Appeal pursued in statewide beach closure case

will it be the Grim Attorney General? Image via @DWUhlfelderLaw/Twitter.

Blasting Gov. Ron DeSantis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Northwest Florida attorney on Monday argued that an appeals court should clear the way for a lawsuit that, in part, seeks to require beaches to be closed statewide.

Attorney Daniel Uhlfelder filed a 25-page brief asking the 1st District Court of Appeal to overturn a Leon County circuit judge’s decision to dismiss the lawsuit against DeSantis. Uhlfelder filed the lawsuit in March, arguing DeSantis should be required to close beaches statewide and issue a “safer at home” order to prevent spread of the virus. But Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll dismissed the case in April, saying the separation-of-powers clause of the Florida Constitution prevents him from requiring DeSantis to take such steps.

Uhlfelder filed a notice of appeal in April and an initial brief Monday at the Tallahassee-based 1st District Court of Appeal. He disputed that the separation of powers should lead to dismissal of the case.

“In fact, the separation of powers mandates judicial intervention to protect the health and welfare of Florida’s citizens from DeSantis’ constitutional abdication of his sworn duties,” the brief said. “the preservation of Floridians’ lives is dependent on the judiciary protecting them, because it is clear DeSantis has no interest in protecting their lives during this deadly global pandemic where Florida has now quickly become the epicenter.”

Uhlfelder has made national headlines traveling to various Florida beaches dressed as the grim reaper in protest of beach openings, which he claims cause unnecessary virus spread.

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Republished with permission from the News Service of Florida.