The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in

case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...

s, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

United States district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

with

territorial jurisdiction A jurisdiction is an area with a set of laws under the control of a system of courts or government entity which are different from neighbouring areas. Each state in a federation such as Australia, Germany and the United States forms a separate ...

over the southern part of the

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

.. Appeals from cases brought in the Southern District of Florida are to the

United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (in case citations, 11th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the following U.S. district courts: * Middle District of Alabama * Northern District of Alabama * ...

(except for

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

claims and claims against the U.S. government under the

Tucker Act The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...

, which are appealed to the

Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...

History

On the same day that

was admitted as a state, March 3, 1845, Congress enacted legislation creating the United States District Court for the District of Florida, .Asbury Dickens, ''A Synoptical Index to the Laws and Treaties of the United States of America'' (1852), p. 393.U.S. District Courts of Florida, Legislative history
''

Federal Judicial Center The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States. According to , the main areas of respo ...

''. On February 23, 1847, this District was subdivided into Northern and Southern Districts, by . The statute effecting this division set forth the boundaries of the Districts: : at part of the State of Florida lying south of a line drawn due east and west from the northern point of Charlotte Harbor, including the islands, keys, reefs, shoals, harbors, bays and inlets, south of said line, shall be erected into a new judicial district, to be called the Southern District of Florida; a District Court shall be held in said Southern District, to consist of one judge, who shall reside at

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, in said district... On July 30, 1962, the Middle District was created from portions of these districts by . This federal district has the dubious distinction of having had more judges removed through impeachment than any other district, with a total of two, one fourth of all federal judges so removed. Famous cases that have been heard in the district include ''

Bush v. Gore ''Bush v. Gore'', 531 U.S. 98 (2000), was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 2000, that settled a recount dispute in Florida's 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore. On December 8, th ...

'', ''United States v. Noriega'' (the prosecution of former Panamanian military leader

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...

), ''González v. Reno'' (the

Elián González Elián González Brotons (born December 6, 1993) is a Cuban technician who, as a child, became embroiled in a heated international custody and immigration controversy in 2000 involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, his father Ju ...

case), notorious Ponzi schemer

Scott Rothstein Scott W. Rothstein (born June 10, 1962) is an American disbarred lawyer, convicted felon, and the former managing shareholder, chairman, and chief executive officer of the now-defunct Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler law firm. He funded an extravag ...

, and ''United States v. José Padilla'' (the prosecution of José Padilla).

Jurisdiction

The court's jurisdiction comprises the nine

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

of Broward,

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

, Indian River,

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

Miami-Dade Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

, Monroe, Okeechobee, Palm Beach, and St. Lucie. The district includes the

South Florida metropolitan area The Miami metropolitan area (also known as Greater Miami, the Tri-County Area, South Florida, or the Gold Coast) is the ninth largest metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the 34th largest metropolitan area in the world with a ...

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Fort Lauderdale A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, and

West Palm Beach West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sunset, Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic languages, German ...

. It comprises and approximately 6.3 million people. Courthouses, corresponding to the five divisions of the district, are located in Fort Lauderdale,

Fort Pierce Fort Pierce is a city in and the county seat of St. Lucie County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Treasure Coast region of Atlantic Coast Florida. It is also known as the Sunrise City, sister to San Francisco, California, the Suns ...

, Key West, Miami, and West Palm Beach. The court's offices are located in Miami.

United States Attorney and the United States Marshal

The United States Attorney for Southern District of Florida represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court. , the United States Attorney is

Markenzy Lapointe Markenzy Lapointe is an American lawyer who serves as United States attorney for the Southern District of Florida since January 2023. Early life and education Lapointe was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Lapointe moved to Miami with his fami ...

. The United States Attorney's Office has a staff of approximately 233 Assistant United States Attorneys and 227 support personnel. The main office is located in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, with three staffed branch offices located in

and

and one unstaffed branch office located in

. There is also a High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) office in West Miami-Dade and a Health Care Fraud Facility in Miramar. On August 28, 2018, Gadyaces S. Serralta was confirmed by the United States Senate to be the

United States Marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforcem ...

Current judges

Vacancies and pending nominations

Former judges

Chief judges

Succession of seats

References

External links

United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida official website

Southern District of Florida Blog
– By attorney David Markus {{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Florida, Southern District Florida law Miami 1847 establishments in Florida Courthouses in Florida Fort Lauderdale, Florida West Palm Beach, Florida Courts and tribunals established in 1847