More Eleventh Circuit News

First, the Supreme Court today issued an opinion with the style Scott v. Harris which, interestingly, reverses the Eleventh Circuit (not usually known for being hard on police) in a Fourth Amendment police chase case, Harris v. Coweta County [and Scott], finding that ramming into the fleeing car to cause a wreck is justified because the chase itself is dangerous to the public. (The opinion reviewed by the Supreme Court was issued in place of the original opinion, which was vacated sua sponte by the panel.)

As SCOTUSBlog notes, this is the first time the Supreme Court has provided a link to a video (the police dashboard video, a la 'Cops') related to the opinion. Read other interesting commentary about the issues in this case (including, whether the rule that courts should rule on the underlying constitutional issue first, before determining whether it was clearly established, in qualified immunity cases should be overturned) as SCOTUSBlog here.

In other news, today, the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion in Hanley v. Roy resolving an international child custody dispute under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction and the International Child Abduction Remedies Act.

The parents of the children had been separated but were living in the same house in Ireland with the maternal grandparents when the mother died of cancer and, in her will, granted guardianship to the maternal grandparents. The father (a U.S. citizen) continued living with the maternal grandparents until he disappeared one day with the children, leaving behind just a note, and moved to Florida. The Eleventh Circuit found that the district court erred in finding that the right of guardianship was not a sufficient "right of custody" under the relevant law, and in going so far as to find the father to be a fit parent. It ruled that, as to the father's objections regarding the maternal grandparents' guardianship, those should be litigated in Ireland. In the meantime, the children should be returned there. (Undoubtedly, lurking in the background of this case is the fact that Irish law will likely strongly disfavor the father.)

In an Alabama death penalty case issued Friday, Jones v. Allen, the Eleventh Circuit ruled that a request for stay to challenge the lethal injection protocol was dilatory and thus interposed merely for delay of execution. Jones is evidently scheduled for execution this Thursday.