Eleventh Circuit emergency ended

In June I blogged about whether the Eleventh Circuit was in an "emergency" state that justified a suspension of the active-judge requirements of 28 U.S.C. 46(b). Though the emergency had been upheld by a panel of the court, I wasn't sure if that was correct as a legal matter. I concluded the post: "I wonder how many new judges it would take for the Eleventh Circuit to think that the emergency has gone away."

Last week, Chief Judge Carnes issued General Order 42, certifying the emergency no longer applies to future panels of the Eleventh Circuit. The legal question remains for those panels were constituted under the old general order, but future panels of the Eleventh Circuit will once again contain a majority of Eleventh Circuit judges.