Judge Edward Earl Carnes

Judge Carnes is the current chief judge of the Eleventh Circuit.  Since he became chief in 2013 at the age of 63, he will be able to serve a nearly full seven-year term as chief if he so chooses.  He is based in Montgomery, Alabama.

Prior to his appointment, he was a career public service in the Alabama Attorney General's Office.  There, he gained notoriety as a habeas practitioner, where he frequently defended the constitutionality of death sentences imposed throughout the state.  He also earned a reputation as a fair and impartial public servant. His nomination was quite contentious, given his support for the death penalty.

Judge Carnes is quite conservative, and he should be viewed as one of the intellectual engines of both the Court as a whole, and of its conservative wing in particular.  He is particularly influential on the court's habeas jurisprudence.  You will frequently see him write the lead opinion in en banc habeas decisions, and those decisions will typically be well-written, precise, and formalistic in the very best sense of the word.

Judge Carnes has a well-deserved reputation as an excellent and entertaining writer, and he often likes to add literary allusions or other quotations to his opinions.  I was surprised at one point when he even decided to include a biblical verse!

Even though Judge Carnes is very conservative, closely examining his jurisprudence reveals him to be an extremely fair and thorough judge. He can be combative at oral argument, and he does not shy away from conflict or suffer fools gladly.