Civil Procedure & Federal Courts Blog

AALS Federal Courts Section - Call for Nominations

The AALS Federal Courts Section is seeking nominations for the Daniel J. Meltzer Award and the Best Untenured Article Award. The deadline for Meltzer Award nominations is September 29, 2023. The deadline for Best Untenured Article Award nominations is September 15, 2023.

More details in the announcement below…

Download AALS Fed Courts Call For Nominations

Michalski on Reagan, Giffin & Germano on Electronic Filing and Pro Se Litigants

Now on the Courts Law section of JOTWELL is Roger Michalski’s essay, The Swift Completion of Their Appointed Rounds. Roger reviews Tim Reagan, Carly Giffin & Roy Germano’s recent article, Federal Courts’ Electronic Filing by Pro Se Litigants (Federal Judicial Center 2022).

 

 

 

New SCOTUS Cert Grants as October Term 2022 Begins

It’s the beginning of the Supreme Court’s October Term 2022, and the Court kicked things off with the order list following its end-of-the-summer “Long Conference” last week.

It granted certiorari in nine cases today. Here are a few that may be of particular interest...

Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico v. Centro de Periodismo Investigativo, Inc. (No. 22-96): Does 48 U.S.C. § 2126(a)’s general grant of jurisdiction to the federal courts over claims against the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico and claims otherwise arising under the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management, and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) abrogate the Board’s sovereign immunity with respect to all federal and territorial claims?

• Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico Docket
• Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico SCOTUSblog casefile

In re Grand Jury (No. 21-1397): Whether a communication involving both legal and non-legal advice is protected by attorney-client privilege when obtaining or providing legal advice was one of the significant purposes behind the communication.

• In re Grand Jury Docket
• In re Grand Jury SCOTUSblog casefile

Turkiye Halk Bankasi A.S. v. United States (No. 21-1450): Whether U.S. district courts may exercise subject-matter jurisdiction over criminal prosecutions against foreign sovereigns and their instrumentalities under 18 U.S.C. § 3231 and in light of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 1330, 1441(d), 1602-1611.

• Turkiye Halk Bankasi Docket
• Turkiye Halk Bankasi SCOTUSblog casefile

 

 

 

 

Call for Papers: 12th Annual Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop (University of Florida, Dec. 1-2, 2022)

Here is the announcement:

The University of Florida Levin College of Law will host the Twelfth Annual Junior Faculty Federal Courts Workshop on December 1-2, 2022. The workshop pairs a senior scholar with a panel of junior scholars presenting works-in-progress. After a long COVID-related hiatus, we’re excited to bring together the Federal Courts scholarly community in person in Gainesville, Florida.

The workshop is open to untenured and recently tenured academics who teach and write in the areas of federal courts, civil rights litigation, civil procedure, and other related topics. The program is also open to scholars who wish to attend, read, and comment on papers but not present. There is no registration fee.

The conference will begin on the morning of Thursday, December 1, and conclude by early afternoon on Friday, December 2. Each panel will consist of three to four junior scholars, with a senior scholar commenting on the papers and leading a group discussion.

The workshop will take place at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, which is within 15 minutes of the Gainesville Regional Airport and less than two hours from the Jacksonville International Airport and the Orlando International Airport. The College of Law will provide lunches and dinners for those attending the workshop, but attendees must cover their own travel and lodging costs. A discounted block of rooms will be made available at the Hotel Eleo at the University of Florida. Those wishing to present a paper must submit an abstract of no more than two pages to [email protected] by Monday, September 12, 2022. Papers will be selected by a committee of past participants, and presenters will be notified by no later than October 3, 2022.

Questions about the conference may be directed to Professor Merritt McAlister at [email protected] or the Strategic Academic Programs Manager Ruth McIlhenny at [email protected].

 

 

 

 

 

Wasserman on Clopton on Catch and Kill Jurisdiction

The latest piece on the Courts Law section of JOTWELL is Howard Wasserman’s essay, Catching and Killing it in Federal Court. Howard reviews Zach Clopton’s recent article, Catch and Kill Jurisdiction, Mich. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2022).

 

 

 

SCOTUS Decision in Shoop v. Twyford: The All Writs Act, Habeas Corpus & Appellate Jurisdiction

Today the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 decision in Shoop v. Twyford. Chief Justice Roberts authors the majority opinion, joined by Justices Thomas, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Barrett. The case involves Twyford’s request to be transported to a hospital for medical testing that he argued could support his claim for habeas relief. The district court granted Twyford’s request under the All Writs Act.

The Supreme Court reverses the transportation order, noting the many obstacles that AEDPA imposes on individuals seeking to present new evidence in support of a habeas petition. Chief Justice Roberts writes that a court must consider AEDPA’s limits “even when the All Writs Act is the asserted vehicle for gathering new evidence,” because “a petitioner cannot use that Act to circumvent statutory requirements or otherwise binding procedural rules.” The district court should not have granted Twyford’s request for transportation because he “sheds no light on how he might persuade a court to consider the results of his testing, given the limitations AEDPA imposes on presenting new evidence.”

The four dissenting justices do not address the substance of Twyford’s transportation request. Rather, the core disagreement is over appellate jurisdiction. In a lengthy footnote, Chief Justice Roberts concludes that appellate jurisdiction is proper under the collateral order doctrine, citing Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corp., 337 U. S. 541, 546 (1949): “Transportation orders issued under the All Writs Act (1) conclusively require transportation; (2) resolve an important question of state sovereignty conceptually distinct from the merits of the prisoner’s claims, see Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority v. Metcalf & Eddy, Inc., 506 U. S. 139, 144–145 (1993); and (3) are entirely unreviewable by the time the case has gone to final judgment.”

Justice Breyer’s dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, argues that the collateral order doctrine does not apply, reasoning that the transportation order was “analogous to a discovery order” and that there was “no reason why such an order ordinarily should be of greater importance than a discovery order of some other kind.” Justice Gorsuch writes in his dissenting opinion: “I would have dismissed this case as improvidently granted when the jurisdictional complication became apparent. We did not take this case to extend Cohen.”

 

 

 

 

 

Recent SCOTUS Decisions: Arbitration, Bivens, Class Actions, FRCP 60(b) & International Discovery

As we head down the home stretch for this Term’s Supreme Court decisions, here are some of the interesting decisions that came down earlier this month:

Egbert v. Boule: Justice Thomas’s majority opinion (joined by Roberts, Alito, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) holds that Bivens cannot be extended to allow a cause of action for the plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment excessive-force claim and First Amendment retaliation claim against a U.S. Border Patrol Agent. Justice Gorsuch authors a concurring opinion. And Justice Sotomayor authors an opinion (joined by Breyer and Kagan) partially concurring in the judgment and partially dissenting; they argue that a Bivens action should exist for the plaintiff’s Fourth Amendment claim, but they agree with the majority’s ultimate conclusion that the First Amendment retaliation claim may not proceed under Bivens.

Garland v. Gonzalez: Justice Alito’s majority opinion (joined by Roberts, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) holds that 8 U.S.C. §1252(f)(1), a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), deprives federal district courts of jurisdiction to consider the plaintiffs requests for classwide injunctive relief. Justice Sotomayor authors an opinion (joined in full by Kagan and in part by Breyer) partially concurring in the judgment and partially dissenting, arguing that the INA preserves the district courts’ authority to issue classwide injunctions against the Executive Branch.

Kemp v. United States: Justice Thomas’s majority opinion (joined by Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Sotomayor, Kagan, Kavanaugh, and Barrett) holds that a judge’s error of law qualifies as a “mistake” under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b)(1); thus a motion for relief from judgment based on such an error is subject to Rule 60(c)(1)’s one-year deadline for 60(b)(1) motions. Justice Sotomayor authors a concurring opinion emphasizing that Rule 60(b)(6)—which is not subject to the one-year deadline—may remain available “to reopen a judgment in extraordinary circumstances, including a change in controlling law.” Justice Gorsuch authors a solo dissent, arguing that the Court should have dismissed the writ of certiorari as improvidently granted.

Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon: Justice Thomas’s unanimous opinion holds that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) does not apply to a ramp supervisor for Southwest Airlines whose work “frequently requires her to load and unload baggage, airmail, and commercial cargo on and off airplanes that travel across the country,” because she fit within the FAA’s exemption for “workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” Justice Barrett did not participate in the case.

ZF Automotive U.S., Inc. v. Luxshare, Ltd.: Justice Barrett’s unanimous opinion holds that 28 U.S.C. § 1782—which allows federal district courts to order discovery “for use in a proceeding in a foreign or international tribunal” does not apply to private arbitration proceedings; the statute covers only “governmental or intergovernmental adjudicative bodies.”

 

 

 

SCOTUS Decision on Arbitration Waiver: Morgan v. Sundance

Yesterday the Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. (covered earlier here). At issue is whether the defendant waived its right to insist on arbitration by engaging in litigation before seeking a stay under section 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Justice Kagan’s opinion rejects the view—expressed by many federal appellate courts—that “[a] party can waive its arbitration right by litigating only when its conduct has prejudiced the other side.” She notes that a “special rule” requiring prejudice is not supported by the FAA’s ostensible “policy favoring arbitration.”

Here’s an excerpt, which also highlights a number of issues that the Court’s decision does not resolve:

We decide today a single issue, responsive to the predominant analysis in the Courts of Appeals, rather than to all the arguments the parties have raised. In their briefing, the parties have disagreed about the role state law might play in resolving when a party’s litigation conduct results in the loss of a contractual right to arbitrate. The parties have also quarreled about whether to understand that inquiry as involving rules of waiver, forfeiture, estoppel, laches, or procedural timeliness. We do not address those issues. The Courts of Appeals, including the Eighth Circuit, have generally resolved cases like this one as a matter of federal law, using the terminology of waiver. For today, we assume without deciding they are right to do so. We consider only the next step in their reasoning: that they may create arbitration-specific variants of federal procedural rules, like those concerning waiver, based on the FAA’s “policy favoring arbitration.” Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Constr. Corp., 460 U. S. 1, 24 (1983). They cannot. For that reason, the Eighth Circuit was wrong to condition a waiver of the right to arbitrate on a showing of prejudice.

 

 

 

 

SCOTUS Cert Grant on District Court Jurisdiction over Challenges to SEC Enforcement Proceedings: SEC v. Cochran

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in SEC v. Cochran. Here is the question presented:

Whether a federal district court has jurisdiction to hear a suit in which the respondent in an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission administrative proceeding seeks to enjoin that proceeding, based on an alleged constitutional defect in the statutory provisions that govern the removal of the administrative law judge who will conduct the proceeding.

You can find the cert-stage briefing—and follow the merits briefs as they come in—at SCOTUSblog and at the Supreme Court website.

 

 

 

SCOTUS Cert Grant on Habeas: Jones v. Hendrix

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Jones v. Hendrix. Here is the question presented:

Under 28 U.S.C. § 2255, federal inmates can collaterally challenge their convictions on any ground cognizable on collateral review, with successive attacks limited to certain claims that indicate factual innocence or that rely on constitutional-law decisions made retroactive by this Court. 28 U.S.C. § 2255(h). 28 U.S.C. § 2255(e), however, also allows inmates to collaterally challenge their convictions outside this process through a traditional habeas action under 28 U.S.C. § 2241 whenever it “appears that the remedy by [§ 2255] motion is inadequate or ineffective to test the legality of [their] detention.”

The question presented is whether federal inmates who did not—because established circuit precedent stood firmly against them—challenge their convictions on the ground that the statute of conviction did not criminalize their activity may apply for habeas relief under § 2241 after this Court later makes clear in a retroactively applicable decision that the circuit precedent was wrong and that they are legally innocent of the crime of conviction.

You can find the cert-stage briefing—and follow the merits briefs as they come in—at SCOTUSblog and at the Supreme Court website.

 

 

SCOTUS Adopts 2022 Rules Amendments

The Supreme Court has adopted amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as well as amendments to the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure,  the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and transmitted them to Congress. 

The FRCP amendments include amendments to Rule 7.1 and a new set of Supplemental Rules for Social Security Review Actions Under 42 U.S.C. § 405(g). The Rule 7.1 amendments, among other things, create a new disclosure requirement to facilitate early determinations of whether diversity jurisdiction exists. The new supplemental rules for § 405(g) actions establish a uniform procedure for such actions. 

Unless Congress intervenes, these amendments will take effect on December 1, 2022.

You can find the full transmittal package, including redlines and advisory committee notes, here. 

 

 

Some Interesting SCOTUS Decisions: Boechler, Brown & Cassirer

Yesterday’s busy Supreme Court opinion day featured a number of interesting decisions:

• In Boechler v. Commissioner, the Court once again weighed in on whether a litigation-related deadline is jurisdictional and, if not, whether it is subject to equitable tolling. The case involves 26 U.S.C. § 6330(d)(1)’s 30-day deadline for petitioning the Tax Court to review certain determinations by the Internal Revenue Service. Writing for a unanimous Court, Justice Barrett concludes that it “is an ordinary, nonjurisdictional deadline subject to equitable tolling.”

• Brown v. Davenport involves the relationship between the deferential standard of review in the AEDPA [28 U.S.C. § 2254(d)(1)] and the requirement that any state court error cause sufficient prejudice to the defendant under Brecht v. Abrahamson, 507 U.S. 619 (1993). Writing for a six-justice majority, Justice Gorsuch concludes that “a federal court cannot grant relief without first applying both the test this Court outlined in Brecht and the one Congress prescribed in AEDPA.” Justice Kagan authors a dissenting opinion, joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor, calling the majority’s approach “pointless” because “the Brecht standard ‘obviously subsumes’ the ‘more liberal’ AEDPA one: If a defendant meets the former, he will ‘necessarily’ meet the latter too.” The opinions also include a robust exchange regarding the history of habeas corpus that is well worth a read.

• And in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, the Court considered what choice-of-law rule governs claims against a foreign state or instrumentality under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Justice Kagan’s opinion for a unanimous Court holds that courts should apply “whatever choice-of-law rule the court would use if the defendant were not a foreign-state actor, but instead a private party.” In a property-law dispute (this case was a suit to recover expropriated property), that means using “the forum State’s choice-of-law rule, not a rule deriving from federal common law.”

 

 

Fourth Circuit Remands Baltimore Climate Change Suit to State Court

Today the Fourth Circuit issued a unanimous decision in Mayor & City Council of Baltimore v. BP P.L.C., on remand from last year’s Supreme Court decision (covered here). Judge Floyd’s 93-page opinion, joined by Chief Judge Gregory and Judge Thacker, affirms the district court’s order remanding the case to Maryland state court. It begins:

This appeal returns to us on remand from the Supreme Court, and we are now tasked with examining the entirety of the district court’s remand order to determine if the climate-change lawsuit in question was properly removed to federal court. BP P.L.C. v. Mayor & City Council of Balt., 141 S. Ct. 1532, 1538, 1543 (2021). To accomplish that charge, we must evaluate eight distinct grounds for removal that twenty-six multinational oil and gas companies (Defendants) maintain provide federal jurisdiction over the Mayor and City Council of Baltimore’s (Baltimore) climate-change action. Because we conclude that none of Defendants’ bases for removal permit the exercise of federal jurisdiction, we affirm the district court’s remand order.

For those keeping score, the “eight distinct grounds” are:

(1) federal common law; (2) substantial issues of federal law, including foreign affairs, under Grable; (3) complete preemption under the CAA, 42 U.S.C. §§ 7401–7671q; (4) federal enclaves; (5) the OCSLA, 43 U.S.C. § 1349(b)(1); (6) the bankruptcy removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1452(a); (7) the admiralty jurisdiction statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1333(1); and (8) the federal officer removal statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1442(a)(1).

The opinion concludes:

The impacts of climate change undoubtably have local, national, and international ramifications. See Massachusetts, 549 U.S at 521–53 (noting that the harms associated with climate change are “serious and well recognized”). But those consequences do not necessarily confer jurisdiction upon federal courts carte blanche. In this case, a municipality has decided to exclusively rely upon state-law claims to remedy its own climate-change injuries, which it perceives were caused, at least in part, by Defendants’ fossil-fuel products and strategic misinformation campaign. These claims do not belong in federal court. Given the jurisdictional inquiry before us, we take no view on whether Baltimore will ultimately fail or succeed in proving its claims under Maryland law. We cannot decide those questions. But we are confident that Maryland courts can capably adjudicate claims arising under their own laws that fail to otherwise provide any federal jurisdiction. * * * 

 

 

 

SCOTUS Decision in Badgerow v. Walters: Arbitration and Federal Subject-Matter Jurisdiction

Today the Supreme Court issued its decision in Badgerow v. Walters (covered earlier here). Justice Kagan’s majority opinion concludes that when a request to confirm or vacate an arbitral award under Sections 9 and 10 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) is filed in federal court, “a court may look only to the application actually submitted to it in assessing its jurisdiction.” That is, the Court rejected the so-called “look-through” approach that it had endorsed for petitions to compel arbitration under Section 4 of the FAA in Vaden v. Discover Bank, 556 U.S. 49 (2009). Justice Kagan reasoned that Sections 9 and 10 “lack Section 4’s distinctive language directing a look-through, on which Vaden rested.”

Justice Breyer was the lone dissenter, arguing that “Congress intended a single approach for determining jurisdiction of the FAA’s interrelated enforcement mechanisms, not one approach for the mechanism provided in Section 4 and a different approach for the mechanisms provided in all other sections.”

 

 

 

 

SCOTUS Cert Grant on the Adequate Independent State Ground Doctrine: Cruz v. Arizona

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Cruz v. Arizona, limited to the following question:

Whether the Arizona Supreme Court’s holding that Arizona Rule of Criminal Procedure 32.1(g) precluded post-conviction relief is an adequate and independent state-law ground for the judgment.

You can find the cert-stage briefing—and follow the merits briefs as they come in—at SCOTUSblog and at the Supreme Court website.

 

 

Smith on Citron & Solove on Privacy Law and Judicial Remedies

Today on the Courts Law section of JOTWELL is Fred Smith’s essay, No Harm, No Foul? Privacy Law and Judicial Remedies. Fred reviews Danielle Citron and Dan Solove’s recent article, Privacy Harms, 102 B.U. L. Rev. (forthcoming 2022).

 

 

 

 

SCOTUS Stays Lower Court Order to Revise Alabama’s Congressional Redistricting Plan

Yesterday, the Supreme Court issued a decision in Merrill v. Milligan and Merrill v. Caster. By a 5-4 vote, the Court stayed the three-judge district court’s order, which had found that Alabama’s redistricting plan violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and must be revised for the 2022 election. The Supreme Court noted probable jurisdiction in Merrill and granted certiorari before judgment in Caster, setting up both cases to be argued on the merits but allowing the challenged redistricting plan to be used in the 2022 election.

Justice Kavanaugh, joined by Justice Alito, wrote an opinion concurring in the stay grant.

Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Kagan (the latter joined by Justices Breyer and Sotomayor) each wrote opinions dissenting from the stay grant.

 

 

 

 

SCOTUS Cert Grant on Jurisdiction over Constitutional Challenges to the FTC

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Axon Enterprise, Inc. v. FTC, which presents the following question: “Whether Congress impliedly stripped federal district courts of jurisdiction over constitutional challenges to the Federal Trade Commission’s structure, procedures, and existence by granting the courts of appeals jurisdiction to ‘affirm, enforce, modify, or set aside’ the Commission’s cease-and-desist orders.”

The Court limited the cert. grant to this issue only, declining to address a second question regarding the constitutionality of the FTC’s structure regarding administrative law judges.

You can find the cert-stage briefing—and follow the merits briefs as they come in—at SCOTUSblog and at the Supreme Court website.

 

 

 

SDNY Vacates Bankruptcy Court Order Giving Immunity to Sackler Family

Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Colleen McMahon (S.D.N.Y.) issued a decision vacating the bankruptcy judge’s earlier order (covered here) that had given individual members of the Sackler Family immunity from civil lawsuits relating to the opioid epidemic. Here are some excerpts from the opinion’s introduction:

The Plan confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court extinguishes all civil claims against the Sacklers that relate in any way to the operations of Purdue – including claims on which certain members of the Sackler family could be held personally liable to entities other than Purdue (principally the various states). These claims could not be released if the Sacklers were themselves debtors in bankruptcy.  ***

The great unsettled question in this case is whether the Bankruptcy Court – or any court – is statutorily authorized to grant such releases. This issue has split the federal Circuits for decades. While the Circuits that say no are united in their reasoning, the Circuits that say yes offer various justifications for their conclusions. And – crucially for this case – although the Second Circuit identified the question as open back in 2005, it has not yet had occasion to analyze the issue. Its only guidance to the lower courts, uttered in that 2005 opinion, is this: because statutory authority is questionable and such releases can be abused, they should be granted sparingly and only in “unique” cases. ***

Aided by superb briefing and argument on both sides of the question, and by extended ruminations on the subject by several esteemed bankruptcy judges of our own District – Judge Drain not the least – this Court concludes that the Bankruptcy Code does not authorize such nonconsensual non-debtor releases: not in its express text (which is conceded); not in its silence (which is disputed); and not in any section or sections of the Bankruptcy Code that, read singly or together, purport to confer generalized or “residual” powers on a court sitting in bankruptcy.

Download In re Purdue Pharma 12-16-21

 

SCOTUS Cert Grants: Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety; Viking River Cruises v. Moriana

The Supreme Court granted certiorari yesterday in two interesting cases.

Torres v. Texas Department of Public Safety involves the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). It presents the question “whether Congress has the power to authorize suits against nonconsenting states pursuant to its War Powers.”

You can find the Torres cert-stage briefing—and follow the merits briefs as they come in—at SCOTUSblog and at the Supreme Court website.

Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana involves the effect of the Federal Arbitration Act on the California Private Attorneys General Act (“PAGA”). It presents the question: “Whether the Federal Arbitration Act requires enforcement of a bilateral arbitration agreement providing that an employee cannot raise representative claims, including under PAGA.”

You can find the Viking River Cruises cert-stage briefing—and follow the merits briefs as they come in—at SCOTUSblog and at the Supreme Court website.