Category: In The Courts

A federal appeals court Thursday cleared the way for eight South Florida hospitals to pursue a lawsuit against a health insurer in a dispute about payments for emergency-room care. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district judge’s summary-judgment…

Read More Florida Hospital Payments Lawsuit Gets Go-Ahead

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a major elections bill Wednesday, legal battles immediately began about new restrictions on voter-registration groups. Organizations such as the League of Women Voters of Florida, the NAACP and Hispanic Federation filed three federal lawsuits arguing that the restrictions violate…

Read More Florida Elections Bill Draws First Amendment Challenges In 3 Lawsuits

Pointing to the state’s “stand your ground” self-defense law, an appeals court Wednesday said a South Florida man should be shielded from an aggravated-assault charge stemming from a confrontation with a tree-cutting crew. Richard Burns was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after…

Read More Florida Man Shielded By ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law In Tree-Cutting Crew Gun Case

In what could be a first-of-its-kind case in Florida, an appeals court Wednesday tossed out the conviction of a treatment-facility employee who had been found guilty of sexual misconduct with a woman who admitted herself for detox treatment. A three-judge panel of the 4th District…

Read More Conviction Overturned In Florida ‘Treatment Facility’ Sexual Misconduct Case

Voting-rights groups want a full federal appeals court to take up a fight about whether a 2021 Florida elections law made changes that discriminated against Black voters. Attorneys for the Florida NAACP and Florida Rising Together filed a 41-page petition last week asking the full…

Read More Court Urged To Hear Florida Elections Law Fight

Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Judge Meredith Sasso to the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday. Judge Sasso is currently the Chief Judge at the Florida Sixth District Court of Appeal, located in Lakeland. She is the fourth woman and, as a Cuban-American, the fourth Hispanic justice…

Read More Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Judge Meredith Sasso To Florida Supreme Court

After a series of similar rulings, an appeals court has rejected a potential class-action lawsuit that students filed against Florida International University because of a campus shutdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Named plaintiffs Rebecca Alexandre and Sarah Fagundez alleged a breach of contract because…

Read More Court Rejects Lawsuit Over Florida International University COVID-19 Shutdown

A free-speech organization, a major book publisher, authors, and parents of schoolchildren filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday alleging that a Florida school district violated the First Amendment by removing or restricting access to more than 150 library books. The lawsuit, filed in Pensacola, argued that…

Read More Lawsuit Targets Florida School District’s Book Removal

The Legislature on Tuesday formally sent a bill to Gov. Ron DeSantis that seeks to curb lawsuits over insurance claims for windshield damage. Lawmakers passed the bill (SB 1002) during the legislative session that ended May 5 after lobbying from the auto insurance industry. The…

Read More Florida Gov. DeSantis Gets Windshield Lawsuit Crackdown

A federal judge late Monday refused to put on hold a ruling that blocked a new Biden administration immigration policy challenged by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody. Pensacola-based U.S. District Judge T. Kent Wetherell denied a motion by U.S. Department of Justice attorneys for a…

Read More Judge Agrees With Florida AG Moody, Keeps Block Of Biden Admin Immigration Policy In Place