This was a quiet week in the D.C. Circuit — that is, unless you follow the FCC. If you are an FCC aficionado, today is a very big day. So big, in fact, that the Court issued special instructions, including: And some more: Yes, today is the “net neutrality” argument at the D.C. Circuit. This […]
This week President Trump officially nominated (again) Neomi Rao to the D.C. Circuit. That isn’t surprising. The Court is home to a fair number of law professors and prominent government officials. Rao, of course, is both. The Court decided just a couple of cases this week.* So why not spend a few minutes on Rao? […]
I love snow. It’s wonderful to wake up in the morning and see the world covered in it. Everything looks the same … but different. The air smells better. My kids and I can throw snowballs and — if there is enough of it — even go sledding. Now, perhaps I wouldn’t love snow so […]
Last month, the Supreme Court granted certiorari regarding an important question of administrative law: Whether to overrule Auer and Seminole Rock Deference. To provide background, the American Bar Association’s Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice has an organized a free teleforum on January 24; all you have to do is register. (As an aside, […]
Here is one of Judge Randolph’s favorite lines: A motion to [the court’s] discretion is a motion, not to its inclination, but to its judgment; and its judgment is to be guided by sound legal principles. I know it is one of his favorite lines because he has invoked it numerous times.* And for good […]
If you ever want to get a sense of the real D.C. Circuit — a feel for the personalities behind it — I recommend you spend some time at the D.C. Circuit Historical Society’s web page. I went there today upon learning the sad news of Chief Judge Wald’s passing. One valuable service the Historical […]
Federal circuit courts issue both published and unpublished decisions. I usually focus on the published ones. After all, unpublished opinions “do not carry the same weight in our common law system of precedent.” Yet sometimes unpublished decisions are quite important. As Will Baude has explained in an analogous context, we should also pay attention to […]
Note: The D.C. Circuit had a busy week, but I’m away on family business and only have time to write a quick post.* As regular readers of D.C. Circuit Review — Reviewed know, the saga of Browning-Ferris has been an unusual one. About a year ago, I authored a post entitled “Bye-Bye, Browning-Ferris.” And then […]
Two years ago, I wrote a lengthy post about Christmas in the D.C. Circuit. Last year, I updated it and posted it again. And this year, I will too. In fact, I think I’ll update it every year.* So here, you go — the story of Christmas in the D.C. Circuit. Be warned: Christmas is […]
The D.C. Circuit was quiet this week. It issued just one short opinion about criminal law.* So I’ll take a moment to discuss something I’ve been thinking about lately: agency websites. Yesterday, the Administrative Conference of the United States adopted recommendations relating to “Public Availability of Adjudication Rules.” The recommendations were prepared by an ad […]
The Supreme Court this morning granted certiorari regarding an important question of administrative law: In light of this news, it is worth recalling that a couple of years ago, Notice & Comment hosted an online symposium on this very subject. The result is, I believe, the best “law review article” on Seminole Rock/Auer ever […]
This year my family did a crazy thing: We purchased the world’s largest Christmas Tree.* Well, that’s not true — some trees are a bit bigger. Even so, the Nielson Christmas Tree is pretty darn big. To be sure, we didn’t set out to buy Super-Humongous-Giant Tree™. Yet when we arrived at the lot, there […]
We have opinions this week. One is about jurisdiction and agency efforts to postpone a compliance deadline, another is about mootness with a congressional backdrop, and the third is about the Bill of Attainder Clause in the context of “a Russian-based cybersecurity company.” These cases got me thinking about potential student notes. What can I […]
In November 2017, the D.C. Circuit decided a fair number of cases.* Here is a list of the Court’s published opinions: If we go back to November 2016, we see a similar output: November 2015 was a bit more quiet, but still, the Court reached double digits: Why this focus on past years? Because my […]
Breaking news …. Last year, I wrote a post here about Neomi Rao when she was nominated to serve as Administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. This is how the White House described her then: Ms. Rao is a professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, […]