COURTS

Over the weekend, 16 million borrowers received a letter from U.S. Secretary of Education, Miguel Cardona, as President Biden’s executive order for student loan forgiveness faces pushback in federal courts.

A Leon County circuit judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a South Florida senator challenging the use of state funds to transport migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, but advised how to revamp the legal complaint so the case can move forward.

A local attorney is representing two Orange County residents who were wrapped up in voter fraud allegations lodged by Gov. Ron DeSantis back in August.

A federal judge has refused to block school districts from carrying out a new state law that restricts instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in classrooms, rejecting arguments by parents, students and a non-profit organization.

A Polk County woman has joined a national class action lawsuit against Hyundai Motor America and Kia America Inc. alleging “blatant breach of public trust” led to a surge in thefts of certain Kia and Hyundai vehicles sold without an engine immobilizer.

Florida leaders expressed a mixture of emotions Thursday after a jury rejected the death penalty and recommended instead a life sentence without parole for Parkland school shooter Nikolas Cruz for killing 17 people in 2018.

A federal judge on Wednesday refused to issue a preliminary injunction to block a new state rule preventing Medicaid reimbursements for gender-affirming treatments for transgender people, saying plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate “irreparable harm.”

A man charged with killing 22 elderly women in the Dallas area over a two-year span was found guilty Friday in one of their deaths.

The families of four young mothers who were killed in crash said they are disappointed after learning the woman they blame for causing the wreck will only spend four years behind bars.

Plaintiffs challenging a Florida law restricting instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation in schools are asking a judge to reverse an order stalling their ability to gather information in the case, arguing that the law is being used throughout the state to “censor any positive or supportive reference to LGBT people.”

An appeals-court judge this week chided Florida health officials for not following up on promises to grant additional medical-marijuana licenses as required by state law, saying potential applicants are “understandably frustrated” and offering a legal playbook for entrepreneurs who have been shut out of the cannabis market for years.

Jury selection began Monday in the first of three criminal trials related to Seminole County’s so-called “ghost candidate” scheme to influence a 2020 Florida senate election.

Prosecutors revealed Friday no further charges would be filed against two men accused of damaging a teen’s car during a confrontation in a Sanford neighborhood back in June.

Heading back to school is exciting for some, but others said this year is different, given the Parental Rights in Education law, deemed by critics the “Don’t Say Gay” law, is now in effect.

An Osceola County man was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for producing and possessing child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

A Seminole County judge was suspended after cursing at a defendant and filing consecutive wrongful contempt orders in two separate cases earlier this year, a recommendation filed Wednesday shows.

A Seminole County judge was recommended for suspension after cursing at a defendant and filing consecutive wrongful contempt orders in two separate cases earlier this year, an inquiry filed Wednesday shows.

A Sumter County man was indicted for first-degree premeditated murder after killing his cellmate in the Coleman Federal Correctional Institution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

A man who told authorities where to find a Florida woman he fatally stabbed in July 2018 was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison nearly four years later, the 7th Circuit State Attorney’s Office said Thursday.

The trial for a man accused of setting fire to the temporary memorial outside the Pulse nightclub has been delayed after a competency hearing.

A Kissimmee man pleaded guilty Tuesday to manufacturing a biological toxin in an attempt to kill his former partner, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced in a news release.

One of three men connected to the shooting death of a victim found laying on a road in New Smyrna Beach back in June 2021 was charged with second-degree murder Monday.

An appeals court Thursday overturned the conviction of a Seminole County JROTC instructor who was arrested in 2018 on allegations of having sex with a student.

Justice James E.C. Perry made history in Florida. Now he says it’s about time history is made in our country’s highest court with the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

A tennis player who trained at the U.S. Tennis Association’s Orlando campus in 2018 has filed a lawsuit against the organization.

Convicted cop killer Markeith Loyd filed to appeal his death sentence last Saturday for the murder of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton in 2017.

A 13-year-old boy, one of two foster children accused of repeatedly shooting at Volusia County deputies back in June 2021, has entered a no contest plea deal Wednesday.

An Orlando police officer is demanding an airline passenger accused of unruly behavior receive, at minimum, a sentence of supervised probation if she enters into a plea deal with prosecutors over an incident that’s become the subject of a viral video.

Convicted cop killer Markeith Loyd gave a letter to Orange County Sheriff John Mina claiming he “never wanted to kill” Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

The state attorney’s office says it will not prosecute a Melbourne police officer who faced a domestic violence charge.

A competency hearing for Markeith Loyd was held ahead of his final sentence in the murder of Orlando police Lt. Debra Clayton.

Recent Florida A&M University Law and Howard University Law students are fighting to change the lack of Black representation in courts across the state.

A man accused of stealing and destroying a Jewish student’s cell phone last weekend during an antisemitic demonstration in Orange County was denied bond in Brevard County Monday.

A Florida man was charged Thursday with human smuggling after the bodies of four people, including a baby and a teen, were found in Canada near the U.S. border in what authorities believe was a failed crossing attempt during a freezing blizzard.

The number of children being charged as adults in Florida’s criminal courts has dropped considerably in the past few years and it’s a trend one local state attorney says should continue.

A group that challenged a Florida Power & Light plan to raise base electric rates is taking the fight to the state Supreme Court.

A Georgia judge ruled to block President Joe Biden’s federal vaccine mandate for all U.S. contractors and subcontractors on Tuesday.

Attorneys in the Markeith Loyd trial were in court Friday discussing how the use of force in Loyd’s arrest will play into the penalty phase of his murder trial, which begins Nov. 29.

Jose Aguiar, the man at the center of a corruption scandal in Palm Bay, has pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy, a third-degree felony.

A federal appeals court Monday rejected a lawsuit alleging that Twitter, Google and Facebook should be held liable in the 2016 massacre at Orlando’s Pulse nightclub after Islamic State social-media posts radicalized shooter Omar Mateen.

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Part one of that began on March 13 when in-person contact was closed to the public and proceedings in-person only happened in emergency or essential situations. Weve done everything within our abilities to ensure that this is a safe space for the public to return for the purpose of court proceedings, Myers said. Court proceedings will be limited initially, and we will define certain types of proceedings that can occur consistent with the Supreme Courts orders. Social distancing and staggered hearing times: Social distancing (six feet between individuals) will be strictly enforced in court, Myers said. Myers said, phases three and four, which lay ahead, have not been fully defined by the Supreme Court except to indicate more access to in-person, in-person court surfaces with relaxed protective measures.

The Alachua County Clerk of the Courts office hosted drive-thru weddings for couples to tie the knot during COVID-19. We figured it might not be the wedding that you planned for, but we wanted to treat you right, he said. Some couples exchanged rings from behind the wheel, while others stood at the window as lovebugs flew around the lovebirds. For the ultimate Vegas wedding surprise, Irby also performed the ceremony as Elvis Presley, if requested. The Carmickals, who have been together for two years, originally planned to get married Friday at the Grand Plaza Hotel on St. Pete Beach.

The Alachua County Clerk of the Courts office hosted drive-thru weddings for couples to tie the knot during COVID-19. We figured it might not be the wedding that you planned for, but we wanted to treat you right, he said. Some couples exchanged rings from behind the wheel, while others stood at the window as lovebugs flew around the lovebirds. For the ultimate Vegas wedding surprise, Irby also performed the ceremony as Elvis Presley, if requested. The Carmickals, who have been together for two years, originally planned to get married Friday at the Grand Plaza Hotel on St. Pete Beach.

The Alachua County Clerk of the Courts office hosted drive-thru weddings for couples to tie the knot during COVID-19. We figured it might not be the wedding that you planned for, but we wanted to treat you right, he said. Some couples exchanged rings from behind the wheel, while others stood at the window as lovebugs flew around the lovebirds. For the ultimate Vegas wedding surprise, Irby also performed the ceremony as Elvis Presley, if requested. The Carmickals, who have been together for two years, originally planned to get married Friday at the Grand Plaza Hotel on St. Pete Beach.

WASHINGTON Statement from Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen on the United States v. Safehouse ruling:The Department is disappointed in the Courts ruling and will take all available steps to pursue further judicial review. Any attempt to open illicit drug injection sites in other jurisdictions while this case is pending will continue to be met with immediate action by the Department.