United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

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• Judges

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Chief: Joel Dubina Judges: 10 Posts: 12 Vacancies: 2 Active judges Barkett • Carnes • Hull • Jordan • Marcus • Martin • Pryor • Tjoflat • Wilson Senior Judges Anderson • Black • Cox • Edmondson • Fay • Hill • Kravitch Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, sometimes referred to simply as the Eleventh Circuit, is one of the thirteen federal appellate courts. The court was established in 1981 and currently has a total of twelve seats. The court is located at the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta.

Vacancy warning level

Currently the vacancy warning level for the Eleventh Circuit is set at yellow. The court currently has two vacancies out of their twelve total seats, constituting 17% of the total seats. There are two pending appointments awaiting action in the Senate.

Jurisdiction

Map of the Eleventh Circuit. Click on a district to find out more about it.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:

Middle District of Alabama Northern District of Alabama Southern District of Alabama

Middle District of Florida Northern District of Florida Southern District of Florida

Middle District of Georgia Northern District of Georgia Southern District of Georgia

These districts were originally part of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, but were split off to form the Eleventh effective October 1, 1981 as the Eleventh Circuit Act of 1980 enacted by Congress created the Eleventh Circuit. For this reason, Fifth Circuit decisions from before this split are considered binding precedent in the Eleventh Circuit. The court is based at the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta.

Cases heard

The Eleventh Circuit has appellate jurisdiction over cases heard in one of its subsidiary districts. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases	Terminations on merits:	Terminations on Procedure	Cross Appeals:	Total Terminations:	Written decisions per Judge**
2010	3465	6438	9903	6498	3405	3143	3214	141	6498	217
2009	3834	6995	10829	7366	3463	3469	3636	261	7366	242
2008	3407	7371	10778	6931	3847	3068	3691	172	6931	215
2007	3549	6361	9910	6503	3407	3195	3151	157	6503	220
2006	3697	7539	11236	7690	3546	3839	3681	170	7690	273

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website (for District Courts) and reflect the calendar year through September.    **This statistic reflects only judges that are active for the entire 12 month period.

Clerk's office

The official Clerk of Court is John Ley. The Office is open for filing from 8:30am to 5pm Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays.

John Ley, Clerk of Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit
56 Forsyth St. N.W.
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
(404) 335-6100

History

Court history

This federal judiciary article needs to be expanded.

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The Eleventh Circuit was established on October 14, 1980 under 94 Stat. 1994 which broke the then Fifth Circuit up into the Fifth Circuit and the Eleventh Circuit. All of the judges resided in the newly created Eleventh Circuit were transferred to the new appellate court. The court still contains its original twelve seats.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Eleventh Circuit:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
October 14, 1980	94 Stat. 1994	12

Notable cases

For a search-able list of decisions from the Eleventh Circuit, please see:
Eleventh Circuit Searchable Opinions

• Federal injunction against immigration law  Judge(s):Rosemary Barkett, Edward Carnes and Frank Hull      *USA v. State of Alabama No. 11-14532

On October 14, 2011, the Eleventh Circuit ruled on a federal injunction filed against an Alabama immigration law passed in June. The court's ruling did not block all sections of the law, but did add additional blocks to those put in place by U.S. District Judge Sharon Blackburn's ruling in September. Among the sections of the law that were temporarily blocked by the circuit court are one requiring public schools to check the immigration status of all enrolled students and another making it a misdemeanor for immigrants to fail to carry registration on their person. However, the court allowed the state to enforce some key points of the law, including: one that requires police to try to determine the immigration status of an individual during lawful stops and arrests, one that invalidates contracts involving illegal immigrants, and one making it a felony crime for illegal immigrants to enter into a business transaction in the state of Alabama. The full story can be found here.

Comparing the two rulings

Parts of the law blocked by Judge Blackburn's ruling	Parts of the law blocked by this Eleventh Circuit decision
Making it a crime to transport or harbor illegal aliens.	Requiring state officials to check the immigration status of students in public schools.
Making it a crime for illegal aliens to solicit and perform work.	Making it a misdemeanor for immigrants to fail to carry registration.
Making it possible to file discrimination lawsuits against companies that hire illegal immigrants.
Making it illegal for employers to claim illegal immigrants' wages as tax deductions.

Federal courthouse

This federal judiciary article needs to be expanded.

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The Eleventh Circuit is located at the Elbert P. Tuttle U.S. Court of Appeals Building in Atlanta. Ground was broken for the Courthouse in 1907 and it was constructed to accommodate the federal services needed for the growing Atlanta population. The building was designed by Architect James Knox Taylor of the U.S. Treasury Department. The court occupied the building in 1981. The Courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

See also

• United States court of appeals
• Eleventh Circuit Act of 1980
• News: Federal immigration lawsuit to proceed in Eleventh Circuit, December 23, 2011

External links

• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Judges of the Eleventh Circuit
• Comprehensive Opinions Database of the Eleventh Circuit
• Recent opinions from FindLaw
• Eleventh Circuit blog

References

Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals Chief: Joel Dubina Judges: 10 Posts: 12 Vacancies: 2 Active judges Barkett • Carnes • Hull • Jordan • Marcus • Martin • Pryor • Tjoflat • Wilson Senior Judges Anderson • Black • Cox • Edmondson • Fay • Hill • Kravitch Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has 12 posts and 2 vacancies. The current Chief Justice is Joel Dubina. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Adalberto Jordan	1961	Havana, Cuba	Obama	2/15/2012 - Present		Susan Black	U. of Miami, B.A., 1984	U. of Miami, J.D., 1987
Judge Stanley Marcus	1946	New York, NY	Clinton	11/12/1997 - Present		Peter Fay	Queens College CUNY, 1967	Harvard Law, 1971
Judge Beverly Martin	1955	Macon, GA	Obama	1/20/2010 - Present		Robert Lanier Anderson	Stetson U., B.A., 1976	U. of Georgia Law, J.D., 198
Judge Gerald Tjoflat	1929	Pittsburgh, PA	Ford	10/1/1981 - Present	1989-1996	New Seat|94 Stat. 1994		Duke Law, LL.B., 1957
Chief Judge Joel Dubina	1947	Elkhart, IN	H.W. Bush	9/15/1986 - Present	2009-Current	Robert Vance	U. of Alabama, B.S., 1970	Samford U. Law, J.D., 1973
Judge Frank Hull	1948	Augusta, GA	Clinton	9/18/1997 - Present		Phyllis Kravitch	Randolph-Macon Woman's College, B.A., 1970	Emory U. Law, J.D., 1973
Judge Charles Wilson	1954	Pensacola, FL	Clinton	8/9/1999 - Present		Joseph Hatchett	Notre Dame, B.A., 1976	Notre Dame Law, J.D., 1979
Judge Rosemary Barkett	1939	Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico	Clinton	4/15/1994 - Present		Paul Roney	Spring Hill College '67	U. of Florida Law '70
Judge William Pryor	1962	Mobile, AL	W. Bush	6/10/2005 - Present		Emmett Cox	Northeast Louisiana U., B.A., 1984	Tulane Law, J.D., 1987
Judge Edward Carnes	1950	Albertville, AL	H.W. Bush	9/10/1992 - Present		Frank Johnson, Jr.	U. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, B.S., 1972	Harvard Law, J.D., 1975

Pending appointments

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has 2 appointees pending and 2 vacancies. This is a list of the current pending appointees to the court:

Judge	Confirmation	Bachelors	Law
Jill Pryor		College of William & Mary, B.A., 1985	Yale Law, J.D., 1988

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has 7 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Peter Fay	Ford	10/1/1981 - 1/19/1994		1/19/1994 - Present	Rollins College '51	U. of Florida Law '56
Senior Judge Robert Lanier Anderson	Carter	10/1/1981 - 1/31/2009	1999-2002	1/31/2009 - Present	Yale College '58	Harvard Law '61
Senior Judge Phyllis Kravitch	Carter	10/1/1981 - 12/31/1996		12/31/1996 - Present	Goucher College '41	U. of Florida Law '43
Senior Judge James L. Edmondson	Reagan	5/7/1986 - 7/15/2012	2002 - 2009	7/15/2012 - Present	Emory U., B.A., 1968	U. of Georgia Law, J.D., 1971
Senior Judge Emmett Cox	Reagan	4/18/1988 - 12/18/2000		12/18/2000 - Present	U. of Alabama '57	U. of Alabama Law '59
Senior Judge Susan Black	H.W. Bush	8/12/1992 - 2/25/2011		2/25/2011 - Present	Florida State U. '64	U. of Florida Law '67
Senior Judge James Hill	Reagan	10/11/1981 - 10/15/1989		10/15/1989 - Present	U. of Southern California '48	Emory Law '48

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
Paul Roney	1986-1989
James L. Edmondson	2002 - 2009
Joseph Hatchett	1996-1999
Gerald Tjoflat	1989-1996
Robert Lanier Anderson	1999-2002
John Godbold	1981-1986

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. John Godbold
2. Joseph Hatchett
3. Albert Henderson
4. Paul Roney
5. David Dyer
6. Elbert Tuttle
7. Thomas Clark
8. Richard Rives
9. Robert Vance
10. Lewis Morgan
11. Stanley Birch
12. Warren Leroy Jones
13. John Bryan Simpson
14. Frank M. Johnson, Jr.