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ORLANDO, Fla. — The attorney for two women who were denied entry into an Orlando strip club in 2018 because they weren’t with a man said Friday he plans to take their case to the Florida Supreme Court again because the issue is more than who can have fun at a gentlemen’s club. It’s whether local governments can enact anti-discrimination ordinances that offer more protections than the Florida Civil Rights Act, said Matthew Dietz, a Miami attorney who represents Brittney Smith and Anita Yanes. “We do believe that this issue is so important,” Dietz said. “We’re living in a time...

On Jan. 4, just days before the start of a makeover of the Florida Supreme Court, justices issued two 4-3 decisions. The cases drew relatively little attention across the state --- one dealt with Orange County elections, the other with attorney fees in a foreclosure battle. But on the losing end of the decisions were Chief Justice Charles Canady and his frequent allies Ricky Polston and Alan Lawson. Four days later, three members of the majority in those cases --- longtime justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince --- left the court because of a mandatory retirement age....

As bad as Florida's reputation has been over the last decade and a half as a lawsuit-happy state, a new report says we've "risen" to a new low: "Enough shade has been cast on the Sunshine State to rank it as the nation's worst Judicial Hellhole," says the American Tort Reform Association (ATRA) in its latest report. The Florida Supreme Court, all on its own, was ranked fourth in ATR reports for the past two years -- for the torrent of liability-expanding decisions it issued, many over vigorous dissents. But for 2017-2018, we're No. 1 overall for the first time...

The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that targeted the new federal-health reform law, ruling that state lawmakers included misleading wording that could not be fixed. Justices, in a 5-2 ruling, upheld a circuit judge’s decision to strip “Amendment 9″ from the November ballot. The court rejected state arguments that it could simply eliminate a ballot summary that included the disputed wording and let the rest of the proposal go before voters. [...] During Supreme Court arguments, an attorney for the state did not defend the wording. Instead, he asked the court to simply eliminate the...

Tea Party-linked activists are looking for vengeance after the Florida Supreme Court rejected a ballot initiative aimed at sparing the state from a key provision in the federal health care overhaul. The state's highest court last month ruled against a ballot question asking voters to approve an amendment to the state constitution stating that residents would not have to follow the new federal requirement to buy health insurance. Before the decision, Florida was set to be one of four states putting that question to voters in November. Conservatives now want Floridians to express their dissatisfaction with the law in a...

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist has appointed Lakeland Judge Charles Canady to replace retiring Justice Raoul Cantero on the Florida Supreme Court, bringing the number of Hispanic justices back to zero. Canady, 54, sits on the 2nd District Court of Appeal, where he was appointed by Gov. Jeb Bush in 2002. A former Republican congressman, Canady was one of the floor managers in President Bill Clinton's impeachment attempt in 1999. The graduate of Yale Law School served in the Florida House between 1984 through 1990 as a Democrat. He changed his registration when he ran for Congress in 1992. ''He's...

Florida]Supreme Court strikes down police insignia law (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court struck down a state law that bans wearing or displaying law enforcement insignia, such as "NYPD." In a 5-to-2 opinion, the high court said the law is, quote: "unconstitutionally overbroad, vague and violates substantive due process." The law carries a maximum punishment of a year in jail. The law banned the wearing of clothing with the following words: "police," "patrolman," "agent," "sheriff," "deputy," "trooper," "highway patrol," "wildlife officer," "marine patrol officer," "state attorney, "public defender," "marshal," "constable" and "bailiff." The court challenge began after a woman was...

Oct 21, 12:35 PM EDT Florida Supreme Court refuses new hearing in Schiavo By MITCH STACY Associated Press Writer TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined a request from Gov. Jeb Bush to reconsider its decision striking down a state law designed to save the life of a severely brain-damaged woman. The state's high-court ruled 7-0 last month that Bush and state lawmakers overstepped their authority with the year-old law ordering that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted six days after her husband had it removed so she could die. Bush's attorney asked the court for...

A right to live ... not to be killed September 27, 2004 By Barbara Simpson © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com If I didn't know better, I'd think the heavens are crying. Perhaps they are. Florida is being inundated as the progression of hurricanes continues its destruction. Ironically, while media focus on evacuations aimed at saving lives, the Florida Supreme Court ruled 7-0 last week, that a helpless young Florida woman should die. Her name is Terri Schindler-Schiavo. I take that back. Not just die. Be killed. That is what's involved when a person is denied food and water. That person will die...

Statement of Catholic Media Coalition Responding to Florida Supreme Court Ruling that "Terri's Law" is Unconstitutional September 24, 2004 The Catholic Media coalition denounces the Florida Supreme Court's decision released September 23 declaring "Terri's Law" unconstitutional. The court's action sets the stage to allow Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, to remove his wife's feeding tube for the third time in order to kill her by dehydration/starvation. Since Terri is not dying this constitutes deliberate and pre-meditated murder. Many questions surround Terri's 1990 collapse and subsequent treatment. They include evidence of possible spousal abuse, conflicts of interest arising from Michael Schiavo's long-term...

Bioethicist Comments on State Supreme Court’s Ruling ROME/TALLAHASSEE, Florida, SEPT. 24, 2004 (Zenit.org).- A bioethicist expressed his concern over the failure of the Florida State Supreme Court to defend the life of Terri Schiavo in face of her husband's insistence that she be allowed to die. The Court ruled on Thursday that the "Terri Law", signed by Florida's Governor Jeb Bush, is unconstitutional and that the governor should not have been given the power to have the feeding tube reinserted, against the wishes of the brain-damaged woman's husband. Terri Shiavo has been unconscious for the past 14 years. The Court...

Terri's Call to Action Part 1 is over 5000 posts. If you don't want to get caught up to speed at Part 1: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/971896/posts?q=1&&page=5167#5167 Simply visit Terri's official web site at: http://www.terrisfight.org There are contact numbers at her web site for her core media team, legislators, media and for press updates. See flash movies of Terri interacting with her mother, responding to a physician and see for yourself that she's not in PVS "persistant vegetative state"). In addition to access a text file with a lot of information see: http://bellsouthpwp.net/p/c/pc93/FedCourtDktCaseNo8_03-cv-1860-T-26TGW.txt If you want to join Terri's fight, it's important for...

Greetings to all FReepers from a friend in Florida: Here's my suggestion & request. Please copy & paste this to your e-mail & send it to everyone you know in Florida. We will do our best to get rid of these judges. Dear Friend: One of the wonderful things about living in Florida is that we periodically get the opportunity to vote judges out of office. Unfortunately, many of us don't follow the courts that closely & can't remember who the bad judges are on election day. Please print the list below and ATTACH IT TO YOUR VOTER REGISTRATION CARD...