FLORIDA SUPREME COURT

Lawyers for abortion clinics and a doctor want the Florida Supreme Court to review an appellate-court decision that allowed a new 15-week limit on abortions...

Are cops victims in incidents where they hurt someone? (No, of course not.)

Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, and country-music legends The Bellamy Brothers are backing a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana by people 21 or older.

Trulieve, the state’s largest medical-marijuana operator, and country-music legends The Bellamy Brothers are backing a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational use of marijuana...

Trulieve and country-music legends The Bellamy Brothers are backing a proposed constitutional amendment allowing recreational pot.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed a new justice to the Florida Supreme Court — one he tried to appoint in 2020.

When voters go to the polls in August and November, they may notice a change in their congressional candidates and districts.

A split state appeals court has refused to reinstate a temporary injunction blocking enforcement of Florida’s new 15-week abortion ban.

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference in Putnam County on Thursday, according to a news release.

A new Florida law preventing abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy will remain in effect while a legal battle plays out. Leon County Circuit Judge...

You mean to tell us 'state's rights' was a smokescreen this whole time?

Ruling that a new Florida law placing a 15-week limit on abortions violates a privacy clause in the state Constitution, a Leon County circuit judge...

VIDEO: Central Florida judge facing suspension for being threatening, using profanity Central Florida judge facing suspension for being threatening, using profanitySEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Sarcastic, undignified and unprofessional. That is how the Judicial Qualifications Commission described a Seminole County judge now facing suspension. In a video provided by the Florida Supreme Court, Judge Wayne Culver can be seen swearing at a defendant who was also acting out. In the second incident, the judge is accused of not only using profanity, but also being threatening. READ: Ketanji Brown Jackson sworn in as Supreme Court justiceThe court said Culver has cooperated fully, accepted full responsibility and acknowledged that such conduct should have never occurred.

Leon County Circuit Judge John C. Cooper said the new 15-week abortion ban, signed in April by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, violates Florida’s constitution.

Palm Beach Circuit Judge Renatha Francis is in the certified list of nominees to fill in a Florida Supreme Court vacancy.

While legal challenges to the DeSantis map remain, the decision by the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denying a request by voting rights groups to rule on the issue soon means the the map favored by the governor will be in place for the June 17 deadline for candidates to qualify.

VIDEO: Redistricted map ruled unconstitutional will still be used in November midterm election Redistricted map ruled unconstitutional will still be used in November midterm electionTALLAHASSEE, Fla. — It has been ruled unconstitutional because it targets Black voters in North and Central Florida, but the congressional map drawn by Gov. On Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court decided not to take up the map before the midterms, meaning DeSantis’ map will have to be used. READ: Tropical disturbance remains disorganized near Cuba, could bring heavy rain to FloridaAll sides agree the map will end up before the Florida Supreme Court. Rick Scott and elevated by DeSantis, ruled that DeSantis’ congressional map violated the state constitution for breaking up Black opportunity districts. She notes that the court’s decision not to act means voters will be stuck with a map that’s already been ruled unconstitutional.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined to jump into a congressional redistricting fight, leaving in place a lower-court decision that would clear the way for using a controversial plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature.

Judge Sasso is a member of the American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network and the ultra-conservative Federalist Society.

The judge is fined and suspended for acting as an attorney for her son following his arrest in a shooting incident.

Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson will retire at the end of August.

DeSantis went to church to sign a 15-week abortion ban into law during a ceremony bearing many of the accoutrements of a worship service.

But the decision effectively let stand a September ruling by the 2nd District Court of Appeal. That ruling said the school board violated the open-government law because the public was shut out of meetings of the committees. Under a school board policy, the district superintendent was required to establish committees that evaluated textbooks and submitted reports that the board used in approving instructional materials. Also, the school board could not “select a textbook on its own if it disagrees with a textbook committee’s evaluation,” the appeals court said. “Therefore, we conclude that the textbook committees have been delegated decision-making authority, that the Sunshine Law applies to meetings of the textbook committees, and that those meetings must be open to the public with reasonable notice provided.” The school board took the case to the Supreme Court in November.

VOLUISA COUNTY, Fla. — A deputy who uses deadly force while performing official duties should never be categorized as a victim under Marsy’s Law, the Volusia County Sheriff told the Florida Supreme Court. But Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood doesn’t agree. He filed a brief with the Florida Supreme Court just days before a deadly shooting inolving an officer in Winter Park last month. He filed the brief asking the court find that a law enforcement officer who uses deadly force not be allowed to be a victim under Marsy’s Law. There is no word yet when the Florida Supreme Court will make a decision.

ORLANDO, Fla. — Nineteen new licenses will soon be up for grabs to grow, cultivate and distribute medical marijuana in Florida. 9 Investigates why only one license will go to a Black farmer, today at 5pm on Channel 9 Eyewitness News. Read: Florida Supreme Court upholds state medical marijuana rulesClick here to download the free WFTV news and weather apps, click here to download the WFTV Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live. Read: Black farmers face uphill battle in bid to grow medical marijuana©2022 Cox Media Group

Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood received approval Monday from the Florida Supreme Court to file a friend-of-the-court brief arguing that a 2018 constitutional amendment known as “Marsy’s Law” should not apply to law-enforcement officers.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday denied a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis for an advisory opinion about his proposal to revamp a sprawling North...

The Florida Supreme Court told DeSantis on Thursday, Feb. 9, it will not answer his question on whether a Black congressman's district is unconstitutional. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File) (Rebecca Blackwell)TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — (AP) — The Florida Supreme Court told Republican Gov. DeSantis has interjected himself into the once-a-decade process of drawing new congressional maps, something highly unusual for a governor to do. After submitting his map, DeSantis asked the Supreme Court if Lawson's district is unconstitutional. The current district in Palm Beach and Broward counties is about 50% African American, but the DeSantis map extends it to Florida's southwest Gulf coast, which tends to vote Republican.

Gov. Ron DeSantis sought an advisory opinion on his proposal to revamp a sprawling North Florida congressional district.

On Thursday, the Supreme Court denied Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request for an advisory opinion on the Congressional redistricting maps proposed by the Florida Legislature and himself.

The Florida Supreme Court is telling Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis it will not answer his question on whether a Black congressman’s district is unconstitutional.

The Florida Supreme Court told Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday it will not answer his question on whether a Black congressman's district is unconstitutional. DeSantis has interjected himself into the once-a-decade process of drawing new congressional maps, something highly unusual for a governor to do. The House and Senate have considered maps that largely left Democratic U.S. Rep. Al Lawson's district intact, but DeSantis is pushing a map that would make his district lean Republican.

New maps likely to keep Republicans in power into the 2030s

The Florida House voted along party lines to approve a redistricting plan for itself amid uncertainty over congressional redistricting.

The Florida Supreme Court is considering a proposal that would allow Death Row inmates to represent themselves in certain court proceedings.

Longtime Florida Supreme Court spokesman Craig Waters, who became the court’s public face during the 2000 presidential recount, is retiring.

A local government and courts in Florida are easing up on COVID-19 restrictions.

A former Orlando-area attorney is under investigation after a family claimed they paid him thousands of dollars to represent them, not knowing he was not licensed to practice law.

Ten months after several clients lodged complaints against him, Orlando attorney Justin Infurna has been permanently disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court.

After the Florida Supreme Court struck down an earlier version, a political committee has filed a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at legalizing recreational marijuana use....

Attorneys for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration say a lawsuit filed by a group of parents about school mask requirements should not be fast-tracked to the...

Senate Reapportionment Chairman Ray Rodrigues said Monday he wants the Florida Legislature to avoid the “shadow process” that occurred in 2012 when lawmakers drew new...

Parents locked in a legal battle with Gov. Ron DeSantis about school mask requirements want to fast-track the case to the Florida Supreme Court.

Orange County leaders detailed the rising number of COVID-19 cases across the county during a new conference on Monday afternoon.

The Florida Supreme Court declined to take up a constitutional challenge to Palm Beach County’s mask mandate.

Justices, in a 5-2 decision, said a proposal by the political committee Sensible Florida included ballot wording that would mislead voters.

For the second time in two months, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at allowing people to use recreational...

More than a year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the widespread closures of public buildings, Miami-Dade courthouses will reopen on June 28.

Flagler Palm Coast High School and Matanzas High School return to the Ocean Center for their graduation ceremonies, as before the pandemic.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the state’s medical marijuana distribution system. READ: Brevard County teacher challenges district’s medical marijuana use policyChristina Cusack is a Florida State University graduate who uses medical marijuana to help her with the pain of multiple sclerosis, but she says it comes at a cost. She’s one of 560,000 medical marijuana patients in Florida, a number that has grown every year since Florida voters approved the drug. “We’re starting to see people looking for alternatives to the traditional pharmaceuticals,” Dr. Henry Kirsch of the Medical Marijuana Treatment Clinic of The Villages says. The case was one of the first to make it to the Florida Supreme Court since new justices were appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis.

The 2017 law requires marijuana operators to handle all aspects of the cannabis business involves what is known as “vertical integration.”

After the Florida Supreme Court hears arguments in a case, justices typically try to hand down a ruling within six months.

In Flagler County, trials resumed last month while numerous court proceedings have been carried out with a hybrid approach.

A legal battle about whether a 2018 constitutional amendment known as “Marsy’s Law” can shield the identities of police officers went to the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday.

The first Black man to serve on the Florida Supreme court has died.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at allowing people to use recreational marijuana.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at allowing people to use recreational marijuana, saying it would be misleading to...

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at allowing people to use recreational marijuana, saying it would be misleading to voters.

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a constitutional challenge to a 2016 state law that put new requirements on life-insurance companies to...

ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando area attorney faces possible disbarment after clients claimed he took their money and stopped responding to them. Bonnie Grillakis, who testified, Monday, said she was one of Infurna’s clients. I can take care of this.”Grillakis said she paid Infurna $7,500 to help her with a medical malpractice case after her 9-year-old grandson died. Shannon Johnson said he paid Infurna $15,000 to help him with a property issue. It will be up to the Supreme Court for a final decision.

Florida Supreme Court halts right to speedy trial due to backlog created by pandemicTALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to take up a Volusia County death penalty case concerning a man convicted of killing a man he thought was a drug dealer. A jury recommended in 2019 that Christian Cruz receive the death penalty after finding him guilty of kidnapping, beating and shooting Christopher Jeremy, who was 25 years old. Investigators said Cruz and Charles had been planning to rob a drug dealer who had previously lived in the apartment but moved out. Attorneys for Cruz appealed the death penalty last year. Court records show on Dec. 21, 2020, the state Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.

TAMPA, Fla. – A Florida lawyer has been disbarred for using his attorney privileges to visit women in jail and record sexual encounters with them for a pornographic film, according to the Florida Supreme Court. The state's highest court last week disbarred Tampa attorney Andrew Spark retroactive to July 2019. According to a Florida Supreme Court notice, Spark abused his privilege to practice law. Spark, 58, has been on probation since 2019 after pleading guilty to charges of bringing contraband into county detention facilities. He already has finished a concurrent one-year probation for misdemeanor solicitation of prostitution, according to the Miami Herald.

click to enlarge Photo by Monivette CordeiroThe Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to take up cases in which parents of victims of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School alleged negligence by a mental-health facility that provided services to accused shooter Nikolas Cruz. Justices issued two orders declining to take up appeals filed by Andrew Pollack and Shara Kaplan, parents of slain student Meadow Pollack, and Royer Borges and Emely Delfin, parents of seriously injured student Anthony Borges.The Supreme Court did not explain its reasons for the decisions The parents went to the Supreme Court after the 4th District Court of Appeal ruled in May that Henderson Behavioral Health, Inc., cannot be held liable in the shooting.The parents alleged that the mental-health facility was negligent, at least in part, for failing to prevent Cruz from being mainstreamed into the public-school system and for failing to warn about dangers posed by Cruz, a former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student at the time of the shooting.But in the Pollack case, the appeals court said the “theories of liability are undermined by Florida law establishing that a criminal attack on third parties by an outpatient mental health patient is not within the foreseeable zone of risk created by the mental health provider. Florida law does not recognize a duty of mental health providers to warn third parties that a patient may be dangerous.”Meadow Pollack was one of 17 students and faculty members who were killed Feb. 14, 2018, at the Parkland school, while Anthony Borges was one of 17 others who were wounded. Cruz is awaiting trial on murder charges.

The June 2013 murder of Cherish Perrywinkle drew huge amounts of news coverage and public attention in Jacksonville, with a jury in 2018 finding Donald James Smith guilty and a judge sending him to Death Row. Smith told Rayne Perrywinkle that he would take her and her daughters shopping at a Walmart. While at Walmart, Smith said he would buy the family cheeseburgers at a McDonald’s at the store but left with Cherish Perrywinkle in a van. Smith was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping of a victim under age 13 and sexual battery on a victim under age 12. In addition to the death sentence for the murder, he received life sentences on the kidnapping and sexual battery charges.

Moody’s office contended that the January Supreme Court decision backing away from the 2016 ruling should lead to reinstating the original death sentences instead of holding new sentencing hearings. But the Supreme Court on Wednesday said orders granting resentencing could not be undone. A 2016 state Supreme Court court decision called non-unanimous recommendations for death unconstitutional. The Florida Supreme Court in October 2016, in the Hurst v. State decision, interpreted and applied the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The state court required unanimous jury recommendations before death sentences could be imposed and dealt with a critical issue of jurors finding what are known as “aggravating factors” that can justify death sentences.

Moody’s office contended that the January Supreme Court decision backing away from the 2016 ruling should lead to reinstating the original death sentences instead of holding new sentencing hearings. But the Supreme Court on Wednesday said orders granting resentencing could not be undone. The Florida Supreme Court in October 2016, in the Hurst v. State decision, interpreted and applied the U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The state court required unanimous jury recommendations before death sentences could be imposed and dealt with a critical issue of jurors finding what are known as “aggravating factors” that can justify death sentences. The state Supreme Court subsequently said its decision in Hurst v. State should be applied retroactively to cases going back to 2002.

The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the first-degree murder convictions and death sentences of a St. Johns County man accused in 2015 of fatally shooting his estranged wife and one of her friends. Justices unanimously rejected an appeal by James Terry Colley, Jr., who was convicted of killing his estranged wife, Amanda Cloaninger Colley, as she tried to hide from him in a bathroom of her home. He also was convicted of murdering Lindy Dobbins, who was hiding behind a chest in a closet when she was shot, according to the Supreme Court opinion. Colley, now 40, was also convicted of attempted-murder charges related to two other people who escaped from the home. But the Supreme Court rejected that argument.

The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to take up a case about whether a South Florida city’s red-light camera program violates state traffic laws, leaving in place a city’s camera and the enforcement system. Motorist Lee Stein went to the Supreme Court in September after the 3rd District Court of Appeal backed the city of Aventura in the dispute — one of numerous legal fights in recent years about red-light cameras in the state. As is common, the Supreme Court on Tuesday did not explain its reasons for deciding against hearing the case. But in a 14-page brief this month, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office argued that the Supreme Court should not take up the case. The brief said the appeals court’s decision did not conflict with any legal precedents in red-light camera cases.

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Volusia and Flagler counties are two of many across Florida closing courts Thursday to contend with the aftermath of Tropical Storm Eta. The Fourth Judicial Circuit, which includes Volusia, Flagler, Putnam and St. Johns, will close courts on Thursday with plans to reopen them on Friday once the storm made its way out of the state. [TRENDING: What’s the ‘dirty side’ of a storm? | CDC gives guidance on Thanksgiving | Astronauts prepare for Saturday launch]The Florida Supreme Court posted information on its website about more than a dozen storm-related trial court closures across the state this week. Those details are copied and pasted verbatim below:

Continuing to make major changes in the state’s death-penalty system, the Florida Supreme Court on Thursday scrapped a longstanding legal requirement of reviewing death sentences to determine if they are “disproportionate” punishment. Justices, in a 5-1 ruling, said such reviews are not authorized by state law and pointed to “erroneous precedent” by the Supreme Court. But Justice Jorge Labarga wrote a sharply worded dissent that said the majority was rejecting a decades-old review requirement that helps prevent arbitrarily imposed death sentences. As a result, no longer is this court required to review death sentences for proportionality. “In contrast, victims and the state have strong interests in this court’s upholding death sentences obtained in compliance with (a section of state law).

Find All Race Results HereORLANDO, Fla. – On Nov. 3, voters in Central Florida will decide the outcome of a number of judicial races, including the Florida Supreme Court. Check all the races in Central Florida and statewide in the dropdown menu below, and get more information on the ClickOrlando.com Results 2020 page.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to kill a proposed constitutional amendment that would revamp the state’s primary-election system. But the Supreme Court flatly rejected the arguments. “The proposed amendment would enshrine structural discrimination in our state’s supreme legal document, directly contradicting other sections of the Constitution,” the petition said. “Therefore, the proposed amendment does not meet the threshold to be on the ballot.”Wednesday’s ruling was the second time the Supreme Court has rejected attempts to block the proposed amendment. In doing so, the court rejected arguments of the state political parties.

click to enlarge Images via Adobe StockIn an unusual move, the Florida Supreme Court is poised to hold a second round of arguments in a high-stakes case about whether the state has properly carried out a 2016 constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana.Justices heard arguments in May in a lawsuit filed by Florigrown, a Tampa-based firm that has challenged the constitutionality of a 2017 law that was designed to carry out the constitutional amendment. The case centers on parts of the law related to the licensing of companies to operate in the medical-marijuana industry.But in July, the Supreme Court scheduled another round of arguments on an issue that was not a focus of the first hearing —- whether the 2017 law is what is known as an unconstitutional “special” law. Justices will hear arguments Wednesday.The Florida Constitution bars “special” laws that, generally, are intended to benefit specific entities. Florigrown, which has unsuccessfully sought a medical-marijuana license, contends that parts of the 2017 law improperly limited the firms that could take part in the industry.“This (Supreme) Court has repeatedly held that the controlling question in evaluating whether a law is an unconstitutional special law is whether the class in the law is ‘closed,’” Florigrown lawyers wrote in a brief. The alternative would be a system where firms could perform different aspects of the business, known as a “horizontal” structure.

and R.R., who alleged they were molested between 1996 and 2005 by Daniel Heffield, an employee of New Life Community Church. The issues in Thursday’s ruling involved negligence-based civil claims filed in 2014 against the church, affiliated church organizations and Heffield’s parents, Ron and Priscilla Heffield, who also worked at the church. It did not involve claims filed directly against Daniel Heffield, who is in prison on unrelated child-pornography charges, according to the ruling. But the Supreme Court took up the case after district courts of appeal across much of the state split on such issues. The 5th District Court of Appeal aligned with the 2nd District Court of Appeal, while the 3rd District Court of Appeal and 4th District Court of Appeal viewed the issues differently.

and R.R., who alleged they were molested between 1996 and 2005 by Daniel Heffield, an employee of New Life Community Church. alleged that she was molested multiple times from 1998 to 2005, when she was age 4 through 11. The Supreme Court ruling does not detail the relationship between S.B. did not tell anyone about her alleged abuse until after she was 18.“S.B.’s circumstances perfectly illustrate the rationale behind delayed accrual,” Labarga wrote. S.B.’s parents had no reason to suspect that she had been abused and therefore did not realize that S.B.

MIAMI – A daughter of Cuban exiles who has had a swift rise as a lawyer and judge is on President Donald Trump's short list to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the U.S. Supreme Court. So she’s got a lot of things — very smart,” Trump said in a call-in interview with “Fox and Friends.”Asked whether politics would play a role in the decision, Trump responded: “I try not to say so. At 52, Lagoa would become the youngest member of the U.S. Supreme Court if nominated and confirmed. Before that, for less than a year she was a justice on the Florida Supreme Court after more than a decade on a Miami-based state appeals court where she wrote some 360 opinions. She was the first woman of Hispanic heritage on the state Supreme Court.

So, for the first time in 41 years, the Florida Supreme Court has no black justice.The Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis exceeded his authority in nominating Palm Beach County Circuit Court Judge Renatha Francis to the High Court. At the time, he had options as the Judicial Nominating Commission that vets Supreme Court nominees had several black jurists under consideration. Anyone looking for a scapegoat should consider the person who has the power to appoint qualified black jurists to the Florida Supreme Court and chose not to — Gov. Ron DeSantis.The Florida Supreme Court is no inconsequential institution.

Ron DeSantis must pick a new Supreme Court justice by 5 p.m. Monday because the judge he picked to fill a high court vacancy is constitutionally ineligible to serve, the court said in an order issued Monday. The Florida Supreme Court ordered DeSantis to appoint another judge by Monday, nullifying the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis. After DeSantis did not make another appointment by noon on Monday, the Florida Supreme Court issued a writ of mandamus ordering him to do so by 5 p.m. after missing the previous deadline. DeSantis acknowledged the shortfall at the time, but said she wouldn’t be sworn in until Sept. 24, the day she would meet the requirement. The Supreme Court said that DeSantis was required to name a constitutionally eligible new justice within 60 days of the resignation of former Justice Robert Luck.

Ron DeSantis must pick a new Supreme Court justice because the judge he picked to fill a high court vacancy is constitutionally ineligible to serve, the court said in an order issued Friday. The Florida Supreme Court ordered DeSantis to appoint another judge by Monday, nullifying the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis. Francis would have been the first Caribbean-American justice to serve on the court. But the state constitution requires that a justice be a member of the Florida Bar for at least 10 years, and Francis was four months shy when DeSantis appointed her in May. The Supreme Court said that DeSantis was required to name a new justice within 60 days of the resignation of former Justice Robert Luck.

The unions argue that Corcorans order violates the Florida Constitutions guarantee of safe and secure public schools. After the appeals court put Dodsons ruling on hold Friday, Florida Education Association President Fedrick Ingram released a statement vowing to continue battling the state over the issue. This is not about closing schools or opening schools. The states lawyers pointed out that Florida law bases district funding on surveys of the number of children in schools. Corcorans emergency order waived the funding requirements for school districts that submitted reopening plans approved by state education officials.

click to enlarge Screenshot via Florida Supreme Court/YouTubeFlorida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles CanadyFlorida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady apologized on Wednesday for a postponement of the Florida Bar exam, which was supposed to take place online Wednesday but was canceled late Sunday evening.The court deeply regrets this additional delay in the administration of the exam, Canady said in a video posted on the courts Facebook and YouTube social media sites.An in-person exam was originally slated to take place in July but was rescheduled to an online test because of COVID-19. On Sunday night, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, which is overseen by the Supreme Court, called off the plan to hold the exam this week because it was not technically feasible.The cancellation, issued on the eve of a scheduled live trial of the software, ignited a frenzy on social media among people planning to take the exam and their supporters, who have urged the Board of Bar Examiners to drop the test altogether this year or to replace the multiple-choice exam with essays submitted by email, as some other states have done.Our inability to offer the Bar examination in August was a failure. We apologize for that failure, Canady said in Wednesdays video.The Board of Bar Examiners announced Sunday that the exam will occur sometime in October. It reassures that we will continue to be harmed mentally, financially, & professionally, Johnny Carver, who graduated from the University of Miami School of Law this spring, tweeted on Wednesday.People slated to take the exam have also complained that the Board of Bar Examiners ignored their concerns, such as technical problems with the ILG Technologies software used for the test.We acknowledge and accept the criticism that has been directed at the court and the Board of Bar Examiners, Canady said. I cant guarantee you that the path forward will be flawless, but I can guarantee you that we have learned from this mistake and that it will not be repeated.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Amid pushback from law-school deans, graduates and lawmakers, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners on Wednesday canceled in-person exams scheduled for late this month and announced the tests will be administered online in August. For months, the Board of Bar Examiners has been under pressure to reconsider requiring the twice-yearly exams to be administered in person. WE DID IT! the petition sponsored by Florida Bar Examinee 2000 declared, following Wednesdays announcement. Nobody has to travel for a bar exam in FL in 2020. And that is a victory, Florida Bar Exam Petition 2020 said in a tweet.

Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that will require parental consent before minors can have abortions, a long-sought goal of abortion opponents in Florida. Florida voters in 2004 passed a constitutional amendment that led to a requirement for parents to be notified before minors have abortions, but a consent requirement is more restrictive. The parental-notification law has a process in which minors can go to court to avoid notifying their parents about having abortions --- a so-called judicial bypass that also is part of the consent measure. The Republican-dominated Legislature has passed a series of bills over the years aimed at placing more restrictions on abortions. For example, lawmakers in 2015 passed a measure that required a 24-hour waiting period before women could have abortions.

TALAHASSEE, Fla. Parents of victims in the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have gone to the Florida Supreme Court in disputes about alleged negligence by a mental-health facility that provided services to accused shooter Nikolas Cruz. Andrew Pollack and Shara Kaplan, parents of slain student Meadow Pollack, and Royer Borges and Emely Delfin, parents of seriously injured student Anthony Borges, have filed notices that they are appealing rulings last month by the 4th District Court of Appeal that said Henderson Behavioral Health, Inc., cannot be held liable in the shooting, according to documents posted Tuesday on the Supreme Court website. But in the Pollack case, the appeals court said the theories of liability are undermined by Florida law establishing that a criminal attack on third parties by an outpatient mental health patient is not within the foreseeable zone of risk created by the mental health provider. Florida law does not recognize a duty of mental health providers to warn third parties that a patient may be dangerous.As is common, the notices of appeal do not detail arguments that attorneys for the parents will make at the Supreme Court. Meadow Pollack was one of 17 students and faculty members who were killed Feb. 14, 2018, at the Parkland school, while Anthony Borges was one of 17 others who were wounded.

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.

A group called Ban Assault Weapons Now sponsored the proposed constitutional amendment, inspired by the mass shooting at a Parkland high school that left 17 people dead. While the ballot summary purports to exempt registered assault weapons lawfully possessed prior to the Initiatives effective date, the Initiative does not categorically exempt the assault weapon, only the current owners possession of that assault weapon. The ballot summary is therefore affirmatively misleading, the court wrote in its opinion. But since the petitions used the language the court says is invalid, the group cant simply tweak the ballot summary. Attorney General Ashley Moody opposed the ballot initiative, as did the National Rifle Association, which hired a legal team to fight it.

Ron DeSantis on Tuesday appointed John Couriel and Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court, choosing two justices expected to cement the courts conservative majority for years to come. The Florida Supreme Court protects the peoples liberty, and part of doing that is respecting the limited role that judges play in our constitutional system of government. Francis, a Palm Beach County circuit judge, was born in Jamaica and will become the first Caribbean-American to serve on the Supreme Court, DeSantis said. They (the Supreme Court justices) are all great judges, but I think John brings something additional, which will be very, very good going forward, the governor said. As with any Supreme Court justice, the time of commission is not limited to a particular time, Ferre said in the email.