Judge Aileen Cannon: A Colombian-Born Conservative Who Ruled for Trump

Judge Aileen Cannon: Aileen Mercedes Cannon is a U.S. district judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, who recently made headlines for her rulings in favor of former President Donald Trump in a case involving classified documents seized from his private club and residence, Mar-a-Lago. Cannon, who was born in Colombia and grew up in Miami, is a member of the conservative and libertarian Federalist Society and was nominated by Trump to the bench in 2020. She has been praised by some for her judicial independence and criticized by others for her bias and lack of experience.

judge cannon

Early life and education

Cannon was born in 1981 in Cali, Colombia, to a Cuban mother who fled the island after the revolution and an American father from Indiana. She has an elder sister and moved to Miami with her family when she was a child. She attended Ransom Everglades School, a private school, where she excelled academically and participated in various extracurricular activities. She graduated from Duke University in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her college years, she studied for a semester in Spain and wrote for Miami’s Spanish language newspaper El Nuevo Herald, covering topics such as flamenco dancing, festivals, and yoga.

Cannon then pursued a law degree at the University of Michigan Law School, where she graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif in 2007. She was an articles editor for the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform and a quarterfinalist in the school’s moot court competition. She also joined the Federalist Society, a group of conservative and libertarian lawyers and law students, in 2005. She later explained that she was attracted by the organization’s discussions about the constitutional separation of powers, the rule of law, and the limited role of the judiciary.

Legal career

After graduating from law school, Cannon clerked for Judge Ed Carnes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit from 2007 to 2008. She then worked as an associate at Gibson Dunn, a corporate law firm, from 2009 to 2012, where she focused on complex commercial litigation and white-collar defense. In 2013, she joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida as an assistant U.S. attorney. She prosecuted cases involving fraud, money laundering, public corruption, narcotics trafficking, and violent crimes. She received several awards for her work as a federal prosecutor, including the Director’s Award for Superior Performance as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2018.

Judicial nomination and confirmation

In June 2020, President Trump nominated Cannon to fill a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida that was created by the retirement of Judge Kenneth Marra. Her nomination was supported by both Florida senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, who praised her qualifications and experience. She also received a rating of “well qualified” from the American Bar Association. Her nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee in September 2020 by a vote of 18-4. She was confirmed by the full Senate on November 12, 2020 by a vote of 56-21. She received her judicial commission on November 13, 2020.

Trump case

One of Cannon’s most notable cases as a district judge has been Donald J. Trump v. United States of America, a civil lawsuit filed by Trump in August 2022 against the U.S. government over its seizure of classified documents from his private club and residence, Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida. The documents were allegedly taken by FBI agents during a raid authorized by Attorney General Jack Smith as part of an investigation into Trump’s handling of national security matters while he was president. Trump claimed that the seizure violated his Fourth Amendment rights and sought an injunction to prevent the government from using or disclosing the documents.

In September 2022, Cannon granted Trump’s request for a temporary restraining order and ordered the government to stop using or reviewing the documents until further notice. She also appointed a special master to review the documents and determine which ones were privileged or irrelevant to the investigation. Cannon’s ruling was seen as a victory for Trump and his supporters, who accused Smith of conducting a politically motivated witch hunt against him. However, Cannon’s ruling was also challenged by legal experts and commentators, who questioned her jurisdiction over the case and her reasoning for granting Trump’s relief.

In October 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed Cannon’s ruling and vacated her order. The appeals court held that Cannon lacked jurisdiction over the case because it involved an ongoing criminal investigation and that Trump should have filed his lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, where the investigation was based. The appeals court also criticized Cannon for failing to apply the proper legal standard for issuing a temporary restraining order and for ignoring the government’s arguments and evidence. Following the appeals court’s decision, Cannon dismissed Trump’s lawsuit per instructions from the Eleventh Circuit.

In June 2023, a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C., indicted Trump and three of his former aides on charges of mishandling classified information, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. The indictment alleged that Trump and his co-defendants disclosed or attempted to disclose classified information to foreign governments, media outlets, and private individuals without authorization and that they lied to investigators and destroyed evidence to cover up their actions. The case was assigned to Cannon by random draw, as she was part of a pool of judges who agreed to hear cases from other districts. Cannon set a trial date for January 2024 and ordered the defendants to appear in her courtroom in Miami for arraignment and pretrial hearings.

Cannon’s involvement in the criminal case against Trump has sparked controversy and calls for her recusal, especially from those who opposed her rulings in the civil case. Some legal experts argued that Cannon showed bias and favoritism toward Trump in the civil case and that she should not preside over the criminal case to avoid the appearance of impropriety or conflict of interest. Others pointed out that Cannon was appointed by Trump and that she belonged to the Federalist Society, which has been accused of having undue influence over the judiciary under the Trump administration. However, Cannon has not recused herself from the case and has denied any allegations of bias or partiality. She has stated that she will follow the law and the facts and that she will uphold her oath as a judge.

Conclusion

Judge Aileen Cannon is a Colombian-born conservative who ruled for Trump in a case involving classified documents seized from his private club and residence, Mar-a-Lago. She is a member of the Federalist Society and was nominated by Trump to the bench in 2020. She has been praised by some for her judicial independence and criticized by others for her bias and lack of experience. She is currently overseeing a criminal case against Trump and three of his former aides on charges of mishandling classified information, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy. She has faced controversy and calls for her recusal, but she has refused to step down from the case. She has stated that she will follow the law and the facts and that she will uphold her oath as a judge.

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