Law Commons^™

The Difference Of One Vote Or One Day: Reviewing The Demographics Of Florida’S Death Row After Hurst V. Florida, Melanie Kalmanson

University of Miami Law Review

As the federal appeals court with jurisdiction over Florida and Alabama—two leaders in capital punishment in the United States—the Eleventh Circuit reviews several claims each year related to capital punishment. Florida is home to one of the largest death row populations in the country. Thus, understanding Florida’s capital sentencing scheme is important for understanding capital punishment nationwide.

This Article analyzes the empirical demographics of Florida’s death row population and reviews how defendants are sentenced to death and ultimately executed in Florida. The analysis reveals that although age is not a factor upon which murder/manslaughter defendants are discriminated against in the …

Habeas Won And Lost: The Eleventh Circuit’S Narrow View Of State Court Judgments, Christina M. Frohock

University of Miami Law Review

The Eleventh Circuit vacated its panel opinion in Patterson v. Secretary and reheard the case en banc. The court’s new opinion revisits the prohibition against “second or successive” habeas corpus petitions in 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b) and embraces the dissenting view in the prior opinion, rejecting the reasoning of the majority. A new state court judgment resets the habeas clock, allowing a prisoner to file an additional federal habeas petition without running afoul of section 2244(b). Previously, the court offered an expansive view of such judgments, looking to whether the state court has substantively changed the prisoner’s sentence. The court …

Reassigning Cases On Remand In The Interests Of Justice, For The Enforcement Of Appellate Decisions, And For Other Reasons That Remain Unclear, Jonathan D. Colan

University of Miami Law Review

Federal appellate courts have the authority to order reassignment of cases to different district judges as part of their supervisory authority over the district courts within their circuits. This Article examines the categories of cases in which the Eleventh Circuit has ordered reassignment to different district court judges on remand and explains the rationale underlying reassignment in each category. The more understandable cases address both the appearance and the presence of bias or impropriety by the original trial judge. This Article describes the general principles underlying the Eleventh Circuit’s reassignment practices and then questions why reassignment is necessary in cases …