Do the Rules of Procedure create jurisdictional limits on the courts? According to the SCT today, no. Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Ginsburg explained that where a statute sets a time limit for an appeal, that time limit is jurisdictional but where the time limit set up in the Rules, it is not, thus the 7th Circuit erred when it held that 4(a)(5)(C) established a jurisdictional bar to an appeal. From the syllabus: "Seventh Circuit failed to grasp the distinction between jurisdictional appeal filing deadlines and deadlines stated only in mandatory claim-processing rules. It therefore misapplied Bowles. Bowles's statement that "the taking of an appeal within the prescribed time is 'mandatory and jurisdictional,' " id., at 209, is a characterization left over from days when the Court was "less than meticulous" in using the term "jurisdictional," Kontrick v. Ryan, 540 U. S. 443, 454. The statement was correct in Bowles, where the time prescription was imposed by Congress, but it would be incorrect here, where only Rule 4(a)(5)(C) limits the length of the extension." HAMER v. NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSING SERVICES OF CHICAGO ET AL. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-658_p86b.pdf Charles W. Thompson, Jr. Executive Director and General Counsel International Municipal Lawyers Association, Inc. 51 Monroe Street Suite 404 Rockville, Maryland 20850 202-466-5424 x7110 Direct: 202-742-1016 Cell: 240-876-6790 Plan ahead: IMLA's Annual Seminar and Section 1983 Defense Conference - April 20- April 23, 2018 Washington, DC Support Houston! Come to our Annual Conference in beautiful downtown Houston - October 17-21, 2018 - Come to both Seminar and Conference for bundled rate at www.imla.org<http://www.imla.org/>