THREAD re Flynn en banc procedures
1) While Judge Sullivan has filed a petition for rehearing en banc, neither Flynn nor the DOJ may file a response in opposition unless the DC Circuit enters an order explicitly requesting a response.

2) If the DC Circuit does NOT request a response in opposition to the en banc petition, the petition is automatically denied. Even if a response in opposition is requested, this does not mean the petition will be granted (as I will explain further below).

3) There are a total of 11 active judges on the DC Circuit. En banc petitions are given to all of them. In the vast majority of cases, the judges do not do anything on en banc petitions, meaning they are automatically denied with no voting by the judges.

4) However, if even one of the active judges thinks there may be some merit to the en banc petition, that judge can request a "poll" on the other active judges, meaning that all of the active judges HAVE to explicitly vote one way or the other on the petition.

5) Keep in mind that this "poll vote" amongst the judges is on whether or not to GRANT rehearing en banc, and NOT on whether to overrule the panel opinion.

5) As I understand it, if even a single judge requests a poll of the other judges, that poll request AUTOMATICALLY generates an order asking the other parties for a response in opposition.

6) Because Judge Wilkins dissented from Judge Rao's opinion, this practically guarantees that he will request a poll from the other judges on the DC Circuit on the en banc petition, and that Flynn and the DOJ will be asked for a response in opposition.

7) But again, that does NOT guarantee that the court will GRANT rehearing en banc. That requires a majority vote of the active judges. Since there are 11 judges on the DC Circuit, at least 6 of them would have to vote to rehear the case en banc.

8) It is also possible that if en banc rehearing is denied, the order denying it will list how each judge voted (for or against en banc rehearing).

9) In any event, because Judge Rao's order is set to become final and enforceable five days from now, on July 15, the DC Circuit should issue some sort of order in the next few days or so.