The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit will be sitting en banc tomorrow morning, commencing at 9:00 a.m. (courthouse opens at 8:00 a.m. for those appellate junkies, like me, who want to get a good seat).  As posted here last month (with links to the original panel opinions and the en banc briefs), the en banc Court will re-hear arguments in three cases: U.S. v. Gomez, regarding whether rape by duress is a “crime of violence” for sentencing purposes; In Re: Volkswagen of America, Inc., regarding the denial of a motion to transfer venue where the primary factor weighing in favor of the original venue was the plaintiff’s choice of forum; and Moore v. Quarterman, regarding whether the habeas petitioner was entitled to habeas relief on Atkins grounds or had failed to exhaust state court remedies and whether Texas’s abuse-of-the-writ doctrine would preclude seeking further relief to exhaust remedies in state court.

Judging from the search terms that have brought viewers into the posts on this blawg regarding the en banc arguments, general interest seems to be heaviest with regard to the Volkswagen venue issue, then to a lesser extent with regard to the Moore exhaustion issue. I have noted little interest in the Gomez sentencing issue, though application of the Sentencing Guidelines continues to be a subject of constant attention in published U.S. Fifth Circuit decisions and U.S. Supreme Court opinions, and I am particularly looking forward to that argument.

By the end of the day tomorrow, I will post a review of the oral arguments for the three cases. If you are attending, look for me. I will be the one not with a large group of other attorneys, likely sitting toward a back corner of the gallery to get a good view of everything, constantly scribbling notes on a legal pad (this reminds me, it’s well past time for me to post a photo on my Attorney Bio page).  As I tell clients from time to time when meeting them in a public place for the first time, I’ll be the one dressed like a lawyer (for some reason, I always find this much more humorous than the clients do).