Stumbling Block

By Brad

When Verizon filed suit against the FCC over net neutrality regulations, they requested that the case be heard by the same judges who ruled for Comcast in their case against the FCC. Yesterday, a federal appellate court has shot that idea down. Via Larry Downes of CNet:

The request was a long shot, and the decision to deny Verizon’s motion wasn’t surprising. In federal courts, the panel of three judges that hear an appeal is usually assigned randomly. However, when an appellate court returns a case to a lower court for further proceedings, subsequent appeals in the same case are often returned to the original panel in the interests of “judicial efficiency.”

But despite the similarities between the Comcast case and Verizon’s appeal of the new rule, the cases are not part of the same docket. Comcast’s appeal was from sanctions issued under the former policy statements, while Verizon is challenging the new rules on their face.