West Alabama Women's Center v. Thomas M. Miller

[PUBLISH]
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
________________________
No. 16-17296
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D.C. Docket No. 2:15-cv-00497-MHT-TFM
WEST ALABAMA WOMEN’S CENTER,
on behalf of themselves and their patients,
WILLIAM J. PARKER,
M.D., on behalf of himself and his patients,
ALABAMA WOMEN’S CENTER,
YASHICA ROBINSON WHITE,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
versus
DONALD E. WILLIAMSON,
in his official capacity as State Health Officer, et al.,
Defendant,
THOMAS M. MILLER,
Dr., in his official capacity as State Health Officer,
LUTHER J. STRANGE, III, in his official capacity as
Alabama Attorney General,
LYN HEAD,
in her official capacity as District Attorney for
Tuscaloosa County,
ROBERT L. BROUSSARD,
in his official capacity as District Attorney for Madison County,
Defendants-Appellants.
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Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Middle District of Alabama
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Before ED CARNES, Chief Judge, DUBINA, Circuit Judge, and ABRAMS,*
District Judge.
PER CURIAM:
This is an appeal from the grant of a preliminary injunction that was issued
on October 27, 2016 and was last amended on November 22, 2016. W. Ala.
Women’s Ctr. v. Miller, 217 F. Supp. 3d 1313 (M.D. Ala. 2016). The appeal was
scheduled to be orally argued before this Court at 9:00 a.m. on Friday morning,
October 27, 2017. At approximately 12:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, October
26, 2017, the district court issued a permanent injunction, accompanied by a 148-
page opinion, and it entered final judgment in the case. As a result, this appeal is
moot. See Grupo Mexicano de Desarrollo S.A. v. Alliance Bond Fund, Inc., 527
U.S. 308, 315, 119 S. Ct. 1961, 1966 (1999) (“Generally, an appeal from the grant
of a preliminary injunction becomes moot when the trial court enters a permanent
injunction, because the former merges into the latter.”); Cone Corp. v.
Hillsborough Cty., 908 F.2d 908, 912 n.5 (11th Cir. 1990) (collecting cases) (“The
County’s challenge to the issuance of the preliminary injunction is moot regardless
*
Honorable Leslie Joyce Abrams, United States District Judge for the Middle District of
Georgia, sitting by designation.
of our disposition of this case on its merits because a permanent injunction has
issued.”).
APPEAL DISMISSED AS MOOT.