We report after each month on interesting statistics from the data we generate from the daily opinion summaries from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and at the end of a year we will aggregate that–all of which provides useful insights into the inner workings of the Court, the relative success of various appeals, and more.
The December 2020 statistics are based on 200 total opinions released by the Court.
Where the appeals are coming from
- The most appellate decisions came from the Northern District of Texas, with 48 decisions from the 5th Circuit on cases originating there.
- The Middle District of Louisiana, Southern District of Mississippi, and Northern District of Mississippi had the best affirmance rate in the 5th Circuit in December, each with 100% affirmances.
- From decisions out of the Western District of Texas, there were 36 affirmances/appeal dismissals; 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 1 full reversal; and 3 full vacaturs.
- From the Southern District of Texas, there were 31 affirmances/appeal dismissals; 3 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 2 full reversals; and 4 full vacaturs.
- From the Eastern District of Texas, there were 6 affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 full reversal.
- From the Northern District of Texas, there were 44 affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 full reversal; and 3 full vacaturs/remands.
- From the Eastern District of Louisiana, there were 9 affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur; and 2 full vacaturs.
- From the Middle District of Louisiana, there were 4 affirmances/appeal dismissals.
- From the Western District of Louisiana, there were 9 affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 full reversal.
- From the Northern District of Mississippi, there were 4 affirmances/appeal dismissals.
- From the Southern District of Mississippi, there were 12 affirmances/appeal dismissals.
What the appeals are about
- The largest number of appeals are of criminal conviction and/or sentencing issues. 84 resulted in full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 was a full reversal; and 2 were full vacaturs.
- In post-conviction relief cases, including state and federal habeas and compassionate release petitions, there were 8 full affirmances/appeal dismissals/COA denials; 4 full vacaturs/remands; and 1 order for en banc rehearing.
- In immigration cases, there were 19 dismissals of petitions for review of Board of Immigration Appeals orders; 1 grant of petitions for review of BIA orders; and 1 affirmance on a non-BIA appeal.
- In prisoner suits, there were 11 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 full vacatur/remand.
- In commercial – civil cases, there were 14 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur; 1 full vacaturs; and 1 denial of a petition to review an agency decision.
- In civil rights/constitutional claims (non-prisoner-suits), there were 9 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur; 1 full reversal; 1 full vacatur/remand; and 1 denial of en banc rehearing.
- In qualified immunity cases, there were 4 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 full reversal; and 1 full vacatur/remand.
- In employment/labor law cases, there were 8 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 3 full reversals; and 1 full vacatur/remand.
- In personal injury/non-commercial tort cases, there were 5 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur.
- In environmental law/toxic tort decisions, there were 3 full affirmances.
- In products liability cases, there was 1 full affirmance/appeal dismissal; and 1 certification to a state supreme court.
- In maritime/admiralty law cases, there were 2 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur.
- In bankruptcy, there were 3 full affirmances/appeal dismissals.
How much law is being made?
- Of the 200 opinions released by the 5th Circuit in December 2020, 33 were designated for publication. 20 of those were full affirmances; 5 were partial affirmances/partial reversal/vacaturs; 3 were full reversals; 1 was a certification to a state supreme court; 2 were denials of en banc rehearing; 1 was a denial of a petition to review a BIA order; and 1 was a denial of a petition to review an agency decision.
- 167 of the December opinions were unpublished, including 135 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur; 3 full reversals; 8 full vacaturs; 18 denials of petitions to review BIA orders; 1 grant of a petition to review BIA orders; and 1 denial of a petition to review an agency decision.
Who was doing what on the Court?
Who was the busiest, in that they were on the most panels issuing opinions in December? (Judge Ho.) Who was the busiest writer, authoring the most opinions? (Judge Ho, followed closely by Chief Judge Owen and Judges Jones and Haynes.) How many opinions did the Court issue per curiam, with no author listed? (163, with 160 of those unpublished.) Who participated in making the most law, participating in the most panels with published opinions? (Judge Ho, followed by Judges Haynes and Duncan.) We have all that below (senior-status judges in italics):
| Judge | on panel | in majority | author majority | author concur | author dissent | published | unpublished |
| Owen | 28 | 28 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 20 | |
| Jones | 31 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 23 | |
| Smith | 25 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 20 | ||
| Stewart | 34 | 33 | 1 | 3 | 31 | ||
| Dennis | 31 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 24 | |
| Elrod | 18 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 11 |
| Southwick | 27 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 20 | ||
| Haynes | 37 | 37 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 28 | |
| Graves | 18 | 17 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 14 | |
| Higginson | 22 | 21 | 2 | 7 | 15 | ||
| Costa | 31 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 24 | |
| Willett | 30 | 28 | 2 | 7 | 23 | ||
| Ho | 42 | 41 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 31 | |
| Duncan | 36 | 35 | 9 | 27 | |||
| Engelhardt | 33 | 33 | 5 | 28 | |||
| Oldham | 21 | 20 | 5 | 16 | |||
| Wilson | 21 | 20 | 1 | 4 | 17 | ||
| Reavley | |||||||
| King | 32 | 32 | 1 | 3 | 29 | ||
| Jolly | 10 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 6 | ||
| Higginbotham | 25 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 21 | ||
| Davis | 18 | 18 | 18 | ||||
| Duhe | |||||||
| Wiener | 21 | 21 | 4 | 17 | |||
| Barksdale | 17 | 17 | 2 | 3 | 14 | ||
| Benavides | |||||||
| Clement | 24 | 24 | 4 | 6 | 18 | ||
| Per Curiam | 163 | 3 | 160 |
Conclusions? Most decision, as always, are unanimous, with only 5 dissenting opinions in December and 8 concurrences out of 200 opinions. By far the most decisions are per curiam, at 163, against 37 authored opinions. The Fifth Circuit continues to have a very active senior-status bench, with Judges King, Higginbotham, Clement, and Wiener participating in an equivalent or greater number of panels to some of the active-status judges. Meanwhile, among active-status judges, the lightest productions in December were from Judges Elrod, Oldham, and Wilson.
Wrap it all together, and an opinion in December 2020 was most likely to be an unpublished per curiam affirming a criminal decision from the Northern District of Texas, with Judges Ho, Haynes, and Duncan on the panel.
Take the Fifth 