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Appeals court denies petition for rehearing in Elian Gonzalez case
ATLANTA (CNN) -- The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday declined to hear an appeal filed by Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives seeking an asylum hearing for the 6-year-old Cuban boy. It also appeared that Elian would be eligible to return to Cuba in five days. Seven of the 12 judges at the 11th Circuit had to vote to accept the appeal filed by the Miami relatives. The relatives appealed a June 1 ruling by a three-judge panel at the same court that Elian does not have the right to independently apply for political asylum. A hearing by the full complement of 12 judges is called an "en banc" hearing. Turning to the full 11th Circuit does not take away the Miami family's right to appeal to the Supreme Court. The family has said repeatedly it is prepared to take Elian's case to the nation's highest court. The Supreme Court may or may not decide to take the case.
Legal experts have said the court is unlikely to take the case because the asylum law is clear and two courts -- the 11th Circuit and a Miami federal trial court -- have ruled that the only the father can speak on the boy's behalf on immigration matters. The high court normally takes cases only if there is a dispute in lower court rulings or if the matter at hand is of overwhelming political significance. The U.S. Department of Justice has said it believes the boy could leave sometime next week in the absence of an injunction from the 11th Circuit Court and if the U.S. Supreme Court does not issue an injunction. The Miami relatives, led by Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez, had planned on seeking an order from the 11th Circuit compelling the boy to remain in the United States until the appeals process is over. But Friday's ruling has blocked the attempt. "Any further requests for stays or for injunctive relief should be directed to the Supreme Court," said the ruling, written by Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson. He said the appeals court will not grant any further motions for a stay. The boy is with his father and his stepmother and stepbrother in Washington. Juan Miguel Gonzalez got custody of his son on April 22, after federal agents raided the relatives' home in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood and seized the boy. Juan Miguel Gonzalez came to the United States on April 11 to fetch Elian. The tourism worker has been steadfast in his desire to return to communist Cuba. The relatives' latest appealAfter losing in March at the Miami federal court, Lazaro Gonzalez's lawyers appealed to the 11th Circuit. After losing in front of a three-judge panel, they followed legal procedure and requested last week that all 12 judges hear the case "en banc." The appeal said the INS fell "woefully short" of ensuring that Elian was given due process rights. They also said the three-judge panel did not have to defer to the INS' authority in the matter. Before deciding whether to accept the case, the full 11th Circuit took the unusual step of asking for a response from the government and Juan Miguel Gonzalez, setting a Tuesday deadline. In the response, Juan Miguel Gonzalez said the three-judge panel used "common sense" in ruling that he had the sole right to file for Elian's asylum, a matter that had become embroiled in an "uncommon dispute." Justice Department lawyers urged the court to deny the Miami relatives a hearing. Elian saga backgroundLazaro Gonzalez and the other relatives began taking care of Elian on November 25, when the boy was found clinging to an inner tube off the coast of Florida and taken to Miami.
Elian and his mother were among a group of Cubans attempting to flee Cuba in a boat. The boat capsized. Elian was one of three who survived, but 11 drowned, including Elian's mother. The INS gave the Miami relatives temporary custody of the child while it decided whether he has a right to remain in this country. Juan Miguel Gonzalez demanded his boy back, saying he was kidnapped from Cuba. The Miami relatives said the boy must remain in the U.S. because that is what his mother wanted for her son. The relatives filed political asylum applications on the boy's behalf. The INS rejected asylum, saying because the boy has an involved parent -- Juan Miguel Gonzalez in this case -- only the father could file such an application. The matter became a political battle, with the Clinton administration on one side and the Cuban-Americans on the other. Saying repeated attempts to reunite the boy with his father had failed, Attorney General Janet Reno authorized the controversial April 22 raid. A Miami judge ruled in the government's favor in March, when the boy was living with Lazaro Gonzalez. By the time the three-judge panel in the Atlanta appeals court issued its ruling, Elian was with his father. RELATED STORIES: Justice argument would, in theory, open path that could allow Elian to leave for Cuba RELATED SITES: U.S. Attorney General | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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