MIAMI — The state of Florida is trying to move federal lawsuits pertaining to its detention facility in the Everglades out of the Southern District of Florida in a move one legal analyst calls “forum shopping.”
On Wednesday inside the Miami federal courthouse, an attorney representing the state told Judge Kathleen Williams in their view, a lawsuit filed by environmental groups, including Friends of the Everglades, should be moved out of the Southern District of Florida because the decision to commandeer the land from Miami-Dade County was made in Tallahassee and the majority of the facility is located in Collier County.
“It is interesting that the state is arguing that in court, even when they have not been forthcoming with records,” said Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples.
The plaintiffs argued in court that the impacts of the remote detention facility are being felt by land and people located in the Southern District, making this the proper venue for this case to be heard.
Williams told the defendants that geographically, the Southern District is closer to the facility.
An attorney representing the state said the venue issue is being raised in all Alligator Alcatraz-related cases.
“I don’t know why they are trying to move this case into the Middle District of Florida,” said Samples. “I don’t want to assume their intentions, but I do know that we do have a legit stem claim for keeping it put where it is. The Everglades are intimately connected to the Southern District, Miami-Dade County, Monroe County, Broward County, so we are confident that the judge will see it that way.”
Earlier this week, a venue question surfaced in a different federal courtroom, before a different judge, in a separate case filed by civil rights advocates focused on claims of due process violations.
“They are attempting to have the case transferred to the Middle or Northern Districts of Florida where they believe whichever judge is assigned to the case will be more favorable to their position because this case does not involve a jury. It is the judge that will ultimately decide whether anyone is entitled to injunctive relief,” said former state and federal prosecutor David Weinstein.
The judge said she would take what she heard under advisement and rule later.
In a separate matter before her today that can be read about in the document below, Williams did grant the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians’ request to intervene following a state objection.
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