The life of an appellate court judge is largely occupied by consideration of criminal appeals and prisoner petitions. In FY2012, these cases made up 64% of the Fifth Circuit's docket. (By contrast, bankruptcy appeals made up only 1.7% of cases docketed). While they are statistically insignificant, the Fifth Circuit is having to devote an increasing amount of its time to cases involving persons unhappy about the foreclosure of their residence. By my count, the Fifth Circuit has issued two published opi
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