John Byrne discussed high school football

It's a little off-topic, but hey, it's Friday afternoon. Check out his Miami Herald op-ed here.  The intro:

 On Aug. 14, the Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors approved Aug. 24 as the start of practice for the fall sports seasons, including football. Under the FHSAA’s plan, the regular season will start on Sept. 4, and there will be a nine-week regular season. As in past years, there will be playoffs in November and a state championship in December.

Of course, this isn’t like past years in one major respect: the coronavirus pandemic. The pandemic has had an undeniable impact on this country — and on Florida and Miami-Dade County, in particular. And, in the sports arena, it’s already led major college football conferences to cancel the football season. The FHSAA however, plans to move forward as if it’s business as usual, with the only exception being that it’s giving high schools until Sept. 18 to opt-out of its proposed schedule and set their own, the consequence being that these schools can’t compete for a state championship.

The FHSAA plan is unacceptable.

If Judge Wilson takes senior status next year, who will take his spot on the 11th Circuit?

The vetting room blog says that Roy Altman is a likely candidate if Trump wins:

Judge Roy Altman (S.D. Fl.)

The 38 year old Altman was the youngest district court judge in the country when he was appointed in 2019, and, despite that youth, he sailed to confirmation by a 2-1 margin, a landslide among recent confirmation votes.  Altman will likely be strongly considered for a seat on the Eleventh Circuit if Judge Charles Wilson moves to senior status in a second Trump term, or if Judges Lagoa or Luck are elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court.

And if Biden wins:

Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner (M.D. Ga.)

The sister of the famous Stacey Abrams, Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner made history as the first woman ever appointed to the Middle District of Georgia.  The 45-year-old Gardner is poised to potentially make history again as the first black woman appointed to the Eleventh Circuit (and potentially further to the Supreme Court).

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.

Should judges be elected?

Appointing judges has its problems, but after reading Rumpole’s blog and speaking to the state practitioners, it seems that electing judges is much worse and doesn’t make much sense. What do you all think?

In the meantime, watch this John Oliver clip in juries:

https://youtu.be/1f2iawp0y5Y

It is very possible that the next Supreme Court Justice went to high school in Miami

Ketanji Brown Jackson, a Miami Palmetto High School grad, is on Biden’s short list.  She currently sits on the district bench in D.C.  She was a star debater in high school. I got to know her as she was a few years ahead of me in high school (I went to Killian) and a year ahead of me at law school.  She’s a great person.  A former PD, she would be a wonderful addition to the Court.  

Here’s what Noah Feldman has to say:

Joe Biden has fulfilled his promise to choose a woman as his running mate. Let’s turn our attention to another promise he made: to name a Black woman to the Supreme Court. A number of women with different kinds of legal experience have been suggested by NGOs and journalists. But to legal insiders, Biden’s options narrow down very quickly to two names: Justice Leondra Kruger of the California Supreme Court, and Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson of the federal district court in Washington, D.C. 

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Jackson became a federal judge in 2013. There was no major fight over her nomination, probably because it was for a district court position, which is not the traditional path to the Supreme Court. (Of the current justices, only Justice Sonia Sotomayor was a district court judge, and she followed that with a long stint on the court of appeals.) She’s now just shy of her 50th birthday. Jackson’s national profile rose significantly in 2019 when she presided over a case in which the House Judiciary Committee sought to enforce its subpoena against Donald McGahn, the former White House counsel. Jackson’s opinion rejected the Trump administration’s claim of absolute immunity and insisted that “presidents are not kings.” No comparably high-profile case has come before Kruger.