Barbara Lagoa | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit | |
| Assumed office December 6, 2019 | |
| Appointed by | Donald Trump |
| Preceded by | Stanley Marcus |
| Justice of theFlorida Supreme Court | |
| In office January 9, 2019 – December 6, 2019 | |
| Appointed by | Ron DeSantis |
| Preceded by | R. Fred Lewis |
| Succeeded by | John D. Couriel |
| Chief Judge of theFlorida Third District Court of Appeal | |
| In office January 1, 2019 – January 8, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Leslie Rothenberg |
| Succeeded by | Kevin Emas |
| Judge of theFlorida Third District Court of Appeal | |
| In office June 2006 – January 9, 2019 | |
| Appointed by | Jeb Bush |
| Preceded by | David Levy |
| Succeeded by | Monica Gordo |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1967-11-02)November 2, 1967 (age 58) |
| Spouse | Paul Huck |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Florida International University (BA) Columbia University (JD) |
Barbara Lagoa (born November 2, 1967)[1] is an American attorney and jurist serving as aUnited States circuit judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Prior to becoming afederal judge, she was the firstLatina andCuban American woman appointed to serve as a justice of theSupreme Court of Florida.[2][3]
In 2020, Lagoa was a finalist to succeedRuth Bader Ginsburg as anassociate justice of theSupreme Court of the United States, which ultimately went toAmy Coney Barrett.[4][5]
Lagoa was born inMiami, Florida, in 1967.[1][6] Lagoa's parents, Antonio and Araceli Lagoa, wereCuban immigrants who fled Cuba following theCuban Revolution and the assumption of power byFidel Castro.[7] She grew up in the majorityCuban-American city ofHialeah, Florida.[8] She is bilingual inEnglish andSpanish.[9]
Lagoa studiedEnglish literature atFlorida International University, graduating in 1989 with aBachelor of Artscum laude andPhi Kappa Phi membership. She then attendedColumbia Law School, where she was an associate editor of theColumbia Law Review. She graduated with aJuris Doctor in 1992.[8]
After law school, Lagoa returned to Miami and entered private practice at the law firmMorgan, Lewis & Bockius. From 1998 to 2003, Lagoa was an associate atGreenberg Traurig. In 2000, Lagoa was one of a dozen lawyers who mostlypro bono represented the Miami family ofElián González.[10] In 2003, Lagoa became anAssistant United States Attorney for theSouthern District of Florida, working in the Civil, Major Crimes, and Appellate Sections.
Lagoa was appointed to the Third District Court of Appeal by GovernorJeb Bush in June 2006 and became Chief Judge on January 1, 2019.[11][12] On January 9, 2019, she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Florida by GovernorRon DeSantis. She was the first Hispanic woman and the first Cuban-American woman to sit on the Florida Supreme Court.[13] In April 2019, Lagoa wrote for the unanimous court when it found that DeSantis had acted within his authority by suspending SheriffScott Israel for his response to theStoneman Douglas High School shooting.[14][15]
In November 2019, Lagoa participated in oral arguments concerning anadvisory opinion on whether the governor could require felons whom voters had re-enfranchised through2018 Florida Amendment 4 to pay fines before being allowed to vote.[16][17] Lagoa resigned her position when she was appointed to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.[18]
On September 12, 2019, PresidentDonald Trump announced his intent to nominate Lagoa to a seat on theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.[19] She was nominated to the seat being vacated by JudgeStanley Marcus.[20] On October 15, 2019, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[21] On October 16, 2019, a hearing on her nomination was held before theSenate Judiciary Committee.[22] On November 7, 2019, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 18–4 vote.[23] On November 19, 2019, theSenate invokedcloture on her nomination by an 80–15 vote,[24] and on November 20, 2019, her nomination was confirmed by an 80–15 vote.[25] She received her judicial commission on December 6, 2019.[26]
In July 2020, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote directly to Lagoa to urge her torecuse herself from a challenge tofelon disenfranchisement in Florida because of her earlier participation in a related matter on the Florida Supreme Court.[16] Lagoa and her fellow JudgeRobert Luck declined to recuse themselves: "An objective, disinterested lay person, knowing that we asked questions in a different proceeding (advisory vs. case-and-controversy), in a different court (Florida Supreme Court vs. federal court), with different issues (interpreting the state constitution vs. federal constitutional questions), and with different participants (“interested persons” vs. parties), would not reasonably entertain a significant doubt about our impartiality in this case."[27][28] In September 2020, Lagoa joined the majority when theen banc circuit by a 6-4 vote upheld the constitutionality of the law that the Florida legislature had passed, which required re-enfranchised felons to pay all financial obligations, including fines, fees, and restitution before being allowed to vote.[29] Lagoa joined Chief JudgeWilliam H. Pryor Jr.'s majority opinion, joined Pryor's additional concurrence, and authored her own concurrence.[30][31]
In December 2022, Lagoa wrote the en banc court's majority opinion finding that a high school's bathroom policy, which separated bathrooms on the basis of biological sex, does not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment or Title IX.[32] Lagoa separately wrote a special concurrence to "discuss the effect that a departure from a biological understanding of 'sex' under Title IX—i.e., equating 'sex' to 'gender identity' or 'transgender status'—would have on girls’ and women's rights and sports."[32]
On August 21, 2023, Lagoa authored an opinion vacating a district court's preliminary injunction and allowing section 4(a)(1)-(3) of Alabama's Vulnerable Child Compassion and Protection Act to go into effect.[33] Section 4(a)(1)-(3) makes it a crime in Alabama to "engage in or cause" the prescription or administration of puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to individuals under the age of 19 "for the purpose of attempting to alter the appearance of or affirm the minor's perception of his or her gender or sex, if that appearance or perception is inconsistent with the minor's sex." In allowing the law to take effect, Lagoa found it unlikely that the Constitution protects an unenumerated right of parents to treat their children with transitioning medications. She also held that the law does not amount to sex discrimination.
On September 9, 2020, Trump included Lagoa on a list ofpotential nominees to theUnited States Supreme Court.[34] After the death ofRuth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, 2020, Lagoa was mentioned as one of several frontrunners to fill the vacancy created by Ginsburg's death.[35][36][37]
The Washington Post reported that colleagues, friends, and scholars who have followed Lagoa's career describe her as "quiet and collegial, with shrewd political instincts."[38] Her potential nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court was supported by a broad cross-section of Florida Republicans. Lagoa and her husband have built up "years of goodwill... in Florida's legal and political circles."[38] Had she been successfully nominated, she would have been the first Supreme Court justice from Florida.
On September 26, 2020, President Trump nominatedAmy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.[39] Barrett was confirmed in October of that year.
Lagoa is married to lawyer Paul C. Huck Jr., and her father-in-law isUnited States District JudgePaul Huck, aBill Clinton appointee.[8] Lagoa and her husband have three daughters, including a set of twins.[40][38] Lagoa is a practicingRoman Catholic and citedCatholic education as instilling "an abiding faith in God that has grounded me and sustained me through the highs and lows of life."[41]
| Legal offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Justice of theFlorida Supreme Court 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 2019–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
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| National | |
