Retention elections for appellate judges ask voters a "yes" or "no" question of whether or not to retain a judge to another term. Thank you to the candidates for providing a bio and answering our questions. Justice Samuel Alito is the circuit justice for the Fifth Circuit. This year, the 5th Circuit has gotten Republicans closer than ever to achieving that goal. Like all federal appeals courts, the 5th Circuit first hears cases as a three-judge panel whose members are randomly selected; a majority of the court can then choose to rehear the case “en banc,” with every active judge sitting. But for a glimpse of where the judiciary is heading if Trump wins a second term, Americans can look to the 5th U.S. Help us continue to provide the reporting, commentary, and criticism you won’t find anywhere else. The 5th Circuit’s descent into lawlessness did not happen by accident. The 5th Circuit today is a sneak peek of what more courts will look like once they have been fully captured by judges both Trump-appointed and Trump-aligned. The Court issues written opinions on Fridays; those opinions are posted to the website before noon on Friday. Trump’s five appointees joined the axis of extremists like Smith, Jones, and Elrod in 2018. He sued the guards, who laughed and taunted him as he suffered, for subjecting him to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. Today, extremists are more likely to constitute a majority on three-judge panels, and they have an insurmountable majority when the court sits en banc. A traditionally conservative bench, the court has been newly reshaped by Trump—and quickly got to work translating right-wing priorities into legal doctrine that will govern generations. The 5th Circuit is also finding new and creative ways to trample LGBTQ rights. The president has already flipped the 2nd, 3rd, and 11th Circuits, creating a majority of Republican appointees. Or that the court curbed Americans’ right to protest in a decision involving DeRay Mckesson, a Black Lives Matter activist. Trump’s judicial nominees are not selected because they are unbiased or nonpartisan or fair-minded. ", United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama, Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County, John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights, Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement, Green v. County School Board of New Kent County, Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, Council for United Civil Rights Leadership, Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States, List of lynching victims in the United States, Spring Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fifth_Circuit_Four&oldid=969184751, Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 23 July 2020, at 21:36. A trio of Reagan appointees—Judges E. Grady Jolly, Patrick Higginbotham, and W. Eugene Davis—leaned right but supported judicial restraint and adherence … The Louisiana restriction, which forces abortion providers to get admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, is virtually identical to a Texas statute that the Supreme Court struck down in 2016. View > Lake County Courthouse. Judge Catharina Haynes, for instance, was appointed by George W. Bush but sat near the ideological center of the court. Later, a different panel upheld the district court’s ruling in full. A trio of Reagan appointees—Judges E. Grady Jolly, Patrick Higginbotham, and W. Eugene Davis—leaned right but supported judicial restraint and adherence to precedent. Brooksville, Florida 34601(352) 754-4402, 550 West Main Street In December, the court ruled that Obamacare’s individual mandate had become unconstitutional in an overtly partisan decision, and suggested that the rest of the law may have to fall, as well. The "Fifth Circuit Four" (or simply "The Four") were four judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit who, during the late 1950s, became known for a series of decisions (which continued into the late 1960s) crucial in advancing the civil and political rights of African Americans; in this they were opposed by fellow Fifth Circuit judge Ben Cameron, a strong advocate of states' rights. A three-judge panel refused to halt a district court’s decision invalidating Mississippi’s Senate District 22 as an illicit racial gerrymander under the Voting Rights Act. All contents © 2020 The Slate Group LLC. James Ho, a Trump judge whose opinions resemble Rush Limbaugh’s most incoherent rants, accused the majority of enabling mass shootings when it withheld qualified immunity from cops who apparently shot an innocent man to death. The president has appointed 133 district court judges, 50 appeals court judges, and two Supreme Court justices—meaning about one-fifth of the nation’s federal trial judges, and one-fourth of its federal appellate judges, are Trump appointees.