Constitutional Law Appeals

Cases involving violations of the United States or Florida Constitutions comprise some of the most complex appellate litigation. Constitutional issues in appeals can span an extremely wide range of substantive areas, from First Amendment invocations of free speech or association rights, Second Amendment invocations of a right to bear arms, Fifth Amendment eminent domain issues, and Due Process or Equal Protection rights implicated under the Fifth and/or Fourteenth Amendments.

Constitutional law is a substantive area in itself but it also arises frequently in conjunction with other appellate areas. Many criminal appeals can implicate constitutional rights such as Fourth Amendment search and seizure rights or Sixth Amendment trial-related rights. Civil rights appeals may involve proof of violation of a particular constitutional right under color of state law. Even purely civil appeals in areas like defamation can implicate First Amendment principles.

Constitutional appeals are typically litigated against sophisticated government counsel who frequently encounter these issues, so having appellate counsel experienced in this specialized form of litigation is particularly important.