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Sixth Circuit Denies Appellate Petitions from Attorneys Sanctioned for Meritless Election Lawsuits

LANSING – Today, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals entered an order denying requests by attorneys Sidney Powell and Lin Wood to rehear their appeals regarding sanctions imposed against them for filing a meritless challenge to the November 2020 presidential election.

On June 23, 2023, a panel of the Sixth Circuit upheld the monetary and disciplinary sanctions imposed against Powell, Wood, and several other attorneys by U.S. District Court Judge Linda V. Parker in August of 2021.  

“These sanctions are an important tool in the defense of our democracy, election integrity and our judicial system, and I am grateful the Sixth Circuit judges recognized that,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “The attorneys involved abused their professional licenses in an effort to attack our democratic institutions and the public’s faith in our elections. These were completely meritless arguments to achieve political ends at the expense of trampling the constitution, and not a single judge voted to rehear the matter. It is my hope these sanctions will help serve as both punishment and deterrent against future partisan abuses of the courts.” 

In her August ‘21 opinion granting the sanctions, Judge Parker wrote, “This lawsuit represents a historic and profound abuse of the judicial process. It is one thing to take on the charge of vindicating rights associated with an allegedly fraudulent election. It is another to take on the charge of deceiving a federal court and the American people into believing that rights were infringed, without regard to whether any laws or rights were in fact violated. This is what happened here."

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