No Venue Change? That’s Nuts, Says the Parnells — But the Court Disagrees

 The Eleventh Circuit had no sympathy for Stewart and Michael Parnell’s attempt to crack open their convictions over the infamous peanut salmonella outbreak.

In a decision (by Judge Carnes, joined by Chief Judge Pryor and Judge Luck) affirming the denial of their § 2255 motions, the court held that even if the brothers could show a Skilling presumption of jury prejudice, that alone doesn’t prove ineffective assistance of counsel. Both Strickland prongs — deficient performance and prejudice — still have to be met.

The Parnells argued their lawyers should have moved the trial away from the Albany Division, given extensive media coverage and community hostility. But the court found the defense teams — six lawyers with 122 years of combined experience — made a deliberate, strategic choice to stay put. Why? They believed a rural, peanut-savvy jury was their best shot at a “government overreach” defense and might be more forgiving about plant conditions.

As the panel put it:

“The unanimous decisions of the two defense teams not to seek a change of venue… was a strategic decision… virtually unchallengeable.”

And in one of the more candid moments from trial counsel:

“[My] concern… was not so much that the motion lacked merit — it was that it would be granted.”

In other words, the Parnells’ lawyers didn’t want the trial to be moved. 

See you later Alligator

 Judge Kathy Williams temporarily halts construction at Alligator Alcatraz.  From the Miami Herald:

 A federal judge has put a temporary but critically important halt on construction at Alligator Alcatraz. It wasn’t for the reasons you might think: lack of due process, detaining immigrants without criminal convictions, limited access to legal counsel and religious services or the fact that the government is housing thousands of people in tents in a hurricane zone. No, this ruling, issued Thursday, is the result of this center being built in just eight days in the middle of the Everglades. There was no time to consider the threat it may pose to endangered species, clean water, dark skies and the sensitive ecosystem. Now there is, thanks to a lawsuit brought by the Miccosukee Tribe and environmental advocacy groups Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and Earthjustice.

Hacked!

 Uh oh... CM/ECF has been hacked.  From Politico:

The electronic case filing system used by the federal judiciary has been breached in a sweeping cyber intrusion that is believed to have exposed sensitive court data across multiple U.S. states, according to two people with knowledge of the incident.

The hack, which has not been previously reported, is feared to have compromised the identities of confidential informants involved in criminal cases at multiple federal district courts, said the two people, both of whom were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the hack.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts — which manages the federal court filing system — first determined how serious the issue was around July 4, said the first person. But the office, along with the Justice Department and individual district courts around the country, is still trying to determine the full extent of the incident.

It is not immediately clear who is behind the hack, though nation-state-affiliated actors are widely suspected, the people said. Criminal organizations may also have been involved, they added.

The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts declined to comment. Asked whether it is investigating the incident, the FBI referred POLITICO to the Justice Department. The Justice Department did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

It is not immediately clear how the hackers got in, but the incident is known to affect the judiciary’s federal core case management system, which includes two overlapping components: Case Management/Electronic Case Files, or CM/ECF, which legal professionals use to upload and manage case documents; and PACER, a system that gives the public limited access to the same data.

In addition to records on witnesses and defendants cooperating with law enforcement, the filing system includes other sensitive information potentially of interest to foreign hackers or criminals, such as sealed indictments detailing non-public information about alleged crimes, and arrests and search warrants that criminal suspects could use to evade capture.

No Need to Hold on to Your Horses

By John R. Byrne

If Miami-Dade County recently took your horses, you can now sue it directly under the Constitution to get compensated for that taking.

Okay, maybe that's getting a little too specific. Let's zoom out a bit. 

The Eleventh Circuit just held that the 5th Amendment's Takings Clause (and by extension, the 14th Amendment) creates an implied right of action for any taking. Before, if the government took your property, you'd have to sue under either a federal statute (42 U.S.C. §1983) or state law. Judge Rosenbaum penned the majority opinion, with Judge Abudu joining.  

The case, excerpted below, came about when a county in Georgia (Fulton County) took the horses of one of its residents (believe it or not, a guy with the last name "Fulton"). In what will henceforth be confusingly known as Fulton v. Fulton County Board of Commissioners et al., the majority's reasoning turned largely on the inadequacy of the existing remedies for unconstitutional takings. For example, if you were to sue a municipality under section 1983, you'd need to establish an official policy or custom. The difficulty of doing so would deprive many property owners of their constitutional right to just compensation, the majority said.

Chief Judge Pryor dissented. His position? Courts shouldn't be in the business of manufacturing causes of action to remedy the violation of constitutional rights. That's for Congress to do. And specific to the takings issue before the Court, Pryor pointed out that Congress had already created a cause of action to address unconstitutional takings (a claim under 42 U.S.C. §1983). According to him, the majority opinion had left "constitutional wreckage in its wake."

There's a lot more to it than just that. Judge Rosenbaum references the condemnation of Tantalus by Greek gods and the word "unicorn" appears no less than five times. 

Also, since we have references to regular and magical horses, I thought a little horse trivia would be in order. Only thirteen horses have won the Triple Crown (the prize for winning the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes). See how many you can guess without checking the answer, which I'll post in the comments section.

Takings Order by John Byrne on Scribd

Breaking -- Jason Reding Quinones confirmed as U.S. Attorney

Congrats to our new U.S. Attorney!  He was confirmed 52-44 today.

Get Your Tickets: 2025 Bench & Bar Conference

By John R. Byrne 

Though it may not be as rare as Halley’s Comet, our district court's Bench and Bar Conference still only comes around once every two years. You don't want to miss it. For one thing, it's a rare opportunity to hear from and speak with our judges. For another, you can order a latte that has the seal of our district etched in the foam. Good luck finding that at your local Starbucks!

You can buy tickets here. Details below.

• Date: September 12, 2025 from 7:45 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. 
• Price: $210 (with 100 tickets available at a discounted rate for qualifying "new lawyers")
• Location:  The Miami Beach Convention Center (a stunning venue, if you've never been before)

SDFLA News & Notes

 By John R. Byrne

1. Judge Bloom's Judicial Intern Academy, now in its fifth year, had its year end luncheon this past Friday (picture above). It's really hard to land an internship with a federal judge and the program is designed to give more students the internship experience through pairing with former federal law clerks and programming. If you're a former federal law clerk in the SDFLA who might want to get involved, I can connect you to the right people. 

2. With Judge Goodman's retirement, Judge Matthewman is now the chief magistrate judge in our district. Law.com had a nice write up on him that you can find here. Judge Matthewman, who served as a police officer before embarking on his legal career, said one of his focuses will be on judicial security.  

3. Jay Weaver wrote this article about what the blog proprietor has been doing lately. 

4. Big hearing today in front of Judge Ruiz about "Alligator Alcatraz." Lawyers for the detainees there say that immigration judges are cancelling hearings because they don't have jurisdiction over the detainees. Check out the story here.

AI Gone Wild

 By John R. Byrne

Artificial intelligence is changing the world everyday. Sometimes not for the better. A few weeks back we featured an order from Judge Matthewman sanctioning a lawyer for citing a hallucinated case. That attorney's conduct was child's play compared to the fact pattern Judge Leibowitz just confronted. A preview for you--when the lawyer at issue received an order to show cause about the use of AI-fabricated case citations, he filed a response complete with fabricated AI case quotations. Suffice it to say, things did not end well for said attorney. 

Check out the order below. 

DE 42_Order re AI by John Byrne on Scribd