United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (S.D.Fl.) is the federal United States district court covering the southern part of the state of Florida. The court's jurisdiction comprises the counties of Broward, Highlands, Indian River, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie. The district includes the South Florida metropolitan area of Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and West Palm Beach. It comprises 15,197 square miles and approximately 6.3 million people. Court offices are in Miami, Florida. [http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/]

The United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. The current United States Attorney for the district is R. Alexander Acosta.

Famous cases that have been heard in the district include "Bush v. Gore", "United States v. Noriega" (the prosecution of the former Manuel Noriega), "González v. Reno" (the Elián González case), and "United States v. José Padilla" (the prosecution of José Padilla).

Judges

Sixty-one judges have served on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, according to the Federal Judicial Center. The Court has 18 authorized judgeships, filled by judges appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Currently, no seats are vacant. Five judges who have taken senior status are eligible to continue hearing cases. One senior district judge is retired. As of July 1, 2007, the chief judge of the district is Judge Federico A. Moreno, succeeding Judge William J. Zloch.

The District Judges (active and senior) sitting as of 2008 are:

Judges who have served this court include:
*William Marvin (1847-1863)
*Thomas Jefferson Boynton (1864-1870)
*John McKinney (1870-1871)
*James William Locke (1872-1912)
*John Moses Cheney (1912-1913)
*Rhydon Mays Call (1913-1927)
*Lake Jones (1924-1930)
*Halsted Ritter (1929-1936)
*Alexander Akerman (1929-1948)
*Louie Willard Strum (1931-1950)
*John W. Holland (1936-1969)
*William Julius Barker (1940-1968)
*Curtis L. Waller (1940-1943)
*Dozier A. DeVane (1943-1947)
*George Whitehurst (1950-1974)
*John Milton Bryan Simpson (1950-1962)
*Emmett Clay Choate (1954-1974)
*Joseph Patrick Lieb (1956-1962)
*David W. Dyer (1961-1966)
*George C. Young (1961-1966)
*William A. McRae, Jr. (1961-1962)
*Charles B. Fulton (1963-1996)
*William O. Mehrtens (1965-1980)
*C. Clyde Atkins (1966-1999)
*Ted Cabot (1966-1971)
*Joe Oscar Eaton (1967-1985)
*Peter T. Fay (1970-1976)
*Norman C. Roettger, Jr. (1972-2003)
*Sidney M. Aronovitz (1976-1997)
*James W. Kehoe (1979-1998)
*Edward B. Davis (1979-2000)
*Alcee Hastings (1979-1989)
*Eugene P. Spellman (1979-1991)
*Lenore Carrero Nesbitt (1983-2001)
*Stanley Marcus (1985-1997)
*Thomas E. Scott, Jr. (1985-1990)
*Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. (1993-2003)

This federal district has the dubious distinction of having had more judges removed through impeachment than any other federal district, with a total of two, one-third of all federal district judges so removed.¹

References

¹ List of federal officials impeached

External links

* [http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Official Website]
* [http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls/ United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Official Website]
* [http://sdfla.blogspot.com/ The Southern District of Florida Blog, by attorney David Markus]