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Programming Note: Weekly roundups will probably be short, and new posts will probably be rare, for the next few weeks.

The Supreme Court addressed the scope of review in immigration appeals. The Sixth Circuit reversed course on the jurisdictional basis for sentencing appeals. The Ninth Circuit joined everyone else in holding that Rule 23(f) appeals are available for reconsideration orders only when the orders change the status quo.…

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Last week saw two decisions of note. The Seventh Circuit dismissed a bankruptcy appeal because the district court had remanded the case to the bankruptcy court for a determination of sanctions. And the Tenth Circuit dismissed a qualified-immunity appeal because the defendant refused to accept the facts that the district court took as true in denying immunity.…

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A brief roundup this week, as there is much else to be done. The Seventh Circuit clarified that decisions striking class allegations can be appealed via Rule 23(f). The Fifth Circuit issued a questionable cumulative-finality decision. And courts continue to reject defendants’ improper qualified-immunity appeals (though no one seems to get sanctioned for taking these appeals).…

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Last week saw several developments and decisions of note. The Supreme Court heard argument in Nasrallah v. Barr, which involves the scope of review in appeals from the denial of relief under the Convention Against Torture. In Baltimore’s climate-change litigation, the Fourth Circuit deepened the split on the scope of remand appeals.…

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In Automotive Alignment & Body Service, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., the Eleventh Circuit navigated several potential errors in the timing and contents of notices of appeal. For two groups of plaintiffs, the district court dismissed their complaints but then improperly accepted late-filed amended complaints. Those amended complaints were a nullity—the dismissals became final once the time for amending had passed—and the plaintiffs failed to timely appeal from the original dismissal.…

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In last week’s Mayor and City Council of Baltimore v. BP P.L.C., the Fourth Circuit held that Baltimore’s climate-change lawsuit against oil and gas companies must proceed in state (not federal) court. The court also deepened an existing split on the scope of remand appeals under 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d).…

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Last week was eventful. The Supreme Court held that defendants who ask for a particular sentence do not need to object after sentencing to preserve sentence-length issues for appeal. The Court also denied cert in a case involving the scope of interlocutory qualified-immunity appeals. Speaking of qualified-immunity appeals, two courts rejected defendants’ improper attempts to challenge the facts the district court took as true for the purposes of denying qualified immunity.…

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In Littlefield v. Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Tribe, the First Circuit held that it had jurisdiction to review a district court order reversing a decision of the the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The case presents an interesting variation on the administrative-remand rule. A Massachusetts district court reversed a Bureau decision and remanded for further proceedings.…

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In Holguin-Hernandez v. United States, the Supreme Court held that asking for a particular sentence before sentencing is enough to preserve a sentence-length error for appeal. Proposing the shorter sentence puts the parties and district court on notice of the defendant’s argument. Defendants thus do not need to object to that later-imposed, longer sentence to avoid plain error review.…

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Last week saw a new decisions on finality in bankruptcy under Ritzen Group, the consequences of an interlocutory appeal becoming moot, the content and timing of notices of appeal, and cumulative finality. Plus a new report on discretionary appeals under § 1292(b) and a new cert petition on appealing non-party sovereign immunity.…

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