Designated for publication Douglas, J. (Clement, Oldham, Douglas) (oral argument withdrawn), breach of contract, expert witness, mandate Affirming defense judgment after bench trial on remand from reversal of earlier summary judgment for defendant. Energy trading firm MIECO contracted with natural gas producer Pioneer for the daily sale of 20,000 million British thermal units of natural … More October 8, 2026, opinions
Designated for publication Douglas, J. (Jones, Duncan, Douglas) (oral argument), standing, subject matter jurisdiction, administrative law Affirming dismissal of suit challenging final rules of the Department of Energy under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, holding that the Circuit Courts Appeals had exclusive jurisdiction over such judicial review challenged under the EPCA, to the exclusion … More October 6-7, 2026, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Smith, Ho, Duncan) (no oral argument), habeas corpus, Atkins, timeliness Denying motion for authorization to file a successive habeas application and for stay of execution. Jamaal Howard, convicted of murder and sentenced to death for the 2000 shooting death of Vickie Swartout in Silsbee, Texas, was scheduled for execution on … More October 5, 2026, opinions
Designated for publication Engelhardt, J. (Smith, Haynes, Engelhardt) (oral argument), Haynes, J., dissenting; criminal, sentencing Vacating sentence of two consecutive 30-year terms for production of child pornography, and remanding for resentencing. David Koan pled guilty to two counts of production of child pornography under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(a). He had previously been sentenced in Texas … More October 1-2, 2026, opinions
I posted my annual statistics for the October 2025 – September 2026 annual period yesterday from U.S. 5th Circuit decisions released in that period, but I left out one of the more interesting sets of statistics that I just started collecting in this last annual period: the shift in affirmance rates–and therefore in an appellant’s … More 2025-2026 annual U.S. 5th Circuit addendum: The importance of getting oral argument
At the end of each month, we tally various statistics from opinions released by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Then, corresponding to the traditional court term start date of October 1 (using the court term employed by the Supreme Court, though the Fifth Circuit itself compiles statistics on a July-to-June year), … More Annual Statistics: October 2025 – September 2026
I report after each month on interesting statistics from the data I generate from the daily opinion summaries from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and at the end of each court year (Oct.-Sept.) I aggregate that–all of which provides useful insights into the inner workings of the Court, the relative success … More September 2026 opinion statistics
Designated for publication Duncan, J. (Duncan, Oldham, Wilson) (oral argument), Oldham, J., concurring in judgment; § 1981 Affirming summary judgment dismissal of § 1981 claims based solely on religious discrimination. Christian Brothers Automotive Corporation is a faith-based auto-repair franchisor that grants franchises only to professing Christians. All of its more than 250 franchisees—including at least … More September 30, 2026, opinions
Unpublished decisions per curiam (King, Higginson, Douglas) (no oral argument), criminal, search and seizure Affirming conviction for possession with intent to distribute cocaine, upholding denial of motion to suppress. At issue on appeal was whether a state trooper had reasonable suspicion to extend a traffic stop for a K-9 sniff of the defendant’s vehicle. Quintana … More September 29, 2026, opinions
Unpublished decisions per curiam (Haynes, Graves, Ramirez) (no oral argument), criminal, sentencing Affirming sentence on conviction of production of child pornography. At issue on appeal was (1) whether the district court abused its discretion in rejecting a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement that called for 360 months of imprisonment — half the guidelines range — for … More September 25-28, 2026, opinions
