The Eighth Circuit this afternoon granted the NFL's motion for an expedited appeal, as expected. The NFL's brief is due May 9, the players' response is due May 20, and the NFL's reply is due May 26. The case will be argued before Judges Bye, Colloton and Benton June 3.
Much of this is not new or particularly earth-shattering. The one interesting point to note is that the three judges who will decide the appeal are the same ones who decided the temporary stay request. Although the panel granted the stay, 2-1, Judge Bye (the Democratic appointee) dissented, writing that the owners would suffer no irreparable harm if the lockout were lifted. It will be interesting to see how this plays out; the other two judges did not opine on the merits of the stay, writing simply that they were granting the stay so that they could study the papers more closely.
Regarding the expedited appeal, does this ever imply that the court is likely to go one way or the other?
ReplyDeleteNo. Typically appeals take months to be heard and decided. Granting a request for an expedited appeal only means that the Court 'fast-tracks' the case. (This case will be argued on June 3, about five weeks after the notice of appeal was filed. Under normal circumstances, it can take six months to a year to get the case heard.)
ReplyDeleteGranting the expedited appeal implies nothing about the merits; it just means that the Court agrees that the case is sort of urgent (and both sides here, I would guess, agree that it is).
The lockout was reinstated?
ReplyDeleteIt was not reinstated. Read the post.
ReplyDeleteI bet the decision comes out today.
ReplyDelete