The D.C. Circuit published three opinions last week. United States v. Bannon was the most newsworthy of last week’s cases. Steve Bannon was subpoenaed to testify before Congress. He refused, citing advice of counsel. In 1961, the D.C. Circuit held that there is no “advice of counsel” defense to prosecution for contempt of Congress. In […]

Not much of a unifying theme in the past week’s D.C. Circuit decisions. The most significant decision was likely Farhy v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, No. 23-1179, where the court (Judge Pillard writing) held that the IRS can assess and administratively collect penalties for failure to file information returns regarding ownership of foreign businesses. The […]

While all eyes and ears were on the oral arguments before the Supreme Court in Trump v. United States, No. 23-939,  the D. C. Circuit’s landmark decision regarding presidential immunity, the court went about its normal business, issuing three opinions on matters less grand but important nonetheless. The Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute authorizes aggrieved […]

Last week was criminal law week at the D.C. Circuit. All three opinions issued in criminal appeals. I’ll turn to those shortly, but first something a little closer to this blog, if a bit further back in time: two weeks ago, fellow blogger, Judge Thomas B. Griffith, visited Mizzou Law School to speak about our […]

The D.C. Circuit decided two cases last week, National Association of Realtors v. United States, and Hikvision USA, Inc. v. FCC. In National Association of Realtors, appellee—a trade association for the real-estate industry—sought to set aside a subpoena issued by DOJ’s Antitrust Division after the Division closed and then reopened an investigation into some of […]

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 just one opinion this past week, holding that the Postal Regulatory Commission, on remand from a prior decision of the D.C. Circuit, had adequately addressed the issues identified in the prior decision. The case is United Parcel Service, Inc. v. Postal Regulatory Commission, No. 23-1006, and the decision was written by […]

 The D. C. Circuit handed down only one opinion this past week. On Tuesday, the court issued its opinion in Samark Lopez Bello v. Andrea Gacki, No. 23-5036, written by Judge Henderson and joined by Chief Judge Srinivasan and Senior Judge Randolph. The court affirmed a decision of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), a part […]

The D.C. Circuit decided one administrative law appeal last week.* In American Forest Resource Council v. Williams, AFRC challenged two rules postponing the effective date of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service rule that would have reduced the amount of land designated as critical habitat for an endangered species of spotted owl. The Service published […]

Last week the D.C. Circuit decided just one case on a relatively narrow issue. In a short nine-page opinion in Abreu v. Howard University, the panel (Wilkins, Katsas, Rogers) held that the same three-year statute of limitations that applies (at least in the District of Columbia) to civil rights claims under Title VI of the […]

Last week’s opinions from the D.C. Circuit were for all of us who love federal courts law. Bohon v. FERC was a case that the Supreme Court sent back to the DC Circuit for reconsideration after Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC. New day, same case, same result: the DC Circuit reinstated its judgment that Section […]

No admin law decisions at the D.C. Circuit this week. The big news, needless to say, was the decision in USA v. Trump, No. 23-3228, in which the court (Judges Henderson, Childs, and Pan) held that “any executive immunity that may have protected [Trump] while he served as President no longer protects him against this […]

The D. C. Circuit held no arguments and issued no opinions last week. While all await the decision of the panel in United States v. Donald Trump, No. 23-3228, whether former President Trump is immune from criminal liability for acts taken while president, (articles speculating about the timing can be found here and here), this […]

Today, Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring. Had he looked at the D.C. Circuit Opinions page, he might well have concluded that it was early fall—a time when the term is only beginning, and the flow of opinions slows to a trickle. Last week saw only one opinion* released, and this week promises to be […]

During the week of January 15, the D.C. Circuit issued two opinions. In In re: Search of Information Stored at Twitter, Inc., the D.C. Circuit denied a petition for rehearing en banc filed by Twitter (now known as X). In November 2022, Special Counsel Jack Smith was appointed to investigate President Trump’s efforts to overturn the […]