Rey v. LCMC Health Care Partners
Split Score
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Case Summary
Disposition
Dismissed
Residents living near Children’s Hospital in New Orleans appealed a district-court order that, on pre-emption grounds, dismissed their request for a permanent injunction to relocate the hospital’s helipad. The Fifth Circuit held it lacked appellate jurisdiction because, under Carson v. American Brands, plaintiffs did not show the requisite serious and irreparable consequences for an interlocutory appeal, and therefore dismissed the appeal.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether an interlocutory order that, through partial summary judgment, effectively denies a request for permanent injunctive relief is immediately appealable under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1) without the appellant satisfying the Carson v. American Brands ‘serious-consequence / unreviewability’ factors.
Circuit Positions
§ 1292(a)(1) allows interlocutory appeal only if the Carson factors (serious, perhaps irreparable consequence and inability to obtain effective review after final judgment) are met when permanent injunctive relief is denied via a non-final order.
Denial of permanent injunctive relief in a non-final order is per se appealable under § 1292(a)(1); Carson factors are irrelevant.
Conflict Summary
The Fifth, along with several circuits, requires an appellant to satisfy the two-part Carson test before an interlocutory appeal may proceed when a district court’s non-final order has the practical effect of denying permanent injunctive relief. In contrast, four circuits treat such an order as automatically appealable under § 1292(a)(1), dispensing with Carson entirely.