7th Cir. IOP 6

(a) Remands from the Supreme Court. A case remanded by the Supreme Court to this court for further proceedings will ordinarily be reassigned to the same panel that heard the case previously. If a member of that panel was a visiting judge and it is inconvenient for the visitor to participate further, that judge may be replaced by designation or by lot, as the chief judge directs.

(b) Successive Appeals. Briefs in a subsequent appeal in a case in which the court has heard an earlier appeal will be sent to the panel that heard the prior appeal. That panel will decide the successive appeal on the merits unless there is no overlap in the issues presented. When the subsequent appeal presents different issues but involves the same essential facts as the earlier appeal, the panel will decide the subsequent appeal unless it concludes that considerations of judicial economy do not support retaining the case. If the panel elects not to decide the new appeal, it will return the case for reassignment at random. If the original panel retains the successive appeal, it will notify the circuit executive whether oral argument is necessary. If oral argument is scheduled, any visiting judge will be replaced by a member of this court designated by lot. Cases that have been heard by the court en banc are outside the scope of this procedure, and successive appeals will be assigned at random unless the en banc court directs otherwise.

(c) Successive Collateral Attacks. An application for leave to file a second or successive petition under 28 U.S.C. §2254 or §2255 (see also 28 U.S.C. §2244(b) and Circuit Rule 22.2) will be assigned to the panel that heard the prior appeal. If there was no appeal in the prior case, the application will be assigned to the current motions panel.

(d) Certain Cases before Motion Panels. When a motion panel decides that a motion or petition should be set for oral argument or the appeal expedited, it may recommend to the chief judge that the matter be assigned for argument and decision to the same panel. In the absence of such a recommendation, the matter will ordinarily be assigned in the same manner as other appeals.