Justia U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

The Eleventh Circuit denied the petition for review of the DEA's denial of Jones Pharmacy and SND Healthcare's application for certificates of registration to dispense controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. 801 et seq. The court held that substantial evidence supported the DEA's determination that Jones Pharmacy's owner did not credibly accept full responsibility; the DEA's refusal to consider Jones Pharmacy's remedial measures did not render its decision arbitrary or capricious in this case; and the chosen sanction was not arbitrary or capricious. View "Jones Total Health Care Pharmacy, LLC v. DEA" on Justia Law

The Florida Supreme Court answered the Eleventh Circuit's certified question, stating that the notice and repair process set forth in Chapter 558 of the Florida Statutes is a "suit" within the meaning of the CGL policies issued by C&F to ACI. The state court explained that although the chapter 558 process did not constitute a civil proceeding, it was included in the policy's definition of suit as an alternative dispute resolution proceeding to which the insurer's consent was required to invoke the insurer's duty to defend the insured. In light of the state court's answer of the certified question, the court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for C&F, vacated the final judgment, and remanded to the district court for further proceedings. View "Altman Contractors, Inc. v. Crum & Forster Specialty Insurance Co." on Justia Law

In this wrongful death action, plaintiff filed suit against R.J. Reynolds to recover damages based on the death of his wife from tobacco-related diseases caused by her decades-long history of smoking R.J. Reynolds' cigarettes. The Eleventh Circuit held that the district court properly interpreted Florida law in ultimately deciding that plaintiff's damages could not be reduced, even though the jury found his wife to be 45% at fault for her injuries; plaintiff did not waive his right to insist that the Florida intentional tort exception be applied to prevent reduction of compensatory damages based on the wife's degree of fault; and the district court's repudiation of its own charge to the jury concerning the reduction of damages did not justify a reversal of its ultimate decision not to reduce those damages. View "Smith v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co." on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of defendant's motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). The court held that, because defendant has already served the entirety of his otherwise eligible sentence, he was ineligible for a sentence reduction pursuant to section 3582(c)(2). The court noted that the cases involving statutory mandatory consecutive sentences were not persuasive with respect to unrelated sentences like defendant's. The court need not, and did not, decide whether sentences may be aggregated when a statutory mandatory consecutive sentence and a guidelines sentence were imposed in the same proceeding. View "United States v. LLewlyn" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction that would have enjoined University of Alabama (UA) officials from applying UA's grounds use policy to the intersection of University Boulevard and Hackberry Lane. Plaintiff, a traveling Christian evangelist, would be prevented from speaking on UA's campus unless he complied with its terms. The court held that the district court properly found the intersection was a limited public form within UA's campus and thus did not abuse its discretion in denying the preliminary injunction. View "Keister v. Bell" on Justia Law

The CFTC filed suit alleging that defendant violated the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA), when they failed to register as futures commission merchants, transacted the purchase and sale of contracts for the future delivery of a commodity (futures) outside of a registered exchange, and promised to invest customers' money in precious metals (metals) but instead invested the funds in futures. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment in favor of the CFTC on all claims except as to the restitution award for the group of investors whose losses were associated solely with the registration violations. The court vacated that portion of the judgment and remanded with instructions to consider other equitable remedies. In this case, the district court erred in finding that the registration violation alone proximately caused any loss. View "U.S. Commodity Futures Commission v. Southern Trust Metals, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed suit under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 U.S.C. 1400–1482, alleging that the School Board's refusal to include the desired therapy in their children's Individual Education Plan (IEP) reflected its predetermined policy of never including any Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)-based method or strategy in a child's IEP. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's judgment and held that plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the policy because it was not applied to them. The court explained that, although plaintiffs could claim to suffer injury because the School Board did not adopt the specific ABA services they were requesting, such a claim was not a cognizable injury in fact under the procedural prong of Bd. of Educ. of Hendrick Hudson Cent. Sch. Dist. v. Rowley, 458 U.S. 176, 206–07 (1982), because the children's IEPs included an ABA-based service. View "L.M.P. v. School Board of Broward County" on Justia Law

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Defendant Presendieu's convictions, and vacated Defendant Jean's sentence in a case involving an illegal check-cashing scheme. The court held that Presendieu did not show that the district court plainly erred, either as a matter of constitutional due process or under Rule 11, in accepting defendant's guilty plea. The court held, however, that the district court clearly erred in holding Jean responsible for the approximately $84,000 of loss incurred as a result of a codefendant's independent check-cashing activity. The court also held that the district court did not err in applying to Jean's sentence a two-level sentence enhancement under USSG 2B1.1(b)(11)(B)(i) and a two-level enhancement under USSG 2B1.1(b)(10)(C) for the use of sophisticated means. Finally, the district court did not err by denying Jean's request for a minor role reduction under USSG 3B1.2(b). The court remanded for the district court to resentence Jean. View "United States v. Presendieu" on Justia Law

Former Coach of the Miami Dolphins, James Turner, filed suit against defendants, alleging defamation claims under Florida law related to defendants' publication of a report, which concluded that bullying by other Dolphins players contributed to Jonathan Martin's decision to leave the team. The Eleventh Circuit held that none of the challenged statements contained in the report were actionable for defamation; no alleged omission or juxtaposition of facts in the report stated a claim for defamation by implication; and Turner was a public figure who failed to adequately plead that defendants acted with malice in drafting and publishing the report. View "Turner v. Wells, Jr." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255 after the district court granted his motion to vacate or correct his earlier sentence. The Eleventh Circuit vacated the sentence and remanded for resentencing, holding that the district court abused its discretion by vacating the sentence on defendant's one and only count of conviction and modifying his sentence without conducting a resentencing hearing. On remand, the district court was instructed to hold a resentencing hearing with defendant and his counsel present. Only after considering the factors in 18 U.S.C. 3553(a) and explaining the basis for any variance, could the district court impose a new sentence. View "United States v. Brown" on Justia Law