Unsurprisingly, the D.C. Circuit did not issue any opinions last week (Thanksgiving week). Indeed, the whole month of November was light on opinions, with only two issued, though both were important cases. One was about the power of FINRA (and, by extension, other private regulatory entities), though as my fellow D.C. Circuit Review blogger described, the court ended up avoiding many of the case’s broader questions. The other was a watershed case in which the court held the Council of Environmental Quality lacks statutory authority to issue rules under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).

But other than that(!), November was a quiet month, opinion wise. In the absence of more weighty matters, I’ll partake in a D.C. Circuit Review tradition of sharing some opinions where the holiday has featured. Thanksgiving comes up most often as a date reference (when did the meeting happen? “getting near Thanksgiving”); in plenty of cases about collective bargaining over employee breaks or time off; and in various challenges to religious references in public statements and occasions (because of the Thanksgiving Proclamation).

With only 46 D.C. Circuit opinions mentioning it, however, Thanksgiving in the D.C. Circuit pales in comparison to Christmas (183 cases). Which is now just around the corner! And so it’s on to next week…