Returning from Vacation

As the courts return from vacation, so have I, and in the next few days I aim to catch up on some 11th Circuit cases of interest.

After perusing the published opinions of the 11th Circuit since the blog started, I have found we tend to eliminate a number of categories of cases which are either in too specialized an area to cover here, or are too numerous in this circuit to warrant routine coverage (at least in a blog of limited scope such as this one). So, for instance, immigration and maritime cases, which often appear in 11th Circuit caselaw, are difficult to cover because they tend to be specialized. Bankruptcy qua bankruptcy is often in that category, although there are often more general commercial litigation issues embedded in bankruptcy cases that we might cover; likewise with administrative law cases.

Run-of-the-mill criminal sentencing cases are far too numerous to cover; many habeas cases also are in that category, particularly if they deal, for instance, with the AEDPA statute of limitations, an issue with zillions of permutations; but certain habeas cases may contain particularly interesting or important issues.

Finally, as this blog focuses on Georgia state law, to the extent a federal decision is a diversity case premised on another state's law, and is fairly limited to that state's law as applied to the facts of the case, we will likely not cover it.

What will we cover from the 11th Circuit? Issues of federal law and procedure, and particularly constitutional law; cases involving commercial and complex litigation, including class actions, securities, etc.; white-collar criminal or related civil cases, e.g. RICO, false claims act, and so forth; civil rights cases and criminal, habeas and prisoner cases that have systemic or constitutional implications; employment cases; and issues of Georgia law, as interpreted by the 11th Circuit.

Plus, we still anticipate covering Georgia state law, including live blogging of oral arguments that are broadcast by the Georgia courts, and we also hope to pass along announcements of judicially-relevant events. Stay tuned for more...