Link to per curiam decision of a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
In a per curiam decision, the panel upheld the preliminary injunction granted by the District Court, meaning that a limited number of Plaintiffs can register to vote, even though they have not paid all their costs, fees and restitution associated with their criminal sentences.
This will almost certainly go to an en banc panel, not only because of the decision of the panel, but because of the unusual composition of the panel.
No active service 11th Circuit Judges served on this panel. The members were Senior United States Circuit Judge R. Lanier Anderson III, Senior United States Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus and Senior United States District Judge Barbara Rothstein of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, sitting by designation since taking senior status with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, who was sitting by designation with the 11th Circuit.
Anderson and Rothstein were both appointed by President Carter, Anderson actually serving from when the 11th Circuit was still part of the 5th Circuit. Marcus was appointed by President Clinton.
Here is the current active service line up of the 11th Circuit.
Title Judge Duty station Born Term of service Appointed by
Active Chief Senior
24 Chief Judge Edward Earl Carnes Montgomery, AL 1950 1992–present 2013–present — G.H.W. Bush
28 Circuit Judge Charles R. Wilson Tampa, FL 1954 1999–present — — Clinton
29 Circuit Judge William H. Pryor Jr. Birmingham, AL 1962 2004–present[Note 1] — — G.W. Bush
30 Circuit Judge Beverly B. Martin Atlanta, GA 1955 2010–present — — Obama
31 Circuit Judge Adalberto Jordan Miami, FL 1961 2012–present — — Obama
32 Circuit Judge Robin S. Rosenbaum Fort Lauderdale, FL 1966 2014–present — — Obama
34 Circuit Judge Jill A. Pryor Atlanta, GA 1963 2014–present — — Obama
35 Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom Birmingham, AL 1972 2017–present — — Trump
36 Circuit Judge Elizabeth L. Branch Atlanta, GA 1968 2018–present — — Trump
37 Circuit Judge Britt Grant Atlanta, GA 1978 2018–present — — Trump
38 Circuit Judge Robert J. Luck Tallahassee, FL 1979 2019–present — — Trump
39 Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa Miami, FL 1967 2019–present — — Trump
40 Circuit Judge Andrew L. Brasher Montgomery, AL 1981 beg. 2020 — — Trump
(Note: Brasher has been confirmed by the Senate and is expected to take his seat any day now and will definitely be taking part in any en banc proceedings. Edward Earl Carnes senior status is contingent upon Brasher being sworn in, so the moment Brasher enters on duty, Carnes will enter senior status and therefore will NOT be taking part in the en banc proceedings.)
There are 7 active service Republican appointees and 5 active service Democratic appointees. However, the 2 Democratic senior status Judges who participated in the three judge panel are eligible to participate in en banc proceedings. So it is very much up in the air how en banc reconsideration might turn out.
Note that we are still at the preliminary injunction stage, the District Court has not reached a final judgement in this case, which will start the appeals process anew.
