Birmingham Fire Fighters Ass'n. v. Birmingham, No. 08-16604

By FindLaw Staff on April 22, 2010 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Birmingham Fire Fighters Ass'n. v. Birmingham, No. 08-16604, involved the City of Birmingham's appeal from the district court's order declaring an Alabama state law void and affirming that the court appointed members of the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, Alabama would serve the remainder of their terms.  The court of appeals dismissed the appeal, holding that the Eleventh Circuit did not have jurisdiction to consider the matter because the appealed order, an interlocutory injunction, had since merged with a subsequent final order that neither party challenged.

As the court wrote:  "Following decades of civil-rights litigation regarding discriminatory employment practices, the district court for the Northern District of Alabama assumed a direct supervisory role over the Personnel Board of Jefferson County in 2002. Incident to its supervisory function, the district court appointed two individuals to the three-member Board when vacancies arose in 2007. Shortly thereafter, the Alabama legislature passed Act 408, which entirely reconstituted the composition of the Board. In September 2008, the district court declared Act 408 void ab initio and affirmed that the court-appointed members would serve the remainder of their terms. The City of Birmingham now appeals this decision. This Court holds that it does not have jurisdiction to consider this matter because the appealed order, an interlocutory injunction, has since merged with a subsequent final order that neither party challenges. The City's appeal is therefore dismissed."

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