A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in a court battle over a law restricting educators’ use of personal pronouns and titles in schools, in one of a series of challenges to Florida policies targeting LGBTQ people. The challenge alleges the law violates the teachers’ First Amendment rights and runs afoul of a federal civil-rights law.
Florida
DeSantis Signs Off and Drinks Up: You Can Now Buy a 4-Gallon Bottle of Wine in Florida
Under current state law, wine distributors and manufacturers are allowed to sell wine to other distributors and manufacturers in containers of any size, but regular Floridians are prohibited from purchasing wine in containers larger than one gallon. Under the new law (HB 583), wine will be allowed for purchase up to 15 liters, which is 3.963 gallons, according to the legislation.
Disney and Oversight District Settle Lawsuit, Not Quite Ending Company’s Dispute With DeSantis
The deal ends an Orange County circuit-court lawsuit that came amid a feud between DeSantis and Disney over the company’s opposition to a 2022 state law that restricted instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. Disney filed a separate federal lawsuit and appealed after a U.S. district judge in January dismissed that case. The appeal remains pending.
Lawsuit Challenges Constitutionality of Florida Law Restricting Employment for Chinese and Some Others
Two graduate students and a professor on Monday challenged the constitutionality of a 2023 state law that restricts employment of people from China and six other nations at Florida public universities and colleges. The challenge alleges, in part, that the law is unconstitutional because it is trumped by federal immigration laws.
DeSantis Signs Bill Restricting Children’s Social Media Accounts and Inviting Yet Another Lawsuit
With the state preparing for a legal challenge from the tech industry, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a high-profile bill aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms. Paul Renner and other key supporters argue that social-media companies have created addictive platforms that harm children’s mental health and can lead to sexual predators communicating with minors. But critics, including tech-industry groups, argue the bill is unconstitutional and point to courts blocking similar legislation in other states.
Pressure Mounts on DeSantis to Veto Vacation Rental Bill as Flagler County’s Exception Draws Sneers
A growing list of opponents have been inundating Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office with emails and phone calls to veto the vacation-rental bill that, after 10 years’ tries, succeeded in scaling back local regulation of the short-term rental industry–except in Flagler County, which got the favor of an exception thanks to Paul Renner, the house speaker and Palm Coast representative.
DeSantis Signs ‘Live Healthy’ Package Spending $1.5 billion to Bolster Health Care Programs
The plan focuses on retaining and attracting health care workers to the state, creating a loan program for innovative health care projects, establishing behavioral health teaching hospitals, and providing at-home and community-based services to Floridians with disabilities.
Opponents Seeking to Redefine Constitutional Language on ‘Persons’ to Keep Abortion Rights Proposal Off Ballot
With the Florida Supreme Court deciding whether an abortion-rights constitutional amendment should go on the November ballot, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office and abortion opponents are urging justices to consider another part of the state Constitution that they say could apply to “unborn children.” Moody’s office Monday raised the possibility of filing an additional brief about what is described as the “natural persons” provision of the state Constitution.
Florida Spring Break: Come for the Sunshine, Stay for the Measles.
Too many dunderheads are buying what dangerous anti-vaxxers like Ron DeSantis and his pet quack Joseph Ladapo are selling, so the measles virus is roaring back in Florida as the governor basks in a series of retro-reactionary new laws, from the end of the DEI movement in state universities to the ban on local governments’ attempts to treat their workers humanely in the face of climate change–a pair of words disallowed in the governor’s administration.
DeSantis Says Undocumented Immigrants Will ‘Regret’ Coming to Florida as He Signs Harsher Penalties Into Law
One bill doesn’t mention migrants specifically but imposes a mandatory 10-day jail sentence for a third or subsequent conviction for driving without a license or with a license that has been suspended, cancelled, or revoked. Another bumps criminal penalties for people who commit felonies after having been deported and returning to the United States.