The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which relocated temporarily to Houston in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (earlier posts here and here), issued this press release yesterday in which it made public its plans for returning to New Orleans next month. The court will begin moving back Dec. 16 and will be closed until Jan. 8, during which time only emergency matters will be handled. The court originally had planned to move to Baton Rouge as an intermediate step before returning to its longtime home in New Orleans’ John Minor Wisdom Court of Appeals Building. However, conditions in New Orleans are stable enough to allow the 135 employees of the Court to return home. The Court has been using makeshift work spaces in the Bob Casey U.S. Courthouse in downtown Houston over the past couple of months.