Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Aaron Thompson's appeal of his 41-month sentence because a valid waiver in his plea agreement barred the challenge. The court held that Thompson knowingly and voluntarily waived his right to appeal substantive reasonableness, rendering the appeal unenforceable.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Aaron Thompson's appeal of his 41-month sentence for mailing threatening communications, ruling that his plea agreement's waiver provision barred the challenge. The court held that because Thompson failed to demonstrate his sentence exceeded the guideline range, statutory maximum, or violated the Eighth Amendment, the specific exceptions allowing an appeal were not triggered.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Christopher Defilippis's life sentence for distributing fentanyl that caused a death, ruling that witness testimony and chemical evidence sufficiently proved the drugs he sold were the but-for cause of the victim's overdose. The court also rejected claims regarding evidentiary errors and discovery violations, finding any mistakes harmless and the government's disclosures adequate.
The Eleventh Circuit remands the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with its prior en banc ruling. The court reaffirmed that the officers' conduct was not clearly established as unlawful at the time, preventing a dismissal based on qualified immunity.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a dismissal based on the Rooker-Feldman doctrine, ruling that the district court should have dismissed the plaintiff's complaint for being an unintelligible shotgun pleading. The appellate court held that the plaintiff's failure to comply with prior repleader orders required dismissal under Rule 12(b)(6) for failure to state a claim rather than for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed an 87-month sentence for a convicted felon found in possession of a firearm, ruling that the district court properly applied sentencing guidelines and did not abuse its discretion. The court also remanded the case solely to correct a clerical error in the judgment document that incorrectly cited the Armed Career Criminal Act.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for the Baldwin County Board of Education, holding that Elnoria Howell failed to prove race discrimination under Title VII. The court found no evidence of pretext or disparate treatment sufficient to support a reasonable inference of unlawful discrimination.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed Wilfredo Moreno Ferrer's appeal as moot because he completed his term of imprisonment. The court held that without a live sentence to reduce, there is no continuing injury to support Article III jurisdiction.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 180-month sentence for attempted coercion of a minor, ruling that the district court did not commit plain error by failing to expressly recite the Sentencing Guideline range. The court held that judges retain discretion to weigh statutory factors and are not required to explicitly discuss each factor or the specific guideline calculation on the record.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated Jason Edward Lopez's sentence because the district court miscalculated his advisory guideline range by applying only a one-level acceptance-of-responsibility reduction when he was entitled to two. The court held that this miscalculation was reversible error rather than harmless because the district court failed to clearly state it would have imposed the same sentence regardless of the error.