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

[PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ No. 16-17296 ________________________ 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. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ________________________ 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.