Court Opinion

ID: 9915054
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-01-04 16:00:50.744691+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:16:56.578052
License: Public Domain

USCA11 Case: 20-11908     Document: 164-1      Date Filed: 01/04/2024   Page: 1 of 21

                                                     [DO NOT PUBLISH]
                                      In the
                 United States Court of Appeals
                          For the Eleventh Circuit

                            ____________________

                                   No. 20-11908
                             Non-Argument Calendar
                            ____________________

        USHA JAIN,
        Dr.,
        MANOHAR JAIN,
                                                      Plaintiﬀs-Appellants,
        versus
        DONALD MYERS,
        HEATHER HIGBEE,
        JOHN KEST,
        KEVIN WEISS,
        individually and oﬃcial capacity,
        MR. WERT, et al.,
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        2                   Opinion of the Court                 20-11908

                                                   Defendants-Appellees,

        MR. FURBUSH, et al.,

                                                            Defendants.

                          ____________________

                 Appeals from the United States District Court
                      for the Middle District of Florida
                  D.C. Docket No. 6:19-cv-01635-CEM-LRH
                           ____________________

                          ____________________

                                 No. 21-11719
                           Non-Argument Calendar
                          ____________________

        USHA JAIN,
        Dr.,
        MANOHAR JAIN,
                                                    Plaintiﬀs-Appellants,
        versus
        DONALD MYERS,
        HEATHER HIGBEE,
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        20-11908               Opinion of the Court                         3

        JOHN KEST,
        KEVIN WEISS,
        individually and oﬃcial capacity,
        MR. WERT, et al.,

                                                      Defendants-Appellees,

        MR. BARKER, et al.,

                                                                 Defendants.

                             ____________________

                   Appeals from the United States District Court
                         for the Middle District of Florida
                    D.C. Docket Nos. 6:19-cv-01635-CEM-LRH,
                              6:21-cv-00336-CEM-LRH
                             ____________________

        Before JORDAN, LAGOA, and BRASHER, Circuit Judges.
        PER CURIAM:
               Manohar and Usha Jain appeal procedural issues arising out
        of their various removal actions and the associated dismissals and
        remands to state court. Proceeding pro se in these consolidated ap-
        peals, the Jains challenge the district court’s order dismissing their
        42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights complaint against lawyers and state
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        4                       Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

        court judges. The Jains also challenge various post-judgment or-
        ders consolidating and remanding two of their district court cases,
        denying electronic filing access, and imposing a pre-filing injunc-
        tion. On appeal, they argue: (1) the district court erred in dismiss-
        ing their amended complaint without leave to amend, (2) the dis-
        trict court did not have jurisdiction to consolidate two of the cases
        or to enter an endorsed remand order after the initial order had
        been appealed, (3) the district court abused its discretion in consol-
        idating their two district court cases, (4) 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) is un-
        constitutional, (5) the district court erred in denying their motion
        to remove because they were defendants and complied with 28
        U.S.C. § 1443, (6) the endorsed remand order was ineffective be-
        cause it was not written and formally mailed, (7) the district court
        abused its discretion by denying them electronic filing access,
        (8) the district court abused its discretion by issuing a pre-filing in-
        junction, and (9) the district court violated their Seventh Amend-
        ment right to a jury trial by dismissing their complaint.
                The Jains’ arguments fail. Therefore, we affirm the district
        court. Additionally, we deny the appellees’ motion to strike por-
        tions of the Jains’ reply brief and deny as moot the appellees’ alter-
        native motion for leave to file a sur-reply brief about the standing
        arguments. And because we hold below that the Jains forfeited
        their arguments that 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) is unconstitutional, we
        deny as moot the Jains’ motion to certify a question regarding the
        constitutionality of § 1447(c) to the Attorney General of the United
        States.
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        20-11908               Opinion of the Court                         5

                                          I.

               The Jains brought claims related to their dispute with their
        homeowner association in state court, suing the law firm repre-
        senting their neighbors. The law firm moved for sanctions against
        the Jains under state law on frivolousness grounds. A hearing about
        the potential sanctions was planned, but then the Jains filed a fed-
        eral complaint alleging civil rights violations and removed the state
        case to federal court. The district court dismissed the case and re-
        manded the case to state court on February 10, 2020. In accordance
        with 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c), the district court ordered a certified copy
        of the remand order to be mailed to the state court clerk, which the
        state court received and docketed on February 19, 2020. In May
        2020, the Jains filed a timely notice of appeal from the February 10,
        2020, order dismissing the case and numerous post-judgment or-
        ders.
                COVID-19 caused delays, and the state court hearing was
        delayed until it was set for February 19, 2021. But before that state
        court hearing could take place, the Jains tried to remove the case
        to federal court two more times. On February 2, 2021, the Jains
        filed a new complaint in federal court and removed the state case
        for a second time. On February 10, 2021, the federal district court
        remanded the plaintiffs’ case to state court because the removal
        was in the wrong venue, untimely, and insufficient to invoke 28
        U.S.C. § 1443’s removal provisions; and the federal district court
        ordered the clerk of the federal court to send a certified copy of the
        remand order by mail to the state court clerk in accordance with
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        6                       Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

        28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). On February 18, 2021, the state court received
        that mailing in which the federal district court warned the Jains to
        not baselessly remove the case to federal court again.
               But on that same day, the plaintiffs filed a third complaint
        and removed the case to federal court again even though nothing
        had changed since the previous remand. By this date, the plaintiff
        and defendants had already been litigating the substantive claims
        in state court. The state court commenced a planned hearing at
        9:05 A.M. on February 19, 2021, with all parties present but re-
        cessed the hearing after the plaintiffs informed the state court of
        the last-minute removal. Later that morning, the federal district
        court consolidated the cases associated with the first and third com-
        plaints, ordered the consolidated case remanded to state court (the
        relevant remand order for their related claims on appeal), and in-
        formed the state court of its remand order. Next, the state court
        informed the plaintiffs that the case had been remanded to state
        court; and, although the plaintiffs refused to participate at this point
        in the day, the state court proceeded with their full knowledge. The
        Jains were unsatisfied with the results. They again attempted to re-
        move the case to federal court on February 22, 2021, and were
        again rebuffed by the federal court. The Jains appealed, and we con-
        solidated their appeals.
                                          II.

               First, we address whether the district court erred in dismiss-
        ing the plaintiffs’ amended complaint without leave to amend. We
        review de novo the dismissal of a complaint for failure to state a
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        20-11908                Opinion of the Court                          7

        claim. See Glover v. Liggett Grp., Inc., 459 F.3d 1304, 1308 (11th Cir.
        2006) (citing Hill v. White, 321 F.3d 1334, 1335 (11th Cir. 2003)). We
        accept factual allegations in the complaint as true and construe
        them in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. See id. (citing Hill,
        321 F.3d at 1335). Though pro se parties are held to a less stringent
        pleading standard than represented parties, they still must plead
        “some factual support for a claim.” Jones v. Fla. Parole Comm’n, 787
        F.3d 1105, 1107 (11th Cir. 2015). When a more carefully drafted
        complaint might state a viable claim, a pro se plaintiff must be given
        at least one chance to amend a complaint before a district court
        dismisses the action with prejudice. See Silberman v. Miami Dade
        Transit, 927 F.3d 1123, 1132 (11th Cir. 2019) (quoting Woldeab v.
        Dekalb Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 885 F.3d 1289, 1291 (11th Cir. 2018)). But
        a court need not grant leave to amend the complaint if further
        amendment would be futile. See id. at 1133 (quoting Woldeab, 885
        F.3d at 1291). “Leave to amend a complaint is futile when the com-
        plaint as amended would still be properly dismissed.” Id. (quoting
        Cockrell v. Sparks, 510 F.3d 1307, 1310 (11th Cir. 2007)).
                Section 1983 provides a cause of action by private citizens
        against government actors for violating their constitutional rights
        and other federal laws. See 42 U.S.C. § 1983. The challenged con-
        duct must have (1) deprived the plaintiff of a right secured by the
        Constitution or laws of the United States and (2) been committed
        by a person acting under color of state law. See Focus on the Family
        v. Pinellas Suncoast Transit Auth., 344 F.3d 1263, 1276–77 (11th Cir.
        2003). A private party will be viewed as a state actor for § 1983 pur-
        poses only in rare circumstances. See Rayburn ex rel. Rayburn v.
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        8                      Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

        Hogue, 241 F.3d 1341, 1347 (11th Cir. 2001) (quoting Harvey v. Har-
        vey, 949 F.2d 1127, 1130 (11th Cir. 1992)). To conclude that private
        parties are state actors, a court must conclude that (1) “the [s]tate
        has coerced or at least significantly encouraged the action alleged
        to violate the Constitution” (the “state compulsion test”), id.;
        (2) “the private parties performed a public function that was tradi-
        tionally the exclusive prerogative of the [s]tate” (the “public func-
        tion test”), id.; or (3) the state was in such “a position of interde-
        pendence with the [private parties] that it was a joint participant in
        the enterprise[]” (the nexus or joint action test), id. (alterations in
        original) (quoting NBC, Inc. v. Commc’ns Workers of Am., 860 F.2d
        1022, 1026–27 (11th Cir. 1988)).
               There are two sued parties here: lawyers and state court
        judges. “[A] lawyer representing a client is not, by virtue of being
        an officer of the court, a state actor under color of state law within
        the meaning of § 1983.” Polk County v. Dodson, 454 U.S. 312, 318
        (1981) (quotation marks omitted). Moreover, a plaintiff must plead
        a § 1983 conspiracy claim with particularity describing the nature
        of the conspiracy, not just claim that one existed. See Fullman v.
        Graddick, 739 F.2d 553, 556–57, 561 (11th Cir. 1984). Therefore, the
        lawyers sued here are not state actors; and the Jains have not come
        close to pleading, and cannot plead, facts that could support a via-
        ble conspiracy claim under § 1983.
               Judges enjoy absolute judicial immunity from damages for
        acts taken in their judicial capacity as long as they did not act “in
        the clear absence of all jurisdiction.” Sibley v. Lando, 437 F.3d 1067,
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        20-11908                Opinion of the Court                            9

        1070 (11th Cir. 2005) (quotation marks omitted) (quoting Bolin v.
        Story, 225 F.3d 1234, 1239 (11th Cir. 2000)). Absolute judicial “im-
        munity applies even when the judge’s acts are in error, malicious,
        or were in excess of his or her jurisdiction.” Id. (quoting Bolin, 225
        F.3d at 1239). Whether a judge’s actions were done in his judicial
        capacity depends on whether “(1) the act complained of consti-
        tuted a normal judicial function[,] (2) the events occurred in the
        judge’s chambers or in open court[,] (3) the controversy involved a
        case pending before the judge[,] and (4) the confrontation arose im-
        mediately out of a visit to the judge in his judicial capacity.” Id. (cit-
        ing Scott v. Hayes, 719 F.2d 1562, 1565 (11th Cir. 1983)). Here, the
        judges sued were acting in their official capacity governing a state
        court case over which they had jurisdiction, giving them absolute
        judicial immunity.
               Thus, amendment would have been futile given that each of
        the defendants was either a lawyer who was not a state actor or a
        state judge entitled to judicial immunity. Therefore, the district
        court did not err in dismissing the Jains’ complaint without leave
        to amend.
                                           III.

               Second, we address whether the district court had jurisdic-
        tion to consolidate two of the cases and to enter an endorsed re-
        mand order after the initial order had been appealed. We review de
        novo whether the district court had jurisdiction over a matter while
        an order is pending on appeal. See United States v. Tovar-Rico, 61
        F.3d 1529, 1532 (11th Cir. 1995) (citing Mars v. Mounts, 895 F.2d
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         10                     Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

         1348, 1351 (11th Cir. 1990)). The filing of a notice of appeal nor-
         mally divests the district court of authority to proceed with respect
         to any matters involved in the appeal. See Johnson v. 3M Co., 55 F.4th
         1304, 1309 (11th Cir. 2022) (quoting Griggs v. Provident Consumer
         Disc. Co., 459 U.S. 56, 58 (1982)). However, the district court is not
         divested of jurisdiction to address matters that do not affect the
         questions or claims presented on appeal. See id. Here, the argument
         is that the district court did not have jurisdiction to consolidate the
         case with the first complaint, which had a notice of appeal filed,
         with the case associated with the third complaint or to issue the
         endorsed remand order. But the consolidation did not completely
         merge the two cases and did not affect the issues already on appeal
         in the first case. The endorsed remand order consolidated the orig-
         inal case with the removal case, which alleged new violations of
         the Jains’ civil rights based on a newly assigned judge and granted
         remand as to the Jains’ new request for removal in the original case
         alleging new violations of discrimination in state court. These ac-
         tions do not impact what was already on appeal. Therefore, the
         district court had jurisdiction to consolidate the cases and issue the
         endorsed remand order because the new request for removal in-
         volved new allegations of discrimination unrelated to the pending
         appeal.
                                          IV.

                Third, we address whether the district court abused its dis-
         cretion in consolidating two of the plaintiffs’ district court cases.
         We review a district court’s ruling on whether consolidation is
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         20-11908                Opinion of the Court                         11

         appropriate for an abuse of discretion. See Hargett v. Valley Fed. Sav.
         Bank, 60 F.3d 754, 760 (11th Cir. 1995) (citing generally Whiteman
         v. Pitrie, 220 F.2d 914 (5th Cir. 1955); Dupont v. S. Pac. Co., 366 F.2d
         193 (5th Cir. 1966); Alley v. Chrysler Credit Corp., 767 F.2d 138 (5th
         Cir. 1985)). Thus, we must affirm unless we determine that the dis-
         trict court has made a clear error of judgment or has applied an
         incorrect legal standard. See Cook ex rel. Est. of Tessier v. Sheriff of
         Monroe Cnty., 402 F.3d 1092, 1104 (11th Cir. 2005) (quoting United
         States v. Frazier, 387 F.3d 1244, 1259 (11th Cir. 2004)).
                Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 42 permits a federal court to
         consolidate actions before it if they involve a common question of
         law or fact. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 42(a)(2). We have encouraged trial
         judges to use Rule 42(a) to eliminate unnecessary repetition and
         confusion. See Hendrix v. Raybestos-Manhattan, Inc., 776 F.2d 1492,
         1495 (11th Cir. 1985) (quoting Dupont, 366 F.2d at 195). This is a
         discretionary decision; but in exercising its discretion, the court
         must consider (1) whether the specific risks of prejudice and confu-
         sion are overborne by the risk of inconsistent adjudications of com-
         mon factual and legal issues; (2) the burden on parties, witnesses,
         and available judicial resources posed by multiple lawsuits; (3) the
         length of time required to conclude multiple suits compared to a
         single one; and (4) the relative expense of all concerned. See id.
         (quoting Arnold v. E. Air Lines, Inc., 681 F.2d 186, 193 (4th Cir.
         1982)).
                Here, the district court did not abuse its discretion in consol-
         idating the two district court cases because they involved a
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         12                      Opinion of the Court                   20-11908

         common question of law and fact regarding removal, and consoli-
         dation avoided unnecessary repetition and confusion.
                                            V.

                 Fourth, we dispose of the Jains’ argument that 28 U.S.C.
         § 1447(c) is unconstitutional. We review de novo the constitutional-
         ity of a statute. See Ranch House, Inc. v. Amerson, 238 F.3d 1273, 1277
         (11th Cir. 2001). Generally, we will not consider an issue not raised
         in the district court. See Access Now, Inc. v. Sw. Airlines Co., 385 F.3d
         1324, 1331 (11th Cir. 2004). But we may exercise our discretion to
         consider a forfeited issue if, among other reasons, the proper reso-
         lution is beyond any doubt. See id. at 1332. Here, the Jains did not
         raise a constitutional argument about 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) below,
         and we see no reason to exercise our discretion to address this issue
         for the first time on appeal. Therefore, we decline to address the
         merits of the Jains’ argument that 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) is unconstitu-
         tional because they forfeited that argument by failing to raise the
         issue below.
                                           VI.

                Fifth, we dispose of the Jains’ argument that the district
         court erred in denying their motion to remove because they were
         defendants and complied with 28 U.S.C. § 1443. We review de novo
         a decision to remand a case to state court for lack of subject matter
         jurisdiction. See Spencer v. Specialty Foundry Prods. Inc., 953 F.3d 735,
         739 (11th Cir. 2020) (citing Lowery v. Ala. Power Co., 483 F.3d 1184,
         1194 (11th Cir. 2007)). When an appellant fails to challenge every
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         20-11908                Opinion of the Court                         13

         stated ground for a judgment that is based on multiple independent
         grounds, he is deemed to have abandoned that challenge, which
         results in the judgment being affirmed. See Sapuppo v. Allstate Flo-
         ridian Ins. Co., 739 F.3d 678, 680 (11th Cir. 2014) (citing Little v. T-
         Mobile USA, Inc., 691 F.3d 1302, 1306 (11th Cir. 2012)). But if an is-
         sue is abandoned because it is not raised in the initial brief on ap-
         peal, we deem that issue forfeited. See United States v. Campbell, 26
         F.4th 860, 871–73 (11th Cir. 2022) (en banc). It is solely within our
         discretion whether we address such an issue, but “the issue may be
         raised by the court sua sponte in extraordinary circumstances after
         finding that one of our Access Now forfeiture exceptions applies.” Id.
         at 873 (citing generally Access Now, Inc. v. Sw. Airlines Co., 385 F.3d
         1324 (11th Cir. 2004)).
                 Ordinarily, we lack jurisdiction to review an order remand-
         ing a case to state court; but when a case is removed pursuant to
         28 U.S.C. § 1442 or 28 U.S.C. § 1443, we may review the remand
         order. See 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d). Section 1443 permits a defendant in
         a state civil action to remove the action to federal court if the action
         is (1) against a person who is denied or cannot enforce in the state
         courts “a right under any law providing for the equal civil rights of
         citizens of the United States” or (2) “[f]or any act under color of
         authority derived from any law providing for equal rights, or for
         refusing to do any act on the ground that it would be inconsistent
         with such law.” Id. § 1443. A defendant must file a notice of re-
         moval no later than 30 days after receipt of a copy of the initial re-
         movable pleading. 28 U.S.C. § 1446(b)(1).
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         14                      Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

                Here, the Jains argue that the district court erred in denying
         their motion to remove because they were defendants and com-
         plied with 28 U.S.C. § 1443. But the Jains did not challenge the in-
         dependent ground that they had not removed the action in a timely
         manner and had missed the deadline. We see no reason to resurrect
         this forfeited argument. Therefore, we need not address whether
         the Jains were defendants or whether removal was proper under
         § 1443 because we may—and do—affirm based on the unchal-
         lenged independent ground that their removal attempts were un-
         timely.
                                          VII.

                 Sixth, we now turn to the Jains’ argument that the endorsed
         remand order was ineffective because it was not written and for-
         mally mailed. We interpret federal statutes de novo. See Burlison v.
         McDonald’s Corp., 455 F.3d 1242, 1245 (11th Cir. 2006) (citing United
         States v. Trainor, 376 F.3d 1325, 1330 (11th Cir. 2004)). 28 U.S.C.
         § 1447(c) sets forth the procedure after removal and states that “[a]
         certified copy of the order of remand shall be mailed by the clerk
         to the clerk of the State court. The State court may thereupon pro-
         ceed with such case.” 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c).
                In Johnson v. Estelle, the district court orally remanded a crim-
         inal case to state court; and two days later the defendant was con-
         victed of burglary in state court. See 625 F.2d 75, 76–77 (5th Cir.
         1980). The Fifth Circuit—whose decisions rendered prior to Octo-
         ber 1, 1981, we have adopted as binding precedent, see Bonner v.
         City of Pritchard, 661 F.2d 1206, 1207 (11th Cir. 1981) (en banc)—
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         20-11908               Opinion of the Court                         15

         stated that § 1447(c)’s mailing requirement posed a potential prob-
         lem because there was no evidence the remand order had been
         written until over a month later or when, if ever, it was mailed to
         the state court. See Johnson, 625 F.2d at 77–78. It noted that the or-
         der was backdated to the day of the announcement of remand. See
         id. at 78. The Fifth Circuit concluded that “substance must control
         form” and noted that both parties received notice of the remand
         and tried the burglary case without objection. Id. It concluded that
         the announcement in open court coupled with a backdated order
         complied with the statute and vested jurisdiction in the state court,
         even though there was no evidence it was ever mailed. See id.
                In Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Feliciano, 140 S.
         Ct. 696 (2020), the Supreme Court held that a Puerto Rican court
         lacked jurisdiction to issue orders during the time between the fed-
         eral district court’s dismissal of the case and its remand to the
         Puerto Rican court five months later. See id. at 699–700. The Su-
         preme Court held that the district court’s later order making the
         remand order effective as of the earlier date of the action’s dismissal
         did not change the fact that nothing happened to remand the case
         on that earlier date. See id. at 700–01. Moreover, it held that the
         case remained in federal court until the district court reached a de-
         cision about the motion to remand that was pending before it and
         the state court’s actions in the interim were void. See id. at 701.
                 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan is distinguishable from
         our earlier precedent in Johnson because Roman Catholic Archdiocese
         of San Juan involved a situation in which there was not any remand
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         16                      Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

         order when the Puerto Rican court acted—meaning the Puerto Ri-
         can court still lacked jurisdiction. On the contrary, Johnson ad-
         dressed an oral remand order—meaning there was no jurisdic-
         tional problem. Here, under Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan
         and Johnson, the endorsed remand order was effective for jurisdic-
         tional purposes when the order was entered on the federal district
         court docket—thereby vesting the state court with jurisdiction.
                 Having determined that the state court had jurisdiction, we
         must still evaluate whether there was a statutory problem under 28
         U.S.C. § 1447(c). Section 1447(c) requires that a federal clerk mail a
         certified copy of the order of remand to the clerk of the state court.
         See 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c). Our case law instructs us to place substance
         over form in analyzing compliance with this statutory require-
         ment. See Johnson, 625 F.2d at 78 (“[S]ubstance must control
         form.”).
                We will start with the sequence of events in this specific
         case. The plaintiffs had baselessly removed an earlier action to fed-
         eral court and were remanded to state court. Then, after a removal
         in this case—the Jains’ second removal in these various legal ac-
         tions—on February 10, 2021, the federal district court remanded
         the plaintiffs’ case to state court and ordered the clerk of the federal
         court to send a certified copy of the remand order by mail to the
         state court clerk in accordance with § 1447(c). The state court re-
         ceived that document on February 18, 2021. In that document, the
         federal district court warned the Jains to not baselessly remove the
         case to federal court again. But also on February 18, 2021, as a delay
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         20-11908               Opinion of the Court                         17

         tactic, the plaintiffs removed the case to federal court again, despite
         no change in circumstances since the previous remand.
                 By this time, the plaintiff and defendants had already been
         litigating the substantive claims in state court. The state court com-
         menced its planned hearing at 9:05 A.M. on February 19, 2021, with
         all parties present but recessed the hearing after the plaintiffs in-
         formed the state court of the last-minute removal. Shortly thereaf-
         ter, the federal district court ordered the case remanded to state
         court again, vesting the state court with jurisdiction. See Roman
         Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan, 140 S. Ct. at 701. Then the federal
         district court informed the state court of its remand order. Next,
         the state court informed the plaintiffs that the case had been re-
         manded to state court and proceeded with their full knowledge, so
         there was no notice problem. Moreover, because they had already
         litigated the issues in state court in their filings before this point,
         there was no due process problem with proceeding in their absence
         after they refused to participate in the hearing after the morning
         recess.
                 Under these facts and our binding case law requiring us to
         consider substance over form with this statutory provision, the
         statutory requirement was satisfied. A contrary result would be un-
         tenable: it would allow plaintiffs to baselessly remove cases repeat-
         edly—despite having been remanded to state court already with a
         certified copy sent by mail—to avoid decisions in their state cases.
         The federal court satisfied the substance of Section 1447(c) by
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         18                     Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

         giving the state court and parties notice of its second remand in this
         action.
                                         VIII.

                 Seventh, we review the district court’s decision to deny the
         Jains from having electronic filing access. We “review a district
         court’s application of local rules for an abuse of discretion.” Mann
         v. Taser Int’l, Inc., 588 F.3d 1291, 1302 (11th Cir. 2009). “We give
         ‘great deference to a district court’s interpretation of its local
         rules.’” Id. (quoting Clark v. Hous. Auth. of Alma, 971 F.2d 723, 727
         (11th Cir. 1992)). The appellant bears the burden of showing that
         the district court made a clear error of judgment. See id. The Middle
         District of Florida allows the court to prescribe by administrative
         order procedures governing electronic filing. See M.D. Fla.
         R. 1.01(c). The Middle District of Florida’s administrative proce-
         dures governing electronic filing state that a pro se litigant is not
         permitted to file documents on CM/ECF without a court order.
         See M.D. Fla., “Administrative Procedures for Electronic Filing”
         (rev. effective Dec. 1, 2022), at B.5. This was the rule at the time of
         the district court’s actions as well. Here, the district court did not
         abuse its discretion in denying the Jains’ motions for electronic fil-
         ing access because it followed its local rules prohibiting pro se liti-
         gants from filing electronically and found that the plaintiffs had not
         established a special circumstance to receive an exemption from
         the default rule.
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         20-11908               Opinion of the Court                        19

                                          IX.

                 Eighth, we address the district court’s pre-filing injunction
         against the Jains. We review a pre-filing injunction against litigants
         for an abuse of discretion. See Miller v. Donald, 541 F.3d 1091, 1096
         (11th Cir. 2008) (citing Klay v. United Healthgroup, Inc., 376 F.3d
         1092, 1096 (11th Cir. 2004)). District courts possess the power to
         issue pre-filing injunctions “to protect against abusive and vexa-
         tious litigation.” Martin-Trigona v. Shaw, 986 F.2d 1384, 1387 (11th
         Cir. 1993). We have explained that a “court has a responsibility to
         prevent single litigants from unnecessarily encroaching on the ju-
         dicial machinery needed by others” and that a litigant “can be se-
         verely restricted as to what he may file and how he must behave in
         his applications for judicial relief.” Procup v. Strickland, 792 F.2d
         1069, 1074 (11th Cir. 1986) (en banc). “The only restriction . . . is
         that a litigant cannot be ‘completely foreclosed from any access to
         the court.’” Martin-Trigona, 986 F.2d at 1387. We have emphasized
         that “[c]onsiderable discretion necessarily is reposed in the district
         court” in crafting such an injunction. Id. (alteration in original)
         (quoting Procup, 792 F.2d at 1074). Before entering or modifying an
         injunction, the court is required to provide a litigant with notice
         and the opportunity to be heard. See Doe, 1-13 ex rel. Doe Sr. No’s 1-
         13 v. Bush, 261 F.3d 1037, 1063–64 (11th Cir. 2001).
                Here, the district court did not abuse its discretion in grant-
         ing a pre-filing injunction because the Jains had filed numerous friv-
         olous post-judgment motions and because the district court’s re-
         quirement that the Jains receive approval from the magistrate
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         20                     Opinion of the Court                  20-11908

         judge to file future filings did not completely foreclose access to the
         court. Additionally, the district court provided the Jains with due
         process before imposing the pre-filing injunction by giving them
         notice of the possibility of sanctions and the opportunity to respond
         to the show cause order.
                                           X.

                 Ninth, we address whether the district court violated the
         Jains’ Seventh Amendment rights to a jury trial by dismissing their
         initial complaint. The Seventh Amendment provides that “[i]n
         [s]uits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed
         twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved.” U.S.
         Const. amend. VII. A “district court does not intrude on the consti-
         tutional role of the jury when it considers whether a complaint [or
         individual claim] fails as a matter of law” before trial. Jefferson v.
         Sewon Am., Inc., 891 F.3d 911, 920 (11th Cir. 2018) (stating that sum-
         mary judgment does not violate the Seventh Amendment). Here,
         the district court did not violate the Seventh Amendment by dis-
         missing the Jains’ amended complaint without a jury trial because
         dismissing a complaint before trial for failure to state a claim does
         not violate the Seventh Amendment.
                                          XI.

                Finally, we address two procedural points.
                First, the appellees moved to strike portions of the Jains’ re-
         ply brief that had discussed the appellees’ standing and moved in
         the alternative for leave to file a sur-reply brief. We must satisfy
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         20-11908                Opinion of the Court                         21

         ourselves that there is standing. See Va. House of Delegates v. Be-
         thune-Hill, 139 S. Ct. 1945, 1951 (2019). Thus, although arguments
         for standing that first appear in a reply brief would be forfeited, we
         will not strike arguments for lack of standing even though they first
         appear in a reply brief. See id. The standing issue is clear-cut. The
         judicial appellees are not required to have standing to respond in
         this appeal because they did not seek appellate review and are not
         challenging any action taken by the district court. See id. (quoting
         Arizonans for Official English v. Arizona, 520 U.S. 43, 64 (1997)). They
         are merely filing a response brief to the Jains’ arguments. Thus, alt-
         hough we must address arguments about a lack of standing, the
         Jains’ standing arguments fail. Consequently, we DENY the appel-
         lees’ motion to strike portions of the Jains’ reply brief and DENY
         as moot the appellees’ alternative motion for leave to file a sur-re-
         ply brief about the standing arguments.
                Second, because we hold that the Jains’ forfeited their argu-
         ments that 28 U.S.C. § 1447(c) is unconstitutional, we DENY as
         moot the Jains’ motion to certify a question regarding the constitu-
         tionality of § 1447(c) to the Attorney General of the United States.
                Based on the foregoing analysis, we AFFIRM.