This will be a quick post. Last week’s theme, you see, was vacation — in the sense of vacatur. This week’s theme is vacation — in the sense of enjoyable travel. Why? Because today I found myself in Washington, D.C. for two separate D.C. Circuit-related investitures. To begin, Chris Landau* took the oath to serve […]
Section 706(2)(A) of the Administrative Procedure Act states as follows: To the extent necessary to decision and when presented, the reviewing court shall decide all relevant questions of law, interpret constitutional and statutory provisions, and determine the meaning or applicability of the terms of an agency action. The reviewing court shall … (2) hold unlawful […]
The D.C. Circuit is a collegial-ish court. The judges try to play nice, even when deciding hard cases.* And most of them they pull it off. Consider Alon Refining Krotz Springs, Inc. v. EPA. This is a long, complicated opinion penned by a per curiam panel of Judges Pillard and Katsas. It even has a […]
Nope! But there will be a Year Five. I started D.C. Circuit Review — Reviewed in August 2015. Each August I ask myself if I’m ready for another year of weekly posts. On one hand, I still enjoy the opinions; the D.C. Circuit gets fascinating cases. And I appreciate chatting with nice folks who also […]
Then-Judge Scalia penned one of the D.C. Circuit’s great sentences: “This case, involving legal requirements for the content and labeling of meat products such as frankfurters, affords a rare opportunity to explore simultaneously both parts of Bismarck’s aphorism that ‘No man should see how laws or sausages are made.’” That sentence came to mind today […]
Neomi Rao’s rapid ascension from Notice & Comment blogger to head of OIRA to D.C. Circuit judge is now complete — this week, Judge Rao authored a published opinion for the Court. Now she may be wondering what she has gotten herself into. The case is District No. 1, Pacific Coast v. Liberty Maritime Corporation […]
As regular readers may recall, I’m opposed — presumptively — to pop culture references in judicial opinions. That presumption is almost irrebuttable when it comes to Supreme Court opinions, which may be read for a hundred years or more. But even in other courts, they should be used sparingly and only after much consideration. “Pop […]
I’m on vacation so this will be a quick post. Thankfully, the D.C. Circuit cooperated — we have just two cases. My “con law” friends spend a lot of time thinking about dead hands. Normatively, why is it, they wonder, that decisions made by those who have long since died continue to have legal effect, […]
When filing a brief in the D.C. Circuit, “an asterisk may be placed next to those authorities on which the brief principally relies, together with a notation at the bottom of the first page of the table stating: ‘Authorities upon which we chiefly rely are marked with asterisks.’” This prompts a game we’ve played before […]
The D.C. Circuit doesn’t hear cases over the summer, but it sure does issue a lot of opinions. Well, except for this week. Today, the D.C. Circuit heard argument. And this week, the Court only issued two opinions. This doesn’t feel like July at all! The D.C. Circuit stops hearing oral argument in May and […]
The D.C. Circuit’s cases this week are unusual — there is not a lot of “admin law” in them. But they are very interesting cases nonetheless. That realization got me thinking about the rise of second clerkships. Judge Gregg Costa of the Fifth Circuit (and a D.C. Circuit alum) has recently published an excellent essay: […]
I’m in Maryland today — to learn about the D.C. Circuit. Cambridge, Maryland is home to the 2019 D.C. Circuit Judicial Conference.* Because I’m rushing to catch a flight home, this will be a post filled with a hodgepodge of thoughts. (1) If you’re wondering whether we should have Judicial Conferences, here are some thoughts […]
When Notice & Comment hosted its two-week symposium on Seminole Rock deference, I insisted on calling it “Seminole Rock” rather than “Auer.” This stubbornness drew hoots from my more nouveau friends but I didn’t see any reason to start using a new name, especially because my sense was that Seminole Rock was still used as […]
We are nearing the end of June so talk of precedent is in the air. In just the last week, both Justices Thomas and Kagan have defended conflicting theories of stare decisis; the Supreme Court — I think — effectively overruled one case and — I know — openly overruled another; and four of the […]
Apologies: This is a quick post; I’m traveling this week. Summers in the D.C. Circuit are busy. And it is now summertime. We have eleven opinions this week. Before getting to those cases, however, I want to discuss an update on a case that bounced around within the D.C. Circuit for a while before it […]