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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
A caption this week caught my attention: Sierra Club v. EPA. The reason is not because it is an unusual caption. Just the opposite. Since I started D.C. Circuit Review – Reviewed in August 2015, I’ve seen six published cases with that same name, including this week’s.* That realization got me thinking: In the history […]
The D.C. Circuit is a fascinating court. If you don’t believe me, you probably aren’t reading this post. If you are reading this post and you still don’t believe me, you will soon. That said, the D.C. Circuit is a quirky court. Its docket is odd. There are some criminal appeals (as you’ll see from […]
Time is funny. I clerked on the D.C. Circuit ten years ago. A decade is a long time — but it sure doesn’t feel like it. From my clerkship days, I remember the judges. I remember the cases. In fact, I even remember some of the oral arguments. Yet I can’t escape reality: The 2019 […]
I wish Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor a long and happy life. But I don’t want to hear about it. Over 60 million people live in the United Kingdom. I know a fraction of a fraction of a single percent of them. Yet for some reason, Americans know a great deal about young Mr. Mountbatten-Windsor. And by […]
The D.C. Circuit gets more than its fair share of regulatory cases. But it does not have a monopoly on them. As regular Notice & Comment readers know, the Ninth Circuit also has a sizable “admin law” docket. The same can be said of the Fifth Circuit. And then-Judge Gorsuch decided a number of important […]