Case law

Jones v. United States

District Court, M.D. Florida · Apr 15, 2021

A prisoner can establish that the sentencing court relied on the residual clause in two ways. … to establish that counsel’s performance was deficient.

Root v. Salazar

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 27, 2019

Salazar describes his rental application, which Root acknowledges receiving, as clearly stating financial requirements, including a 30% rent-to-income ratio. … Root claims that he was qualified to live at the duplex, but he fails to explain or present evidence as to how he was qualified. Instead, he lists reasons why qualification should not matter.

Kostoff v. Fleet Securities, Inc.

506 F. Supp. 2d 1150 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Apr 5, 2007

The facts of this case simply do not establish that the arbitrators consciously chose to disregard the law. … In order to establish that the Panel’s award of punitive damages was in manifest disregard of the law, Fleet must establish that the Panel was conscious of me law regarding punitive damages and deliberately ignored it.

Shibata v. Lim

133 F. Supp. 2d 1311 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Dec 11, 2000

This money will definitely help us to establish Titan Seafood Inc. within the seafood industry of Miami. … The term “unfair or deceptive acts” is not clearly defined, but may require conduct that offends established public policy, and is “immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous or substantially injurious to consumers.”

Thornton v. Attorney General, State of Florida

District Court, M.D. Florida · Oct 17, 2019

of clearly established federal law, and was not based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceedings. … of clearly established federal law, and was not based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented in the state court proceedings.

Kinard v. The Florida Department of Corrections

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 22, 2024

(quotation omitted).[4] An inmate-plaintiff bears the burden to establish both prongs. Goebert v. … They assert Kinard did not exhaust his administrative remedies; they are entitled to Eleventh Amendment immunity; Kinard fails to state plausible ADA and RA claims against them; Kinard cannot recover damages under the

Mack, Jr. v. Secretary, Department of Corrections (Hillsborough County)

District Court, M.D. Florida · Nov 25, 2020

Therefore, Mack has not met his burden of demonstrating that the state court’s rejection of his claim was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law. … Accordingly, Mack fails to demonstrate that the state appellate court’s rejection of this claim was contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established federal law.

Furgele

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jun 2, 2026

A TRO “is an extraordinary and drastic remedy not to be granted unless the movant clearly establishes the burden of persuasion as to each of the four prerequisites.” Wall v. … Additionally, “[a]lthough the [c]ourt finds that Plaintiff has clearly established irreparable harm, it further notes that monetary damages can[]not compensate Plaintiff for Defendant’s unilateral breach

Pinto v. Collier County

District Court, M.D. Florida · Nov 5, 2019

The requisite causal connection can be established “when a history of widespread abuse puts the responsible supervisor on notice of the need to correct the alleged deprivation, and he fails to do so.” Cottone v. … Defendants are not precluded from raising these arguments, such as qualified immunity and sovereign immunity, in a future motion to dismiss following the filing of the amended complaint.

Stoddard

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 13, 2026

A decision is contrary to clearly established federal law if the state court either: (1) applied a rule that contradicts the governing law set forth by Supreme Court case law; or (2) reached a different result from the … Petitioner states that “Juror #11 made statements that clearly established that [he] had prior knowledge of the case and was biased because [he] did not want to see the Casey Anthony case repeat itself.”

Hall v. Harris

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 19, 2025

And when plaintiffs litigate in forma pauperis, courts have “the unusual power to pierce the veil of the complaint’s factual allegations and dismiss those claims whose factual contentions are clearly baseless. … It is well established in the Eleventh Circuit “that supervisory officials are not liable under § 1983 for the unconstitutional acts of their subordinates on the basis of respondeat superior or vicarious liability.”

Parker v. Secretary, Department of Corrections (Polk County)

District Court, M.D. Florida · Aug 26, 2025

A decision is “contrary to” clearly established federal law “if the state court arrives at a conclusion opposite to that reached by [the Supreme Court] on a question of law or if the state court decides a case differently … Clearly established federal law refers to the holding of an opinion by the United States Supreme Court at the time of the relevant state-court decision.

Galloway

District Court, M.D. Florida · Feb 9, 2026

application of clearly established federal law, and was not based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented. … of clearly established federal law, and was not based on an unreasonable determination of the facts in light of the evidence presented.

Wales v. Jack M. Berry, Inc.

192 F. Supp. 2d 1269 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 25, 1999

This conduct was clearly intentional within the meaning of § 1854 and thus supports an award of damages. 22. … In all events, the pay records show a gap in Zepeda's work of more than three days in March 1993, and thus he would not qualify for the bonus or incentive payments.

Nelson v. Sgt. Starling

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 12, 2024

Burnside we established a two-step process for resolving motions to dismiss prisoner lawsuits for failure to exhaust. 541 F.3d at 1082. … As such, Nelson’s direct grievance did not qualify as a grievance of reprisal, and the FDOC Secretary properly returned it without action. See Gipson v. Renninger, 750 F.

United States v. Gaffney

676 F. Supp. 1544 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Dec 18, 1987

According to defendants, the individual or cumulative effect of these outside influences clearly establishes that they were denied a fair trial. … Based on her responses to the Court’s questions, the Court and all parties were satisfied that she remained qualified.

Lander v. Secretary, Department of Corrections (Pinellas County)

District Court, M.D. Florida · Jan 30, 2024

Lander extensively argues his due diligence, but his asserted “extraordinary diligence” alone is insufficient to qualify for equitable tolling. … Because the application is clearly time-barred, Lander is entitled to neither a COA nor leave to appeal in forma pauperis. A certificate of appealability is DENIED. Leave to appeal in forma pauperis is DENIED.

Son v. Secretary, Department of Corrections

District Court, M.D. Florida · Mar 5, 2020

To state an access-to-courts claim, a plaintiff must first establish an actual injury. Lewis v. Casey, 518 U.S. 343, 349-50 (1996); Barbour, 471 F.3d at 1225. … All motions to dismiss and/or for summary judgment shall be filed by July 13, 2020.8 This deadline is also applicable to the filing of any motions or the raising of any affirmative defenses based on qualified immunity.

United States v. Lambert

589 F. Supp. 366 · District Court, M.D. Florida · Jun 11, 1984

In the present casé, no formal agency record was established and presented to this court for review; therefore, this court has assumed a broader latitude in dealing with the position of the Government, although it is still … Pickens, although a qualified appraiser, made certain assumptions which render the probative value of his opinion questionable. He testified that nine acres on Mr.

Coley v. Bank of America

District Court, M.D. Florida · Sep 11, 2024

must also review and dismiss the case sua sponte if it finds that the action “is frivolous or malicious[,] fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted[,] or seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune … Irrespective of whether Coley qualifies as indigent for purposes of section 1915,3 her complaint is deficient because, at a minimum, it is does not demonstrate that the Court has subject matter jurisdiction over