Apologies — this post was written on the run; traveling today. As regular readers know, Chenery — both I and II — is a big deal in the D.C. Circuit. When I was clerking, I remember an oral argument in which Judge Garland asked counsel something like, “Well, wouldn’t that present a Chenery issue?,” spoken […]

There is a good chance that the Senate will confirm Judge Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. If that happens, a plurality (at least*) of the Justices will be alums of the D.C. Circuit: Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Thomas, Ginsburg, and Kavanaugh. This lopsidedness will not be unprecedented. Before his passing, Justice Scalia sat on […]

Here is a blog post I wish I could take back: “Five Years After the Death of the Clerkship Plan.” My post, from February of this year, concerned a (then) long-time feature of the D.C. Circuit’s homepage: The backstory is that in 2013, the D.C. Circuit officially withdrew from the “Law Clerk Hiring Plan,” which […]

I started writing D.C. Circuit Review–Reviewed in August of 2015. Each August since 2015, I have asked myself whether it is worthwhile to keep going for another year. So far, my answer has always been, “Sure, why not?” But this year I’m wavering. There are downsides to these posts; they take a lot of time, […]

Is “administrative state” an ideological term? According to the Associated Press, maybe so! Here is an interesting paragraph from the story flagged today at SCOTUSBlog and a couple of days ago on Twitter (ugh) by Chris Walker: Reading that, I was taken aback. My sense is that folks of all stripes use the term. Indeed, […]

Here at Notice & Comment, I try to come up with a fun* theme each week. This week, however, I’m going to play a get-out-of-fun-theme-free card. The Court decided too many cases. Alas. Here is the rundown. Let’s start with the FERC cases. In Verso Corporation v. FERC, Judge Wilkins (joined by Judges Rogers and […]

A couple of weeks ago, I rebutted — well, at least I think so — the suggestion that Judge Kavanaugh is an artful dodger. This week, however, I’m going to backpedal a bit. It turns out that Kavanaugh may very well have to be an artful dodger once he gets to the Supreme Court. Let […]

While the world has focused on other things this week, a debate has engulfed a narrow, very nerdy slice of Twitter of which I am pleased to be part: Should citations in legal documents be “in-line” or in the footnotes? We don’t shy away from hard issues here at Notice & Comment. So I’ve decided […]

For obvious reasons, a lot of folks are thinking hard about Judge Brett Kavanaugh. So today seems like a good one to share some preliminary thoughts, especially because the Senate Judiciary Committee will soon schedule hearings. I’ve been following the D.C. Circuit for a while now. And by any measure, Judge Kavanaugh is a major […]

When President Obama nominated Chief Judge Garland to the Supreme Court, I put together a list of his dissents and concurrences. As I explained then: President Trump has just nominated Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. With the help of two hard-working research assistants* I’ve put together a similar list for him. Note that […]

The President will soon nominate a replacement for Justice Kennedy. Different folks have their favorites. That’s understandable — there are many talented folks in the mix.* What is less understandable are some of the attacks made on potential nominees by supporters of other nominees. To be sure, I have no objection to fair criticism; this […]

Dear 2Ls: It’s time for a chat. Soon enough, you will begin interviewing for jobs. And almost without fail, a question you will receive will go something like this: “So, what was your favorite 1L course?” Many of you will be tempted to respond “Constitutional Law.” Some of you might answer “Leg-Reg.” Perhaps a few […]