Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal sua sponte because the district court's orders were interlocutory and not final judgments. The court held that the challenged rulings were not immediately appealable under the collateral order doctrine as they could be reviewed after a final judgment.
The Eleventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from a direct criminal appeal after an independent review found no arguable issues of merit. Consequently, the court affirmed the defendant's convictions and sentence.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of qualified immunity to school officials who allegedly refused to implement a settlement agreement due to racial animus. The court held that officials were on notice that interfering with a contract because of race was illegal, regardless of uncertainty regarding personal liability under 42 U.S.C. § 1981.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for JetBlue Airways, holding that the plaintiff's ADA disability discrimination claim was barred by the statute of limitations. The court ruled that the denial of a mask accommodation in 2020 was a discrete act that started the clock, and the plaintiff's subsequent actions in 2022 did not restart the filing deadline.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the revocation of Elliot Walker's supervised release and his 36-month sentence, holding that circumstantial evidence was sufficient to prove he possessed fentanyl with intent to distribute. The court further ruled that any potential error in admitting hearsay testimony was harmless and that the district court did not plainly err by failing to exclude retributive factors from its sentencing reasoning.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the confirmation of a FINRA arbitration award in favor of Wells Fargo, ruling that the arbitrator acted within contractual authority despite the employee's res judicata defense. However, the court vacated the judgment and remanded the case to correct a procedural error where the arbitration award was accidentally omitted from the record.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 240-month sentence for a defendant who orchestrated a $200 million Ponzi scheme, rejecting claims of sentencing guideline miscalculation and substantive unreasonableness. The court held that any potential error in applying victim enhancements was harmless because the statutory maximum sentence remained the same regardless.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a 24-month prison sentence imposed after the revocation of William Coleman's supervised release. The court held that the district court did not clearly err in finding that Coleman possessed a firearm during a shoplifting incident, despite conflicting witness testimony and low-quality video evidence.
The Eleventh Circuit granted appointed counsel's motion to withdraw from representing Tyrone Davis Foster, Jr. after an independent review found no arguable issues of merit. The court affirmed Foster's conviction and sentence, concluding that his appeal lacked legal substance.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed an 84-month prison sentence for a defendant convicted of dogfighting conspiracy and felon-in-possession of a firearm. The court held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing an upward variance based on the extreme cruelty of the offense and the defendant's history of fatal drug distribution.