Trump appointee blasts Fifth Circuit over "landmines" in its recent decisions [View all]

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Law Dork

In a case that has already ping-ponged around the federal court system, U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman on Friday granted the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s request to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new credit card late fee rule from going into effect.

In doing so, a trial court judge in the federal system issued a ruling that adhered to the law and precedent within his circuit, as he is obligated to do.

At the same time, however, Friday’s decision from Pittman — a Trump appointee to the Northern District of Texas — was a remarkable attack on the actions of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the court to which all of his cases are appealed.

More than half of Pittman’s 12-page opinion is devoted to making as clear as possible his extreme dissatisfaction with the behavior of the Fifth Circuit in this case.

Pittman — referencing the Fifth Circuit’s earlier ruling that sent the case back to him — wrote that he “rejects the notion that [his court] did not act ‘promptly’ with respect to the Plaintiffs’ preliminary-injunction motion.”

As to the specifics of what he did with the Chamber’s challenge — and how the Fifth Circuit responded — Pittman later added, “[A] district court has broad discretion and inherent authority to manage its docket. … That’s what it did here, much to the apparent dismay of the Fifth Circuit.”

Pittman — a conservative judge — made a very public case Friday that the Fifth Circuit’s actions in the case encourage party manipulation of the court process.

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