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 each court year (Oct.-Sept.) 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 September 2022 statistics are based on 213 total opinions released by the Court.
Where the appeals are coming from
- The Middle District of Louisiana, with 3 full affirmances; the Northern District of Mississippi, with 1 full affirmance; the Southern District of Mississippi, with 9 full affirmances; and the Eastern District of Texas, with 13 full affirmances, were the Fifth Circuit districts with perfect affirmance rates in September 2022.
- The most appellate decisions came out of the Northern District of Texas, with 65 decisions by the Court on cases originating from there. 57 of those were affirmances or appeal dismissals; 2 were partial affirmances/partial reversals or vacaturs; 3 were a full reversals; and 3 were full vacaturs.
- From decisions from the Western District of Texas there were 41 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 3 full reversals; 1 full vacatur; and 1 opinion granting a motion.
- From decisions out of the Southern District of Texas, there were 21 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 4 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 4 full reversals; and 1 denial of a motion.
- From the Eastern District of Louisiana, there were 7 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs.
- From the Western District of Louisiana, there were 6 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur.
- From petitions for review of Board of Immigration Appeal decisions, there were 25 denials and 2 grants.
- In appeals from agency decisions, there was 1 full affirmance.
What the appeals are about
- The largest number of appeals are of criminal conviction and/or sentencing issues. 112 resulted in full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 3 were partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 1 was a full reversal; and 2 were full vacaturs/remands.
- In post-conviction relief cases, including state and federal habeas petitions, there were 6 full affirmances/appeal dismissals.
- In immigration cases, there was 1 full affirmance; 25 dismissals/denials of petitions for review of Board of Immigration Appeals orders; and 2 grants/remands of petitions to review BIA orders.
- In prisoner suits, there were 7 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 full vacatur.
- In commercial – civil cases, there were 14 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; and 1 full reversal.
- In civil rights/constitutional claims (non-prisoner-suits), there were 6 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; and 4 full reversals.
- In employment/labor law cases, there were 3 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 1 full reversal; and 1 full vacatur.
- In qualified immunity cases, there were 2 full affirmances; 2 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; and 1 full reversal.
- In personal injury/non-commercial tort cases, there were 4 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; and 1 full reversal.
- In bankruptcy cases, there was 1 full affirmance; and 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur.
- In tax law cases, there were 2 full affirmances.
- In social security cases, there was 1 full affirmance.
- In environmental law/toxic tort cases, there was 1 partial affirmance/partial reversal/vacatur.
- In voting/election law cases, there was 1 full reversal.
- In abortion law cases, there was 1 full affirmance.
How much law is being made?
- Of the 213 opinions released by the 5th Circuit in September 2022, 33 were designated for publication. 14 of those were full affirmances; 5 were partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 8 were full reversals; 1 was a full vacatur; 3 were denials of petitions for review of BIA orders; 1 was a grant of a petition for review of a BIA order; and 1 was a grant of a motion.
- 180 of the September opinions were unpublished, including 145 full affirmances/appeal dismissals; 6 partial affirmances/partial reversals/vacaturs; 2 full reversals; 3 full vacaturs; 22 denials/dismissals of petitions to review BIA orders; 1 grant of a petition to review a BIA order; and 1 motion denial.
Who was doing what on the Court?
Who was the busiest, in that they were on the most panels issuing opinions in September? (Judges Jones and Duncan.) Who was the busiest writer, authoring the most attributed opinions? (Judges Southwick and Oldham.) How many opinions did the Court issue per curiam, with no author listed? (183, with 177 of those unpublished.) Who participated in making the most law, participating in the most panels with published opinions? (Judge Duncan.) We have all that below (senior-status judges in italics):
| Judge | On panel | In majority | Author majority | Author concur | Author dissent/ dubitante | Published | Unpublished |
| Richman | 9 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 8 | ||
| Jones | 51 | 51 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 44 | |
| Smith | 39 | 39 | 3 | 6 | 33 | ||
| Stewart | 31 | 31 | 2 | 6 | 25 | ||
| Dennis | 32 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 30 | ||
| Elrod | 36 | 36 | 3 | 9 | 27 | ||
| Southwick | 33 | 32 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 27 | |
| Haynes | 36 | 36 | 1 | 35 | |||
| Graves | 27 | 27 | 2 | 6 | 21 | ||
| Higginson | 22 | 22 | 1 | 21 | |||
| Willett | 17 | 17 | 17 | ||||
| Ho | 32 | 31 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 27 | |
| Duncan | 51 | 51 | 2 | 11 | 40 | ||
| Engelhardt | 35 | 35 | 2 | 7 | 28 | ||
| Oldham | 43 | 42 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 38 |
| Wilson | 36 | 36 | 1 | 5 | 31 | ||
| Dist. Ct. Judge sitting by designation | |||||||
| King | 31 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 24 | ||
| Jolly | 7 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Higginbotham | 25 | 25 | 1 | 2 | 23 | ||
| Davis | 9 | 9 | 9 | ||||
| Wiener | 18 | 18 | 1 | 17 | |||
| Barksdale | 8 | 8 | 1 | 7 | |||
| Clement | 10 | 10 | 3 | 7 | |||
| per curiam | 183 | 6 | 177 |
Conclusions? Most decisions in September, as always, were unanimous, with only 4 dissenting opinions and 4 concurrences out of 213 opinions. By far the most decisions are per curiam, at 183, against 30 authored opinions. The Fifth Circuit continues to have a very active senior-status bench, with Judges King, Higginbotham, and Wiener participating in as many panels as many of the active-status judges. Meanwhile, among active-status judges, the lightest production in September was from Chief Judge Richman.
Wrap it all together, and an opinion in September 2022 was most likely to be an unpublished per curiam affirming a criminal decision from the Northern District of Texas, with Judges Jones, Duncan, and Oldham on the panel.
Take the Fifth 