Three attorneys appealed sanctions last week by U.S. District Judge Liles Burke for "judge shopping."
In a scathing 234-page order released in February, U.S. District Judge Liles Burke sanctioned three attorneys suing the State of Alabama over its Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act (VCAP).
VCAP was signed into law in April 2022, prohibiting doctors in Alabama from performing transgender operations or prescribing cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers to individuals under 19.
U.S. District Judges W. Keith Watkins, R. David Proctor and Jeffrey Beaverstock said in a report unsealed in March 2024 that the plaintiffs' attorneys suing Alabama attempted to manipulate which judge heard the VCAP lawsuit by trying to dismiss and refile their original lawsuit with a different court. Most of the attorneys are associated with left-wing groups.
Burke questioned 11 attorneys in the case in show cause hearings in June 2024 about the allegations. Those attorneys were Michael Shortnacy, Kathleen Hartnett, Asaf Orr, Scott McCoy, Latisha Faulks, Carl Charles, Jeffrey Doss, Melody Eagan, Shannon Minter, James Esseks, and Jennifer Levi.
In his order in February, Burke sanctioned the lead attorneys in the case, Jeffrey Doss and Melody Eagan. He also sanctioned Carl Charles. The remaining attorneys were not sanctioned.
Doss, Eagan and Charles appealed the sanctions to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals last week.
Eagan Doss by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
Carl Charles by Caleb Taylor on Scribd
Burke wrote in his order in February, "The lead attorneys in this case— a high-profile challenge to Alabama state law—tried to avoid their assigned judge by voluntarily dismissing one case and filing anew with different plaintiffs in a neighboring federal district court. This was not just a strategic litigation decision; it was a calculated effort to subvert the rule of law."
"Now, for the reasons discussed below, the Court PUBLICLY REPRIMANDS attorneys Melody Eagan and Jeffrey Doss for their intentional, bad-faith attempts to manipulate the random case assignment procedures for the Northern and Middle Districts of Alabama, DISQUALIFIES them from further participation in this case, and REFERS the matter of their professional misconduct to the Alabama State Bar. The Court declines to exercise its discretion to suspend Eagan and Doss from practice in the Middle District of Alabama. Moreover, the Court PUBLICLY REPRIMANDS Carl Charles for his repeated, intentional, bad-faith misrepresentations of key facts to the three-judge panel about his call to Judge Thompson's chambers, imposes MONETARY SANCTIONS in the amount of $5,000, and REFERS this matter to the United States Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama and Charles's licensing bar organizations," Burke said in February. "No case is worth the price of one's integrity; and yet Melody Eagan, Jeffrey Doss, and Carl Charles chose to gamble with theirs. Inexplicably, they decided it was worth the risk. Judge shopping is an affront to the rule of law. It erodes public confidence in judicial impartiality, burdens courts with procedural glut, and casts unwarranted suspicion on judges and case assignments alike. In short, it poses an intolerable threat to the fair and orderly administration of justice. There can be no doubt that judge-shopping undermines what should be a fair and impartial process, one where no matter which judge is assigned litigants feel they have a meaningful opportunity to be heard. Some of the Respondents have now learned this lesson; others have not. Most have accepted responsibility for their misconduct, shown genuine contrition for their misconduct, and require no further discipline. But the rest have not only refused to accept responsibility or apologize sincerely for their actions; they've also tried to shift the blame for their misconduct to the judiciary. The Court strove from the first to bring these proceedings to a swift close. But where the Court sought resolution, it met with obstruction; where it asked for compliance, it met with defiance; and where it expected decorum, it met with contempt."
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