Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jim RosicaMarch 7, 2016

A bill intended to end a fight between the state and several counties over juvenile detention costs passed the Florida Senate on Monday. The measure (SB 1322), sponsored by state Sen. Jack Latvala, was approved on a 38-0 vote. It requires “non-fiscally constrained counties,” generally more affluent, urban areas, to pay a total of $42.5 million for all detention […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 18, 2016

An appellate court has said “pay up” to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) in a financial dispute with Pinellas County over the cost of “secure juvenile detention care.” The 1st District Court of Appeal, in an opinion released Thursday, ruled against the department in a case the judges noted was “one of many now pending before this […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 14, 2016

Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s office is getting more time to prepare legal arguments in a case over whether certain Florida dog and horse tracks can offer slot machines to guests. The Florida Supreme Court granted the request Wednesday, giving her lawyers another month to turn in their brief. Bondi’s office, specifically Solicitor General Allen Winsor, is representing […]

Jim RosicaDecember 31, 2015

The north Florida city of Gretna is siding with the operators of a racetrack there, arguing that the facility is “entitled to a license to operate slot machines.” The city filed a friend-of-the-court brief Thursday to the Florida Supreme Court in a challenge to a 1st District Court of Appeal decision that said various Florida dog and horse tracks […]

Jim RosicaDecember 28, 2015

An appellate court has reversed a contempt finding against a lawyer whom a judge had asked to take a breath analyzer test and then shamed in open court because others said she “smelled like alcohol.” One of the 1st District Court of Appeal judges even wrote a 10-page concurring opinion in which he compared the judge’s […]

Jim RosicaDecember 28, 2015

A group of whistleblowing investigators in the beleaguered Department of Corrections has lost an appeal to their challenge of being forced to sign “hush” agreements over wrongdoing they say they uncovered. A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal on Monday sided with a lower-court judge who had dismissed the investigators’ complaint. David Clark, […]

Jim RosicaDecember 22, 2015

An appellate court has declined a small business lender’s request to reconsider an opinion against it involving a legislatively created loan program to help companies rebound from the recession. The 1st District Court of Appeal on Monday denied a request from the Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida for the court to rehear the case or certify it as a […]

Jim RosicaDecember 18, 2015

A Tallahassee-based appeal court panel on Friday split 2-1 over whether a life sentence for touching an 11-year-old girl’s breast over her clothes is cruel and unusual punishment as banned by the U.S. Constitution. The 1st District Court of Appeal affirmed the “lewd or lascivious molestation” conviction and life sentence of Stephen C. Hanf, imprisoned at the Northwest Florida […]

Jim RosicaDecember 14, 2015

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) is asking an appeals court to deny a small business lender’s request to reconsider an opinion against it involving a legislatively created, post-recession loan program. The 1st District Court of Appeal had agreed with a lower court that the Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida had overcharged lenders in the Economic Gardening Business Loan Pilot […]

Jim RosicaDecember 4, 2015

In a dual appellate-court smackdown Friday, Pinellas and Broward counties lost separate appeals against the Department of Juvenile Justice related to the state collectively overbilling counties as much as $140 million for juvenile detention costs. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal acknowledged that the money due to counties […]

Tag: 1st District Court of Appeal
Crowds gather to see Atlantis at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. (Gabrielle Russon)

Juvenile detention cost-sharing measure passes Senate

Pinellas County wins a round in money dispute with state

Pam Bondi granted more time to prep for slot machine case

City of Gretna files brief in slots case, sides with local track

Judge wrong to submit lawyer to breath test, appellate court finds

State prisons investigators lose whistleblower appeal

Court denies request to reconsider decision in business loan case

Appeal court splits over “cruel and unusual punishment” question

DEO asks court to deny rehearing in small-business loan dispute

Court won’t order DJJ to repay counties for juvenile detention overbilling