Background
Schrade Jones and Carter Gilliam appealed from a case against the United States and the Tennessee Valley Authority in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The district court case was docketed as No. 5:22-cv-00620-LCB.
After an Eleventh Circuit panel issued an opinion, a petition for rehearing was filed. A judge in active service requested a poll on whether the full court should rehear the appeal en banc.
The Court’s Holding
A majority of the Eleventh Circuit’s active-service judges voted to grant rehearing en banc. The court therefore ordered that the appeal be reheard by the court sitting en banc.
The court also vacated the panel’s opinion. The two-page order did not resolve the merits of the underlying dispute.
Key Takeaways
- The Eleventh Circuit granted rehearing en banc after a majority of its active-service judges voted in favor.
- The panel opinion was vacated and no longer represents the court’s operative decision.
- The full court will reconsider the appeal’s merits.
Why It Matters
The order resets the appeal for consideration by the en banc Eleventh Circuit and eliminates the panel opinion’s precedential effect. The court’s eventual en banc decision, rather than the vacated panel ruling, will determine the appeal’s disposition.