The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals won a lottery held Tuesday to hear legal challenges to an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule that would require vaccination or testing and face coverings for all workers in workplaces with 100 or more workers.
The 6th Circuit won the OSHA lottery pic.twitter.com/pFF5iiVxCo
— Phil Kerpen (@kerpen) November 16, 2021
By NPR: :
On Tuesday, a dozen ping-pong balls, each representing one court, were placed in a wooden drum in a process reminiscent of a Powerball drawing. The winning ball was drawn in Washington, D.C., by a selector from a judicial panel that oversees multi-district litigation.
The lottery comes days after a three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeals issued a ruling and then extended the short-lived suspension of the mandate, I’m calling a “fatally flawed” document that “grossly exceeds OSHA’s statutory authority.”
Challenges were filed in all twelve federal appeals courts regarding the mandate, which was scheduled to go into effect in December and January. While most of the challenges were filed by opponents of the vaccine mandate, some labor unions have filed challenges in Democratic-leaning courts, maintaining that the mandate doesn’t go far enough. Since it could have gone either way, it’s quite possible that freedom dodged a significant bullet.
While we don’t know for sure whether the 6th Circuit will follow the 5th Circuit’s unassailable logic, those concerned about bodily autonomy and the erosion of freedom that President Joe Biden’s administration is committing under the guise of “health” have reason for optimism.
The court, which covers Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, is composed of 11 judges appointed by Republicans, with only five appointed by Democratic presidents. In other words, a court that was once considered center-right has become decidedly conservative thanks to six justices appointed by former President Donald Trump.
The OSHA vaccine mandate lottery was won by the 6th Circuit Court with an 11-5 GOP majority thanks to Trump, who transformed it from center-right to hard-right with six nominations. Winning here with solid logic will make it tough for SCOTUS to take down the team. Huge.
— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) November 16, 2021
In a case that seems inevitably binding on the Supreme Court, litigation and appeals could likely take weeks or even months, even if the Sixth Circuit reaches a quick decision, NPR reports.
So will Trump’s judicial picks save the country from what may be the most draconian and insane power takeover in U.S. history? We are about to find out, both at the District Court and Supreme Court level.
