Recently in Court News Category

Faced with the “devastating impact” of the $85 billion in sequestration cuts on the federal judiciary, the Eleventh Circuit did what any responsible circuit facing budget cuts would do:

PARTY!

O.K., that’s not a completely fair assessment of the situation, but it is certainly a valid perception of the Eleventh Circuit’s Judicial Conference, which took place recently at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa, where “Southern charm meets modern luxury.”

Some people believe that public assistance applicants should be required to submit to suspicionless drug testing in order to receive welfare benefits. Others question the assumption that poor people use drugs at a higher rate than rich people, and denounce suspicionless testing as unconstitutional, scientifically unsound, fiscally irresponsible.

It turns out that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals falls in the second camp.

Court opinions can be dry, making reading through a stack of them an arduous task. That’s why we’re thankful for judges like Ed Carnes who constantly spice up their opinions with inspired, sometimes bizarre, quotes and references.

This year, our favorite Eleventh Circuit jurist quoted Bob Dylan, added a new line to a Jim Croce song, and made a particularly apt reference to turducken. To wit: Judge Carnes’ top three quotes of 2012.

It looks like there’s a holdup in Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals nominee Jill Pryor’s confirmation. Georgia Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson have not submitted “blue slips” to allow the Senate Judiciary Committee to proceed with a hearing on Pryor, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Chambliss and Isakson indicated to the White House in January that they would not block Jill Pryor's nomination to the bench, though they preferred Troutman Sanders partner Mark Cohen for the position. The Journal-Constitution noted that Cohen served as executive counsel and chief of staff to former Gov. Zell Miller, a conservative Democrat, while Pryor often donates to Democrats, and gave $2,500 to Obama's re-election campaign.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the Dixie County Ten Commandments case Thursday, but the litigants weren't focused on whether or not a 6-ton Ten Commandments model in front of the county courthouse is unconstitutional. Instead, attorneys spent most of their time debating whether an anonymous plaintiff has standing to bring the claim, reports The Associated Press.

Local businessman Joe Anderson, Jr. paid $20,000 for a Ten Commandments monument that was installed on top of the Dixie County courthouse steps. In addition to the actual commandments, the monument includes a large message at the base, which reads, "LOVE GOD AND KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS."

Mary Brown, the lead plaintiff representing business owners in Department of Health and Human Services v. Florida, may have a standing problem.

Brown used to own a small auto repair shop in Florida. She didn't have health insurance. She didn't want health insurance. She didn't want the government to tell her that she had to purchase health insurance through the individual mandate, according to the Los Angeles Times. Last year, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Brown, (along with 26 states and the National Federation of Independent Business), and ruled that the individual mandate provision of the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional.

The Alabama immigration law, once regarded as the toughest state immigration law in America, is quickly becoming unenforceable.

After hearing oral arguments on both the Alabama and Georgia laws last week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals enjoined two more sections of the Alabama law on Thursday, reports The Huntsville Times.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments on the legality of HB 56, the Alabama immigration law, on Thursday, March 1, according to WBRC. (The Eleventh Circuit famously avoids publishing its calendar on its website, so we're forced to rely on third parties for these kinds of details.)

The law -- which mandates public school immigration status checks, criminalizes transporting undocumented immigrants, requires E-Verify checks of all potential employees' status, and instructs police to check the immigration status of stopped person suspected of being an undocumented immigrant -- has faced mounting obstacles between federal injunctions and public outcry.

It’s been a busy week for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. After an attempted filibuster, the Senate confirmed Judge Adalberto Jordán for a seat on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday.

Thursday, President Obama followed up Judge Jordán's confirmation with a new Eleventh Circuit nominee, Atlanta Attorney Jill Pryor. If confirmed, Pryor would fill Judge Stanley Burch's spot on the Atlanta-based appellate court, which has been vacant since August 2010.

After Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky) held up the confirmation vote earlier in the week, the Senate confirmed Judge Adalberto José Jordán for a seat on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday by a vote of 94-5, reports The Washington Post.

President Obama nominated Jordán in August to succeed Senior Judge Susan Black.