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There’s lots to talk about from last week. The Fifth Circuit weighed in on the split over whether a struck post-judgment motion could reset the appeal clock. The Sixth Circuit again split on the extent to which it could separate “factual” and “legal” arguments in qualified-immunity appeals. Two other courts dealt with appeals that challenged the factual basis for immunity denials.…
Continue reading....When a district court denies qualified immunity at summary judgment, defendants have a right to appeal. But the scope of that appeal is limited. With rare and narrow exceptions, the court of appeals lacks jurisdiction to review the genuineness of any fact disputes—i.e., the facts that (according to the district court) a reasonable jury could find.…
Continue reading....After a district court enters its final judgment, civil litigants normally have 30 days to file their notice of appeal. But certain events—including the timely filing of certain post-judgment motions—can reset the appeal clock. When a litigant timely files one of these motions, the time to appeal runs from the district court’s decision disposing of that motion.…
Continue reading....Last week was a big one for mandamus in the Federal Circuit. That court issued three writs of mandamus (and dismissed another as moot), all directed to denials of transfer motions by the same district court judge. That judge has recently seen a lot of mandamus petitions targeting his transfer decisions, and I’ve linked several blog posts below discussing these petitions.…
Continue reading....Last week saw only one case of note.
In Guerrier v. Garland, the Ninth Circuit held that the Supreme Court’s decision in DHS v. Thuraissigiam abrogated the Ninth Circuit’s “colorable constitutional claim” exception to the limits on reviewing expedited removal orders.…
Continue reading....Last week saw two cert denials in cases I’ve been following, one on the jurisdictionality of immigration exhaustion and another on jurisdiction to review FISA Court orders. In the courts of appeals, the Sixth Circuit explained that it can review jurisdictional dismissals—despite those dismissals’ being without prejudice—because the district court is finished with the case.…
Continue reading....After several relatively uneventful weeks, last week saw a variety of interesting appellate-jurisdiction decisions.
Two courts addressed pendent appellate jurisdiction issues. In an injunction appeal, the Ninth Circuit refused to extend pendent appellate jurisdiction to an order dismissing some claims. And in a state-sovereign-immunity appeal, the First Circuit addressed the plaintiffs’ standing.…
Continue reading....Last week saw another court hold that defendants can immediately appeal the denial of FSIA immunity in a criminal case. In other decisions, the Eleventh Circuit extended pendent appellate jurisdiction to review a summary-judgment decision as part of an injunction appeal. And the Ninth Circuit held that the expiration of the time to amend a dismissed complaint resulted in a final, appealable decision.…
Continue reading....Last week saw three decisions of note. The Sixth Circuit held that discovery orders under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 are “final decisions” for purposes of appeal. Proceedings under § 1782 exist entirely to obtain discovery. So the discovery order marks the end of litigation and is a final, appealable decision. In so holding, the Sixth Circuit joined several other circuits that have addressed the issue.…
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