The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Photo: Ken Lund
It’s rare enough for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to agree to an en banc review, so to see its judges debate about the decision not to sit en banc as they did Thursday is extraordinary.
Over three separate opinions, the circuit judges argued over the decision not to grant the federal government’s request to rehear the decision in Tanvir v. Tanzin from earlier this year. The active judges on the panel—Chief Judge Robert Katzmann and Judge Rosemary Pooler—defended their revival of a post-9/11 religious liberties liability suit filed by Muslim plaintiffs against federal agents.
