Wednesday, August 19, 2020

11th Circuit Zooms

Here's the picture from the Tampa Bay Times of the Zoom hearing regarding the felon voting rights case:


More:
In a case that could have major ramifications ahead of the November election, a panel of federal judges in Atlanta questioned lawyers Tuesday about Florida’s decision to require felons pay off all court fees and fines before voting. Ten judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, half of whom were appointed by President Donald Trump, peppered lawyers representing Gov. Ron DeSantis and more than a dozen felons about the state’s law and whether its requirements to pay off all fees equated to a modern-day “poll tax.” Most of the questioning, however, fixated on complicated judicial precedents. After more than two hours of back-and-forth that was carried on Zoom, the video conferencing site, judges gave little indication how they would rule. One exception was Judge Barbara Lagoa, who, along with Judge Robert Luck, was appointed to the court by Trump after Gov. Ron DeSantis named them to the Florida Supreme Court last year. Lagoa asked many questions that indicated she agreed with DeSantis’ position on Amendment 4, passed by Floridians in 2018 that wiped away the state’s Jim Crow-era ban on voting by people convicted of felonies. At one point, Lagoa questioned whether the court, if it finds parts of Amendment 4 unconstitutional, shouldn’t simply void the entire amendment. American Civil Liberties Union attorney Julie Ebenstein responded that not even DeSantis’ attorneys have said that Amendment 4 should be tossed out. Judges routinely “sever” parts of a law, striking some parts while preserving others. “Everybody agrees that nullifying Amendment 4 would be an absurd result that should be avoided,” Ebenstein said.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love to see a conservative judge overturn the will of the people as enacted in a constitutional amendment. Good stuff. Go ahead Robert, toss your hat in with that lot.

Anonymous said...

Bobby at least had the sense not to say anything.

Anonymous said...

Saw that the day after the primary the state PD fired to woman that ran against his hand picked successor. What a joke. Sue his ass.

Anonymous said...

Interesting piece on sentencing nominees.

https://www.law360.com/articles/1301752/why-trump-s-sentencing-panel-picks-worry-reform-boosters

Anonymous said...

Dude, she attacked the office record, is an at will employee, and lost. Seems like he has every right to fire her.

Anonymous said...

Doesn’t that happen all the time with elected sheriffs getting rid of the people who ran against them and were their opposition?

Anonymous said...

When are we going to discuss Brenda foreman getting reelected in the chaos that will continue to ensue in the clerks office there.