth Circuit upheld the Northern District of Ohio’s prior ruling that Lockheed Martin Corporation, not Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, is liable for more than $40 million in remediation costs at a contaminated blimp factory known as the Airdock. (Lockheed Martin, Corp. v. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Co., Case No. 12-4108) Through … Continue Reading
On Monday, the Supreme Court took up a Sixth Circuit case on federal court authority over a Native American tribe’s off-reservation gaming activity under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. In the proceedings below, the Michigan Attorney General obtained a preliminary injunction barring the operation of an illegal, off-reservation casino … Continue Reading
In another round of bad headlines for the Sixth Circuit, the ABA Journal notes that it has been reversed by the Supreme Court in 31 out of the last 38 cases. That places the reversal rate at 81.6%, higher than even the Ninth Circuit at 78.1%. We have addressed similar articles from the ABA Journal … Continue Reading
Renal Care Group, Inc., (“Renal Care”) a dialysis provider, created a wholly-owned subsidiary to take advantage of loopholes in the Medicare regulatory scheme that would permit it to increase its profits. The United States intervened in a qui tam suit alleging False Claims Act violations against Renal Care and the subsidiary. The district court granted summary judgment … Continue Reading
As the November 6 election approaches, the eyes of the nation are on the Buckeye state, one of the key battleground states that will decide the presidential decision. A recent decision by the Sixth Circuit has further brought Ohio into the national spotlight. In Obama for America v. Husted, Nos. 12-4055/4076 (pdf), the panel affirmed … Continue Reading
Earlier this week in Planned Parenthood v. DeWine, Sixth Cir. No. 11-4062, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s rejection of Planned Parenthood’s constitutional challenge to Ohio Revised Code § 2919.123, which criminalized the distribution of RU-486 (“the abortion pill”) unless the distribution tracked the FDA protocol regarding gestational time limits and dosage, as established at the … Continue Reading
The Sixth Circuit recently vacated a district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction preventing enforcement of Ruling 2010-4 by the Department of Treasury, Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, and it remanded the action to the district court with instructions to dismiss. Ruling 2010-4 deemed retailers that offered roll-your-own cigarette machines to be “manufacturers … Continue Reading
Last week, the Sixth Circuit upheld a district court’s grant of partial summary judgment in favor of T-Mobile for violations of the Telecommunications Act. (T-Mobile Central, LLC v. Charter Township of West Bloomfield) Interpretation of the Act has led to significant splits among the circuit courts, as outlined in the Court’s opinion. The defendant, West … Continue Reading
Two long-time fixtures at the Sixth Circuit’s clerk’s office will be retiring at the end of the month. Len Green, the Sixth Circuit clerk, and Jan Yates, the Chief Deputy Clerk, are both stepping down after decades of collective service in the clerk’s office. The two have overseen a number of transformations in the clerk’s … Continue Reading
