David S. Tatel
How Judge Tatel rules, drawn from 28 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Tatel no longer sits on this court. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Tatel
David S. Tatel was a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Appointed by President William J. Clinton, Judge Tatel received a commission on October 7, 1994. Judge Tatel assumed senior status on May 16, 2022 and retired on January 16, 2024.
How Judge Tatel decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
In Hunter v. FERC, Tatel held that the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction over manipulation of natural-gas futures contracts foreclosed FERC's charge against the petitioner.
“To be clear, there are limits to what comes within CEA section 2(a)(1)(A)'s orbit, but once a scheme crosses the statute's event horizon, the CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction.”
In Friends of the Earth v. EPA, Tatel read the Clean Water Act's daily-load requirement according to its plain language and directed the district court to vacate EPA's approvals.
“For the foregoing reasons, we remand to the district court with instructions to vacate EPA's approvals.”
When an agency invokes a narrow administrative exemption, it must explain why a narrower alternative would not work rather than offer a nonresponsive assertion of trivial impact.
“Given EPA’s obligation to adopt the narrowest exemption possible, it should have explained why it rejected an option that would have reduced emissions from sources the Deferral Rule permanently exempts.”
A records-search declaration must disclose enough about search terms and workarounds for the requester to test whether the procedures were adequate.
“Because the FBI failed to offer any such explanation, the Reporters Committee was left without ‘information specific enough . . . to challenge the procedures utilized,’”
Prospective educational services do not moot a claim for compensatory education addressing past deficiencies when the court can still grant that distinct relief.
“the district court has the authority to grant Boose the compensatory education she asks for—a question it should have addressed on the merits.”
Procedural preferences
In Wisconsin Voters Alliance v. Harris, Tatel dismissed an appeal from a disciplinary referral because the referral fixed no rights or obligations and was not a final decision.
“For the foregoing reasons, the appeal is dismissed.”
Agency action is not final when the agency repeatedly signals that its decisionmaking remains unconsummated, regardless of appellate counsel's later characterization.
“the Commission made clear that its decision making regarding the three challenged features remained unconsummated.”
Cautions
In IDACORP Energy L.P. v. FERC, Tatel denied the retroactive-ratemaking challenge but granted the petition in part because the agency’s acceptance of a compliance filing was arbitrary and capricious.
“Finding no retroactive ratemaking, we deny the portion of IDACORP's petition relating to OOM charges. But because we conclude that FERC's acceptance of CAISO's compliance filing was arbitrary and capricious, we grant IDACORP's petition in part.”
Post-plea legal misadvice is not automatically nonprejudicial because the defendant may still have sought to withdraw the plea; timing alone cannot resolve the petition.
“the district court should not have denied the petition based solely on the timing of defense counsel’s misrepresentations,”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Because the Commission failed to reconcile its decision here with an earlier opinion on a related matter, we grant the petition and remand for further proceedings.”
“We have considered all petitioners' remaining arguments and, finding them without merit, we deny the petitions for review.”
“The petitions for review are denied.”
“Finding no retroactive ratemaking, we deny the portion of IDACORP's petition relating to OOM charges. But because we conclude that FERC's acceptance of CAISO's compliance filing was arbitrary and capricious, we grant IDACORP's petition in part.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we remand to the district court with instructions to vacate EPA's approvals.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the dismissal of Williams's habeas petition and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“We reverse the district court's dismissal for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we grant the petition for review.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we grant the petitions for review and vacate the Deferral Rule.”
“For the foregoing reasons, we affirm.”
“We therefore affirm.”
A historical record
Judge Tatel no longer sits on this court. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.