James Hand and eight other Florida felons challenged the former system for restoring voting rights, alleging that unfettered executive discretion and the absence of processing deadlines violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court granted relief on three claims and permanently enjoined the former system. While the Eleventh Circuit appeal was pending, Florida voters amended the state constitution and the legislature created a new restoration process under which every plaintiff could seek re-enfranchisement. The Eleventh Circuit held that those changes eliminated the live controversy because the court could no longer provide meaningful relief from a system that no longer governed the plaintiffs. It vacated the district court’s merits orders and remanded with instructions to dismiss the case as moot. The court declined to vacate its own earlier stay-panel opinion, reasoning that a stay order was not a merits adjudication and had no res judicata effect.