U.S. Eleventh Circuit

The coronavirus pandemic may be winding down, but there are still pending cases dealing with the legality of executive mandates requiring vaccination for different types of employees. One of them, Georgia v. Biden, is currently before the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, and its resolution will determine the fate of President Joe Biden's executive order mandating vaccination for federal contractors.

No one wants their lawsuit to be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. But throwing facts and defendants up in the air in the hope and prayer that something – anything – will move the case forward can get your case dismissed just as quickly. Known as “shotgun complaints" in the 11th Circuit, rules 8(a)(2) and Rule 10(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure prohibit these scattershot approaches to lawsuits, at least in spirit.

You know what they say, once the Kraken has been unleashed....you can definitely just quietly put it back. Attorney Sidney Powell has voluntarily withdrawn the elaborate lawsuit alleging that Georgia's election was rigged in favor of President Joe Biden - a legal effort dubbed "the Kraken" by Powell during an appearance on Fox Business.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in a 2-1 decision that "gay conversion therapy" bans violate the First Amendment rights of therapists. In overturning the lower court, the Eleventh Circuit panel splits from the Third and Ninth Circuits. As a result, sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE) therapy in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia cannot be prohibited.

The redrawing of school board districts in Georgia's Sumter County violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by diluting Black residents' voting power, according to a recent decision by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. This decision is the latest in a six-year legal battle that has bounced back and forth between the court of appeals and the district courts. Six Years In the Courts In 2014, a new law in Georgia reduced the size of Sumter County's school board from nine members to seven.

The Florida Education Association, the state's largest teacher's union, filed suit this week to stop the "reckless and unsafe reopening of schools." Educators from Miami-Dade, Broward, and Orange Counties have joined on as plaintiffs, as well as the NAACP. The lawsuit comes as concerns grow over the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state and a recent emergency order requiring schools to open next month.