Seal of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir. or CA11) is a federal court with 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 Fifth Circuit, but were split off to form the Eleventh effective October 1, 1981. 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, Georgia, named for Elbert Tuttle. It is one of thirteen United States courts of appeals.

Current composition of the court [edit]

• A vacancy occurred on August 29, 2010 when Judge Stanley F. Birch retired. Jill A. Pryor was nominated on February 16, 2012 to fill the seat.

• A second vacancy occurred on July 15, 2012, when Judge James Larry Edmondson assumed senior status. No nominee is pending.

• A third vacancy will occur on August 1, 2013, when Chief Judge Joel Fredrick Dubina assumes senior status. No nominee is pending for this future vacancy.

List of former judges [edit]

Chief judges [edit]

Chief judges have administrative responsibilities with respect to their circuits, and preside over any panel on which they serve unless the circuit justice (i.e., the Supreme Court justice responsible for the circuit) is also on the panel. Unlike the Supreme Court, where one justice is specifically nominated to be chief, the office of chief judge rotates among the circuit judges. To be chief, 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 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.

When the office was created in 1948, the chief judge was 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. After August 6, 1959, judges could not become chief after turning 70 years old. The current rules have been in operation since October 1, 1982.

Succession of seats [edit]

The court has twelve seats for active judges, numbered in the order in which they were filled. Judges who retire into senior status remain on the bench but leave their seat vacant. That seat is filled by the next circuit judge appointed by the president.

Pro se policies [edit]

The 11th Circuit has ruled that prisoners can file anything they want in federal court as long as they pay a filing fee.^[3] This is a split with the 10th Circuit which has ruled that even non prisoners who pay filing fees cannot file in federal court if they are subject to an order prohibiting it and that non prisoners can be incarcerated for filing in federal court without permission.^{[4][original research?]}

See also [edit]

• Courts of Georgia
• Federal judicial appointment history#Eleventh Circuit
• Garcia-Mir v. Meese
• List of United States federal courthouses in the Eleventh Circuit

Notes [edit]

References [edit]

• "Standard Search". Federal Law Clerk Information System. Retrieved June 20, 2005. 
  • primary but incomplete source for the duty stations
• "Instructions for Judicial Directory". Website of the University of Texas Law School. Archived from the original on November 11, 2005. Retrieved July 4, 2005. 
  • secondary source for the duty stations
  • data is current to 2002
• "U. S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit". Official website of the Federal Judicial Center. Archived from the original on April 24, 2005. Retrieved June 20, 2005. 
  • source for the state, lifetime, term of active judgeship, term of chief judgeship, term of senior judgeship, appointer, termination reason, and seat information

External links [edit]

Wikisource has original works on the topic: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

• United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
• Recent opinions from FindLaw
• Courthouse map links: 33°45′23″N 84°23′25″W / 33.75639°N 84.39028°W / 33.75639; -84.39028

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