Sixth Circuit agrees to hear appeal in Trump incitement case

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit [official website] on Wednesday granted [text, PDF] an interlocutory appeal by President Donald Trump [official website] challenging an earlier denial of his motion to dismiss a lawsuit arising out of statements he made at a Kentucky campaign rally in March 2016.

The suit was initially filed [complaint, PDF] by three individuals in a Kentucky state court before Trump removed [notice, PDF] the suit to the US District Court for the Western District of Kentucky [official website]. Trump’s attorney’s attempted to have the matter dismissed in the District Court, however, the court denied the motion [order, PDF].

The Sixth Circuit noted that traditionally, an order denying a motion to dismiss is not appealable. However, under federal law [28 U.S.C. § 1292 text], a district court may certify an otherwise unappealable order for appeal if the court believes that the issue involves a controlling question of law, other courts differ on how to apply the question of law, and allowing the appeal will “advance the termination of the litigation.” Being of the opinion that these conditions were met, the District Court certified [order, PDF] its denial of Trump’s motion to dismiss for appeal to the Sixth Circuit.

After finding that the case met the conditions under which it my review an otherwise an unappealable decision, the Circuit Court concluded by stating that:

[W]e are convinced that a panel of this court should ensure that the Kentucky claim rests on a solid footing before permitting litigation to continue. It may, or it may not.

The court did not address the merits of the underlying claims.