AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF FLORIDA INC v. DIXIE COUNTY FLORIDA

Filing 165

ORDER granting 164 Motion to Stay Court Order and finding as moot 162 Motion to Extend Time; signed by SENIOR JUDGE MAURICE M PAUL on 8/15/11. (tss)

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IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
GAINESVILLE DIVISION
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF FLORIDA INC,
Plaintiff,
v.

CASE NO. 1:07-cv-00018-MP-GRJ

DIXIE COUNTY FLORIDA,
Defendant.
_____________________________/
ORDER
This matter is before the Court on Doc. 164, Motion to Stay the Court’s Order Requiring
Monument Removal by Dixie County Florida. On July 15, 2011, the Court entered summary
judgment in favor of the plaintiff, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, Inc. (“ACLU”).
The ACLU’s action sought declaratory and injunctive relief regarding the display of the Ten
Commandments on the steps of the Dixie County Courthouse. As such, the Court’s order
granting summary judgment requires the defendant to remove the display within thirty days of
the order becoming final. On July 26, 2011, defendant appealed the Court’s order to the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Dixie County now moves the Court for an order
suspending the injunction while their appeal is pending.
Unless the Court orders otherwise, a final judgment in an action for an injunction is not
automatically stayed after being entered, even if an appeal is taken. See Fed. R. Civ. P.
62(a)(1). While an appeal is pending from a final judgment that grants an injunction, the court
may suspend the injunction on terms for bond or other terms that secure the opposing party's
rights. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 62(c). A party must ordinarily move first in the district court for an

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order suspending an injunction while an appeal is pending. See Fed. R. App. P. 8(a)(1).
The relaxed standard for staying injunctions pending appeal is particularly appropriate
where, as here, doing so would preserve the status quo. “An order maintaining the status quo is
appropriate when a serious legal question is presented, when little if any harm will befall other
interested persons or the public and when denial of the order would inflict irreparable injury on
the movant.” Ruiz v. Estelle, 650 F.2d 555, 565 (5th Cir. 1981), cert. denied, 460 U.S. 1042
(1983).1 Accordingly, it is hereby
ORDERED AND ADJUDGED:
1.

Defendant’s Motion to Stay the Court’s Order, Doc. 164, is GRANTED.

2.

The Court’s order requiring defendant to remove the display of the Ten
Commandments from the steps of the Dixie County Courthouse is SUSPENDED
pending appeal.

3.

Defendant’s Consent Motion to Extend Time to Comply with the Court's Order,
Doc. 162, is DENIED as moot.

DONE AND ORDERED this

15th day of August, 2011

s/Maurice M. Paul
Maurice M. Paul, Senior District Judge

1

Decisions of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down prior to October 1, 1981
are binding precedent in the Eleventh Circuit. See Bonner v. City of Prichard, Ala., 661 F.2d
1206, 1209 (11th Cir. 1981).
Case No: 1:07-cv-00018-MP-GRJ