Aileen Cannon

Aileen Mercedes Cannon (born 1981) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. She was appointed in 2020 by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate. Cannon previously worked for the corporate law firm Gibson Dunn from 2009 to 2012 and was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida from 2013 to 2020. In 2022, Cannon presided over the case of Donald J. Trump v. United States of America. She ordered the U.S. government to pause using materials seized from Trump's private club and residence in its investigation and granted Trump's request for a special master to review the material. The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed and rebuked Cannon after it found she had wrongly exercised jurisdiction over the case. Cannon then dismissed Trump's lawsuit per orders from the Eleventh Circuit. Following Trump's indictment in June 2023, Cannon oversaw a federal criminal case against Trump. Many legal experts, citing her handling of the civil case against Trump, called for her recusal from the case. Under Cannon, the case was considerably delayed from getting to trial, with Cannon granting multiple requests by Trump to extend pre-trial motions. In July 2024, she dismissed the case entirely, ruling that special counsel Jack Smith's appointment was unconstitutional. The ruling was appealed, but the appeal was dropped after Trump became president. Cannon's rulings have received considerable media attention, with many legal experts criticizing her decisions and alleging bias over her handling of Trump's legal cases.