Every decision we've summarized from United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
The Eleventh Circuit held that the Hobbs Act requires force or threatened force to be used before or during the taking of property to constitute robbery. Because the defendant used force only after the property was stolen and carried away, the court set aside his Hobbs Act robbery conviction.
The Eleventh Circuit held that a district court lacks authority to depart below a statutory minimum sentence for one offense based solely on a government motion for substantial assistance regarding a separate offense. The court vacated the judgment and remanded for resentencing to ensure compliance with the specific statutory minimums attached to each count.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment against an employee's claims of national origin discrimination, religious discrimination, and retaliation. The court held that the plaintiff failed to prove a hostile work environment based on national origin and failed to exhaust administrative remedies for her religious discrimination claim.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court's summary judgment on a federal employee's claim that the Department of Veterans Affairs unlawfully disclosed her confidential medical information. The court affirmed summary judgment on her claims of disability discrimination, failure to accommodate, and retaliation, finding the Department provided reasonable accommodations and that the adverse actions were not solely based on her disability.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court ruling that denied qualified immunity to a jail deputy who remotely unlocked a pretrial detainee's cell for medical transport. The appellate court held that the deputy's actions did not constitute deliberate indifference to the detainee's known suicide risk because she lacked subjective awareness that unlocking the cell would cause the specific harm that occurred.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed a conviction for child pornography production, ruling that a defendant's allegations of abuse made to a forensic psychologist were not admissible under the hearsay exception for medical diagnosis. The court held that because the statements were made primarily to prepare for litigation rather than to secure medical treatment, they lacked the necessary reliability to bypass cross-examination.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the removal of general partners from affordable housing limited partnerships after finding their misappropriation of funds constituted a material breach of contract. The court rejected arguments that the removal was an impermissible forfeiture or that the limited partners had waived their rights through prior inaction.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court, holding that the Corporate Transparency Act is a constitutional exercise of Congress's Commerce Clause power. The court further ruled that the Act's reporting requirements do not facially violate the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches.
The Eleventh Circuit certified four critical questions to the Alabama Supreme Court regarding the scope and criminal penalties of Alabama's SB1 absentee voting law. The federal court paused its review of a Voting Rights Act preemption claim because the state statute's ambiguity creates uncertainty about whether plaintiffs have standing to sue.
The Eleventh Circuit denied an emergency stay of execution for a death row inmate challenging his execution under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The court held that the inmate's exclusion from a COVID-19 agreement pausing executions for certain prisoners did not violate the Equal Protection or Due Process Clauses.