Hughes is back (and better than ever?) in the Fourth Circuit

The Fourth Circuit, which had me scratching my head in this post when the panel which decided Hughes and established the circuit’s plain error standard granted rehearing, has now reissued its Hughes opinion.  The opinion, which is available here, stays true to its original holding (background here), but the court now can explain why it thinks the Eleventh Circuit’s approach to plain error in Rodriguez is erroneous.  As one person wrote to me: “This is pretty crazy, it is almost like it was personal.”