I'm an appellate attorney, too. I'm not sure as you, though. It's convenient enough to write Dlott's ruling off as that of a wacked-out Clintonista appointee, but Adams' ruling -- he's a Bush appointee -- is another story altogether.
While it's true that given the time constraints, a single judge on the Sixth Circuit could have granted a stay under Fed. R. App. P. 8, again, we're talking about two cases here. Plus I still think we would have heard about it somewhere else other than the little erroneous Fox blurb.
Glad to "meet" you, my FReeper friend! It's clear to me now that the Fox blurb was screwed up. In fact, I just rechecked it and the reference to the Sixth Circuit has now been removed. Both cases are no doubt under review at thisn very moment, though. As to Judge Adams' ruling, as much as I hate to admit it, being a Bush appointee (especially at the district court level) is no absolute guarantee of legal acumen.
Now Fox is reporting that they are getting conflicting reports about the decision. At first, they reported that the 6th circuit overturned the decision of the 2 judges.
Now they're confused and the reporting is now that lawyers are scurrying around the court. I'm confused that they're so confused.