Last week, the D.C. Circuit released an opinion deferring to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in light of Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County; an opinion deferring to the FBI in a Freedom of Information Act case; an opinion vacating a FERC order that departed from the cost-causation principle; an opinion on standing; and an […]
The D.C. Circuit prides itself on making its decisions public in a timely fashion. An internal rule helps make that happen. A judge who has failed to circulate to the panel more than two of his assigned opinions by August 15 will not be allowed to hear arguments until he has. At first glance, one […]
The scope of federal environmental reviews is at stake when the Supreme Court decides the just-argued case Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County. Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), agencies must analyze the environmental impacts of actions they fund, authorize, or carry out. Those impacts may include both direct impacts from a project as […]
Last week, the D.C. Circuit issued two administrative law opinions, one involving energy law and the other labor law. In Sierra Club v. FERC, the D.C. Circuit held that FERC was not arbitrary and capricious when it extended the deadlines for construction of two pipelines, one in New York and the other in Texas. FERC […]
The D. C. Circuit issued four opinions this week. One involved an employment contract. Two were whistleblower appeals from the Tax Court. The fourth was from FERC. In Wright v. Eugene & Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, No. 22-7004, a divided panel of the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of claims arising out of […]
It’s remarkable how much nonsense (or worse) can be crammed into 280 characters. #NationalDoughnutDay, indeed. And I even like donuts! Bah humbug. To all of it, I say #GetOffMyLawn. That said, I enjoy learning about new things. And a good way to do that is Twitter. Granted, the nonsense-to-sense ratio could be better. But there […]
Judge Janice Rogers Brown has now retired from the D.C. Circuit. And how did she begin her final judicial opinion? “Every four years, we suffer through the celebration of democracy (and national nightmare) that is a presidential election.” I clerked for Judge Brown. She has always been kind to me and my family. And I […]
School will soon start again. Our 1Ls started orientation this week and our upper-level students start classes again on Monday. This week thus seems like a good one to offer unsolicited advice — especially because the D.C. Circuit only decided one case this week (which number, more or less, is what I predicted). Here we […]
This is my last week of summer — next week, the 1Ls arrive. I would say my summer vacation is coming to an end but, in fact, it doesn’t feel like I’ve had a vacation at all. Instead, this summer has been full of long days and short nights. (Hopefully, the result of all those […]
June has come to an end, the Justices have dispersed, and once more, in the words of a young John Roberts, “the Constitution is safe for the summer.” Every year, the Supreme Court rushes to finish up its work before the Fourth of July. And then the Justices are off to Austria, Malta, Arkansas, Italy, […]