NEW On Just Security: “Removal Of Criminal Cases To Federal Court: Two Dozen FAQs”
A new report on Just Security provides, in “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) form, detailed information on the efforts of five defendants to remove their cases to federal court in the Georgia 2020 election interference case brought by Fulton County DA Fani Willis this month, and other general and specific background on the issue of removal.
“Defendants bear the burden to show they are federal officers (three of the five do not appear to have been), that the conduct was plausibly official, and that they have a plausible defense based in federal law,” according to the Just Security piece. “The bar is a low one and the background law is favorable to true federal officers but removal is by no means automatic and is often denied. Among the results of a successful removal to federal court is a different jury pool, a different judge, and different procedural rules such as the absence of video cameras in federal trials.”
The questions covered in the Just Security FAQ report include: general questions about removal, analysis of the legal standard, removal procedure, how a defendant can establish that removal is warranted, and what happens if a case is removed.
Just Security’s “Removal of Criminal Cases to Federal Court: Two Dozen FAQs” was prepared by Andrew Warren, Siven Watt, and Amb. Norman Eisen (ret.).
Andrew Warren has served as a State Attorney in Florida since 2016 and previously served as a federal prosecutor with the Justice Department. Watt is a Legal Fellow at Just Security. Eisen served in the White House as special counsel and special assistant to the President for ethics and government reform and as ambassador to the Czech Republic under President Obama, as well as special counsel to the House Judiciary Committee (2019-2020), including for the first Trump impeachment.
The “Two Dozen FAQs” report is available on Just Security.
RELATED: Last week, eight prominent judges and attorneys who served as high-level appointees in Republican Administrations submitted an amicus brief in the U.S. District Court For The Northern District Of Georgia, Atlanta division, opposing defendant Mark Meadows’s and defendant Jeffrey Clark’s efforts to remove their cases to federal court.
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