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In American Great Lakes Ports Association v. Schultz, the D.C. Circuit held that an order remanding a dispute to an agency was final and appealable. Administrative remands are normally not final. But sometimes they are. American Great Lakes illustrates one exception to the general rule that applies when when, despite the remand, the dispute is effectively over in the district court and the agency.…

I’ve criticized the current regime of interlocutory qualified-immunity appeals quite a bit on this site. I recently wrote about how Mitchell v. Forsyth—which created qualified-immunity appeals—is a borderline coherent decision (if that). I’ve also recently touched on how the courts have steadily expanded the scope and availability of qualified-immunity appeals while undermining the supposed limits on those appeals.…

Last week saw a few decisions of note. There were three qualified-immunity appeals that raised jurisdictional issues. In one, the Tenth Circuit declined to address arguments that the defendants had failed to develop in the district court. In another, the Eighth Circuit dismissed the appeal because the defendants disputed the facts.…

Richard L. Heppner Jr.’s article Conceptualizing Appealability: Resisting The Supreme Court’s Categorical Imperative is now available. Heppner shows that appellate-jurisdiction rules have two components: the category of orders to which the rule applies, and the conditions under which orders in that category can be appealed. Using cognitive psychology, he explores how courts create and apply different kinds of categories.…

Kylie G. Calabrese has published a note in the Baylor Law Review titled Mandamus Madness in the Fifth Circuit: The Aftermath of In re JP Morgan. Calabrese chronicles—and criticizes—last year’s Fifth Circuit decision in In re JP Morgan Chase & Co., in which the panel denied mandamus yet purported to issue a binding holding on the underlying legal issues.…

In 1985’s Mitchell v. Forsyth, the Supreme Court held that government officials can immediately appeal from the denial of qualified immunity. This right to appeal impedes the swift resolution of many civil-rights actions, and it has been rightly criticized. But the right to appeal isn’t the only problem. In the years since Mitchell, courts have steadily expanded the scope and availability of qualified-immunity appeals.…

Last week saw the last appellate jurisdiction/procedure decision for this year’s Supreme Court term. In Nasrallah v. Barr, the Court held that courts could review factual findings underlying denials of protection under the Convention Against Torture, even if the petitioner had been convicted of a crime. There were also several court of appeals decisions of note.…

In Mitchell v. Forsyth, the Supreme Court held that government officials can immediately appeal from the denial of qualified immunity. Regardless of whether these denials should be appealable (a debatable point), the Court fudged the collateral-order doctrine to squeeze qualified-immunity appeals into it. The fit wasn’t—and never has been—pretty.…

In Nasrallah v. Barr, the Supreme Court held that appellate courts can review factual findings that underly denials of protection under the Convention Against Torture, even if the petitioner has been convicted of a criminal offense. The Court distinguished between the two orders at issue in the immigration appeal: the final order of removal and the order denying protection under the Convention.…

Last week was eventful. The Fourth Circuit joined the recent chorus of opinions addressing appellate jurisdiction when parties dismiss some claims without prejudice. The Ninth Circuit addressed the scope of remand appeals under § 1447(d), adding a little more interest to the recent cert petition on the issue. Another court held that the denial of a COVID-19 related temporary restraining order was immediately appealable.…