A federal appeals court has stopped accepting public complaints against U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, many seeking her recusal from the U.S. Government’s classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, citing a flood of 1,000 filings in recent weeks that appear to be part of “an orchestrated campaign.”
The court acted after a general order from Chief Judge William Pryor Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, which is based in Atlanta and covers Florida, Georgia and Alabama. A link entitled, “Judicial Council Order In the Matter of Judicial Complaints Against Judge Aileen M. Cannon,” appears on the court’s home page.
“Many of the complaints against Judge Cannon request that the Chief Circuit Judge remove her from the classified-documents case and reassign the case to a different judge,” Pryor wrote in an order dated May 22.
But in his order, Pryor noted that the complaints “also do not establish that Judge Cannon was required to recuse herself from the case because she was appointed by then President Trump.”
Since May 16, the court clerk “has received over 1,000 judicial complaints against Judge Cannon that raise allegations that are substantially similar to the allegations raised in previous complaints,” Pryor wrote. “These complaints appear to be part of an orchestrated campaign.”
Moreover, he added, “although many of the complaints allege an improper motive in delaying the case, the allegations are speculative and unsupported by any evidence.”
Robert Jarvis, a professor of law at Nova Southeastern University, said in an email. “Removal is not permitted simply because the judge is making rulings that one side or the other doesn’t like. That is why Pryor did what he did — he thinks these are just partisan complaints and have nothing to do with Cannon’s actual performance.”
Lawyers who have practiced in South Florida for a number of years suggested Pryor had little choice but to act.
“When judges perceive or observe an abuse of the system, they step in,” said Miami attorney David Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor who is now in private practice with the Jones Walker firm. “Normally, the only people who can move for recusals are the parties in the case.”
Weinstein said he was not surprised that Pryor issued an order to stop the stream of complaints.
“The numbers [of complaints] filed doesn’t necessarily make it right,” he said. “It doesn’t mean the complaint is valid.”