Visualizing the Nathan Vote
Five ways to see a 9-8 en banc decision: the merits vote, the fractured standing vote, the opinion-join matrix across six opinions and seventeen judges, the dissent-doctrine composition, and the religious makeup of the plaintiff families the majority held had standing but no claim.
The merits vote: 9-8 to reverse
One of the closest en banc splits in Fifth Circuit history. The nine-judge majority reached every merits issue; the eight dissenters would have affirmed the preliminary injunction.
The standing / Part III vote
Part III (standing and ripeness) drew a different coalition. Twelve judges agreed plaintiffs had standing. Five Duncan-aligned judges joined the majority's merits analysis but would have disposed of the case on standing grounds alone.
Dissent-doctrine composition
The dissents pressed three distinct theories. The bar shows how many of the eight dissenters actually joined each theory as a basis for reversal.
Plaintiff families by tradition
The eleven plaintiff families represented eight different faith traditions plus nonreligious households — a diversity the Nathan dissenters emphasized and the majority treated as doctrinally irrelevant.
5 The opinion-join matrix
Which judge joined which opinion
All six opinions (Majority, Ho concurrence, Oldham partial concurrence, and four dissents) across all seventeen active Fifth Circuit judges. Read a row to see one judge's pattern; read a column to see who signed each opinion.
| Judge | Majority (Duncan) |
Concur. (Ho) |
Part. Concur. (Oldham) |
Dissent (Ramirez) |
Dissent (Southwick) |
Dissent (Haynes) |
Dissent (Higginson) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elrod, C.J. | J | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Jones | J | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Stewart | · | · | · | J | · | · | · |
| Smith | J | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Richman | · | · | · | J | · | · | J |
| Southwick | · | · | · | · | A | · | · |
| Haynes | · | · | · | · | · | A | · |
| Graves | · | · | · | J | · | · | J |
| Higginson | · | · | · | J | · | · | A |
| Willett | J | · | J | · | · | · | · |
| Ho | J | A | · | · | · | · | · |
| Duncan | A | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Engelhardt | J | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Oldham | J | · | A | · | · | · | · |
| Wilson | J | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Douglas | · | · | · | J | · | · | J |
| Ramirez | · | · | · | A | · | · | J |