Appeal Briefing Schedule Set in Federal Case — Now Before Its Third District Judge

The federal criminal case against We The People News editor Don Matthews (legal name Matthew Reardon), No. 6:25-CR-00227 in the Western District of Louisiana, moved through a striking sequence of procedural events in late August, court records show.

On August 25, 2026, District Judge Robert R. Summerhays recused himself from the case — ten days after being assigned to it — and referred the matter to the Chief Judge for reassignment. It was the second consecutive recusal by a district judge in the case in under two weeks.

The next day, August 26, an electronic minute entry reassigned the case to Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. for all further proceedings — the third district judge to hold the case in under two weeks.

On August 27, Magistrate Judge LeBlanc granted an unopposed motion (Document 77) and entered the appellate briefing schedule: the opening brief is due 21 days after all trial transcripts are filed, the government’s response is due 30 days after that, and the reply is due 7 days after the response.

The briefing schedule is now locked in, but a fixed calendar deadline does not yet exist — the 21-day clock does not begin until all transcripts are filed. We The People News will monitor the docket for that filing.

The case stems from the courthouse prosecution covered extensively in this publication’s Courts & Filings section, including the August sentencing in Lake Charles.

Disclosure: This case involves this publication’s editor. We report on it with the same sourcing standards we apply to any docket.