Politics has nothing to do with it.”īut occasionally the Fifth gets a very different kind of case. “This guy’s mad at the other guy, Social Security disputes. “There’s a constant fire hose of normal cases,” a lawyer who often appears before the Fifth explained. At one point, Ho asked a lawyer, “What is your evidence in the record that there was actual contact between the coil and the glass?” On such issues-with the vast majority of the law, in fact-there is not much room for partisanship. One case involved product liability and an allegedly faulty French press coffee maker. Much of the business of the Fifth is routine: Medicare fraud, breach of contract, statutes of limitations. In the middle sat the presiding judge, Stephen Higginson, who was gregarious and asked the most questions of the three, amiably parrying with the attorneys. He often fidgeted, pressing his fingertips together or biting his nails. While Ho engaged with every lawyer, Willett spoke only occasionally. On the other end of the bench sat Judge Don Willett, looking like a reserved professor with a peach-colored bow tie peeking out above his robe. One day this spring, Judge James Ho sat on the bench in the East Courtroom, his broad face motionless except for his eyes, which he has a habit of squeezing tightly shut, then springing open, sometimes every few seconds. And no court is pushing this agenda further than the Fifth Circuit. But at the vanguard are many of those serving on the nation’s thirteen courts of federal appeal. The most familiar faces of this revolution are the conservative justices on the Supreme Court. This movement has already overturned the right to an abortion and is actively gunning to curtail the federal government’s ability to regulate everything from voting rights and banks to clean air and water. You wouldn’t know it, but inside this calm, stately space, a revolution is brewing, one that is boldly transforming American law, redefining constitutional precedent, and tossing aside long-standing norms about partisan behavior by federal judges. These hallways are generally quiet, the stillness occasionally broken by lawyers and judges speaking in hushed tones that echo the length of the building. Upstairs are the offices, chambers, and courtrooms of the 26 judges who sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Step inside the lobby known as the Great Hall, and it feels as if you’re walking into a cathedral with marble columns, arched windows, and towering ceilings decorated with bas-relief figures. Its Ionic colonnades recall the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. Erected in the years leading up to World War I, it was designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and subsumes an entire city block. Court of Appeals Building, just across the street from historic Lafayette Square, in downtown New Orleans, is one of the most majestic courthouses in the country.

Bloodsport redux