Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Bob SparksApril 23, 2017

According to Sen. Charles Grassley, the U.S. Supreme Court may need to fill another opening this summer. The Iowa Republican, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not name names, but rumors are swirling it could be the Court’s swing vote, 80-year-old Anthony Kennedy. If that occurs, President Trump will go back to his list of […]

Associated PressApril 4, 2017

A bill that would require Florida welfare applicants with prior drug-related convictions to submit to mandatory drug testing was advanced by a House panel on Tuesday over the objections of Democrats who view the move as unconstitutional. The measure considered Tuesday would also require applicants suspected of being on drugs to pay for the drug […]

Staff ReportsMarch 13, 2017

headlineImage.adapt_.1460.high_.Texas_death_penalty_111313.1455674663074.jpg

Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation Monday requiring a unanimous jury recommendation before the death penalty can be imposed. Lawmakers passed the bill out of the House and Senate last week, rushing the measure through the process in hopes of fixing the state’s death penalty law. The House voted 112-3 to approve the measure Friday, one […]

Susan WashingtonFebruary 17, 2017

The black-robed justices who filed solemnly into a courtroom at the University of Florida law school Thursday morning were not the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, but they were announced as if they were. “All persons having business before the Honorable, the Supreme Court of the United States, are admonished to draw near and […]

Associated PressFebruary 14, 2017

A judicial official sided with Georgia in a decades-long dispute over water rights with Florida on Tuesday, recommending that the U.S. Supreme Court refuse Florida’s high-stakes request to cap water use by its neighboring state. The dispute focuses on the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin, covering nearly 20,000 square miles in western Georgia, eastern Alabama and the […]

William PatrickFebruary 7, 2017

President Donald Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, sparked a predictably hostile response from Democrats. But Gorsuch’s record on criminal justice reform offers a rare opportunity for bipartisan agreement. Gorsuch tipped his hand at a gathering of conservative attorneys in Washington, D.C., three years ago […]

Associated PressFebruary 1, 2017

President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch, 49, serves on the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, where he has made a name for himself as a graceful writer. Gorsuch is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, and served as a law clerk […]

Jim RosicaJanuary 9, 2017

Justice-Canady-Law-Review-Banquet-2011-49-Large-e1475891066988.jpg

The Above The Law legal website is “handicapping Donald Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist” – and Florida Supreme Court Justice Charles Canady isn’t on it. “In case you missed it over the holidays, Jan Crawford of CBS News, one of the most plugged-in Supreme Court reporters around, revealed Trump’s five finalists” to replace the late Antonin […]

Joe HendersonDecember 28, 2016

Politicians have long been outraged – OUTRAGED, I tell you – about so-called “activist judges” who make them follow that pesky thing known as the law. I guess it’s logical, therefore, for frustrated lawmakers to try and beat judges at their own game. FloridaPolitics.com reported that State Rep. Julio Gonzalez, a Republican from Venice, filed […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterDecember 27, 2016

Lawmakers could override court decisions they don’t like under bills filed Tuesday. State Rep. Julio Gonzalez, a Venice Republican, filed two pieces of legislation, one aimed at state judges and another at federal judges who interpret state laws. The first measure (HJR 121) would allow the Legislature to review judicial rulings that declare legislative acts void. If approved […]

Tag: U.S. Supreme Court

If another SCOTUS opening occurs, will Charles Canady get a serious look?

Proposal to drug test welfare applicants returns to Florida

Rick Scott signs death penalty fix into law

In mock court, UF law students argue case echoing infamous FSU ‘Jane Doe’ lawsuit

Official sides with Georgia over Florida in water lawsuit

SCOTUS nominee Neil Gorsuch and ‘over-criminalization’

Donald Trump nominates Judge Neil Gorsuch to Supreme Court

Charles Canady may be off Donald Trump’s Supreme Court wish list

Joe Henderson: Separation of powers there to keep legislators from running amok

Legislation would allow lawmakers to override judges’ rulings