Tag: 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

Mark Meadows Hires New Lawyers, Asks Appeals Court for Second Hearing to Move Georgia Election Case to Federal Court

Tom Pappert
Mark Meadows

Former Trump administration White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows made a new filing with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday evening, requesting an en banc hearing for his appeal of a lower court’s decision denying his request to have the election case against him in Fulton County, Georgia removed to a federal court. Meadows also retained new legal counsel for his attempt to have the entire circuit court hear his appeal.

Following the decision by a panel of judges on the 11th Circuit to deny Meadows’ appeal in December, his attorneys argued in the new filing that its ruling fails to conform with Supreme Court precedent and “consideration by the full court is necessary to secure and maintain uniformity of decisions in this court.”

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Mark Meadows’ Effort to Remove Georgia Election Case from Fulton County Granted 11th Circuit Court Date

Tom Pappert

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered oral arguments on Monday for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ bid to remove the racketeering case against him from Fulton County to a federal court. On Tuesday, the court requested additional arguments from District Attorney Fani Willis and Meadows’ lawyers, to be submitted early next month.

Meadows argues that he should not be tried in Fulton County because he a federal official working for former President Donald Trump at the time Willis alleges he engaged in criminal activities. A lower court agreed with Willis, who argued that Meadows’ efforts to contest the 2020 election results in Georgia went outside his job duties as Trump’s Chief of Staff.

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Federal Court: Atlanta-Based Grant Program Exclusively for Black Women Likely Violates Civil Rights Act

Tom Pappert

An Atlanta-based venture capital firm’s grant program that is exclusively available to businesses owned by black women was blocked by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in a Saturday injunction that prevents funds being dispersed for the “racially exclusionary” grant program.

The 11th Circuit voted 2-1 to grant the injunction requested by the non-profit American Alliance for Equal Rights (AAER), a project of conservative legal strategist Edward Blum, which is suing the venture capital Fearless Fund over its race-based Fearless Strivers Grant.

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Mark Meadows Argues Fani Willis ‘Committed Errors’ in ‘Unnecessary’ Effort to Keep Case in Fulton County

Tom Pappert

Mark Meadows, the former White House Chief of Staff for the Trump administration, argued in a Monday legal filing that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “committed errors” that raise “serious constitutional concerns” in her “unnecessarily complicated” attempts to prevent his case from being removed to a federal court.

Meadows has repeatedly asserted the case brought against him by Fulton County should be tried in a federal court, citing his position as a government employee who answered directly to former President Donald Trump when his alleged offenses were committed. U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones denied various attempts from Meadows to remove the case, but late last week the 11th Circuit announced it would hear his appeal and grant it expedited status.

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Appeals Court Panel Allows DOJ to Continue Reviewing Documents from Trump Raid

Just the News

A panel of three judges for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has allowed the Department of Justice to continue reviewing documents the FBI seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, upending part of an earlier ruling from the district court judge.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon earlier this month enjoined further federal review of the documents and appointed New York Judge Raymond Dearie as special master to independently review them.

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Biden Appoints Far-Left Judge for 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

Peter D'Abrosca
Nancy Abudu

President Joe Biden has nominated a far-left judge for a seat on the bench of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

From Georgia, Nancy Gbana Abudu is a deputy legal director at the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit known for listing conservative organizations as “hate groups,” which once inspired a violent attack against the Family Research Council. 

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Appeal Court to Hear Florida Transgender Bathroom Case

Grant Holcomb

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear a transgender bathroom case in February originating out of St. Johns County, Fla. The case revolves around a student at a high school, Drew Adams, who desired to use the boys’ bathroom. Adams was previously required to use a gender-neutral or girls’ bathroom, as Adams was born a biological female.

Adams identifies as a transgender male, and a 3-judge panel ruled this past July that the St. Johns County school board policy preventing Adams from using the boys’ bathroom was “arbitrary.”

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Appeals Court Vacates Decision Requiring Vaccines for Florida Cruise Ship Industry

Steve Stewart
Cruise ship next to dock

The U.S. Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit on Friday vacated its recent decision that allowed the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention to enforce its COVID-19 safety rules related to the Florida cruise ship industry.

Just before the decision, Florida asked the United States Supreme Court to intervene and reverse the appeals court’s decision.

“I’m glad to see the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reverse its prior decision and free the cruise lines from unlawful CDC mandates, which effectively mothballed the industry for more than a year,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “The importance of this case extends beyond the cruise industry. From here on out a federal bureau will be on thin legal and constitutional ice if and when it attempts to exercise such sweeping authority that is not explicitly delineated by law.”

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Injunction Blocking CDC Guidelines for Cruise Ship Industry Lifted by Circuit Court of Appeals

Casey Owens
Aerial shot of several cruise ships in the ocean, clear water.

The future of Florida’s cruise ship industry remains in question after a panel of three judges for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay, or suspension, on a preliminary injunction blocking the CDC’s authority in allowing cruise ships to set sail.

U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday in Tampa issued the now-lifted injunction in June after siding with the state that the CDC’s guidelines overstepped its legal authority to control an entire industry.

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Conviction of Disgraced Florida Democrat Overturned on Appeal

Peter D'Abrosca
Corrine Brown

A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida Thursday won an appeal of her 2017 conviction for corruption, according to several reports. 

Former Democrat Rep. Corrine Brown, who represented Florida’s Fifth and Third Congressional Districts over a period of nearly 25 years, had her conviction overturned after the 11 Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the District Court wrongly dismissed a juror after learning that the “Holy Spirit” told him Brown was not guilty of the crimes. 

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