11th Circuit vacates injunction against Florida Everglades detention center known as 'Alligator Alcatraz'
The Facts
- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that the detention center known as "Alligator Alcatraz" can remain open.
- The appeals court vacated or overturned a lower-court injunction that had ordered Florida to wind down operations at the facility.
- The Eleventh Circuit's decision was 2-1.
- The majority concluded that challengers failed to show the facility was under federal control.
- The majority said federal environmental review requirements did not apply because Florida officials constructed the facility and built it at state expense.
- The lawsuit challenging the facility was brought by environmental groups together with the Miccosukee Tribe.
Context
Why did the appeals court say the facility could stay open?
The majority said the detention center was built and controlled by Florida rather than the federal government, so the challengers had not shown the kind of federal control that would trigger a federal environmental review under NEPA Fox News,Hill,Star.
What had the lower court ordered before this ruling?
The district court had ordered Florida to begin winding down operations at the site and barred additions to the facility's population, effectively setting it on a path toward dismantling or closure POLITICO,WPTV,Court House News Se….
Who challenged the detention center in court?
The challenge came from environmental groups, including Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity, along with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida theepochtimes.com,WPTV,NTD.
How left and right read it
The Eleventh Circuit’s 2-1 ruling keeps "Alligator Alcatraz" open by vacating an order that would have forced Florida to wind down operations, after the majority said challengers had not shown federal control. That leaves environmental groups and the Miccosukee Tribe still pressing a lawsuit over whether a major detention site can operate without federal environmental review when the state constructed it at state expense.
The Eleventh Circuit’s 2-1 decision lets the Everglades detention center remain open and overturns a lower-court order requiring Florida to start shutting it down. The majority said challengers did not show the facility was under federal control, and because Florida officials constructed it and paid for it, federal environmental review requirements did not apply.
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Independent coverage (17)
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