By JIM TURNER
News Service of Florida
TALLAHASSEE – As Tuesday’s presidential debate drew tens of millions of national viewers, much of the action in Florida this week was in the courts.
An appellate-court panel heard arguments in a two-state legal battle between Florida State University and the Atlantic Coast Conference over issues such as sports media rights.
The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments on the constitutionality of a congressional redistricting plan that Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed through the Legislature in 2022.
A settlement was reached in one of the lawsuits filed over the removal of books from school shelves.
And a legal battle began brewing over the DeSantis’ administration’s opposition to a proposal that would enshrine abortion rights in the state Constitution.
AMENDMENT 4
A political committee leading efforts to pass a constitutional amendment on abortion rights filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the state Agency for Health Care Administration is using a website and ads to spread “misinformation” about the November ballot measure.
The lawsuit, filed in Leon County circuit court by attorneys for the Floridians Protecting Freedom committee, seeks a temporary injunction to prevent the agency from continuing to disseminate the information online and through television and radio ads.
“In educating the electorate about the purpose and ramifications of a proposed constitutional amendment, the government cannot do so in a manner that is inaccurate, misleading, abusive, or fraudulent,” the lawsuit said. “AHCA’s actions regarding Amendment 4 (the abortion rights amendment) … have been inaccurate, misleading, abusive and fraudulent.”
The lawsuit came two days after Palm Beach County attorney Adam Richardson filed a case at the Florida Supreme Court about the agency information. Richardson asked the Supreme Court to issue what is known as a writ of quo warranto to Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Jason Weida, DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody “forbidding them from misusing or abusing their offices to interfere with the election for Amendment 4, and to unravel whatever actions they have already taken to do so.”
DeSantis on Monday compared the website to a public service announcement providing “people with accurate information.”
The governor also defended investigators questioning people who signed petitions for the proposed amendment, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 4.
“It may be that the signature is totally different, and that voter will say, ‘No, I actually did do that,’” DeSantis said. “Maybe they signed their name. That is absolutely possible. And if that’s what you say, I think that’s probably the end of it.”
In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, Lauren Brenzel, campaign director for the Yes on 4 campaign, called the signature investigation a “distraction,” noting the petitions were verified by elections officials after being submitted.
BACK ON THE BOOKSHELVES
Authors of the children’s book “And Tango Makes Three” reached a settlement with the Nassau County school district that will lead to 36 books returning to school libraries in that district.
The settlement came in a federal lawsuit filed in May amid widespread controversy about removing books from school libraries in Florida and other states. Two federal lawsuits are pending, for example, about the Escambia County School Board’s removal of books.
“And Tango Makes Three,” which tells the story of two male penguins who raised a penguin chick at New York’s Central Park Zoo, has become a prominent part of the debate in Florida. Lawsuits allege it has been targeted for depicting same-sex parents raising a child.
Nassau County officials said they removed “And Tango Makes Three” and two other books last year because of a lack of circulation, according to the settlement. District officials said they removed 33 other books because of alleged “obscene” material that would violate state law.
But the lawsuit contended “And Tango Makes Three” was removed because of anti-LGBTQ bias, and the settlement includes a statement that district officials “agree that ‘And Tango Makes Three’ contains no ‘obscene’ material in violation of the obscenity statute, is appropriate for students of all ages, and has pedagogical value.”
The settlement lists 22 other books that are slated to be returned to libraries by Friday. Examples include “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison and “The Clan of the Cave Bear” by Jean Auel.
The law firm Selendy Gay PLLC, which represents “And Tango Makes Three” authors Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and the parents, issued a news release Thursday that described the settlement as “major.”
An Escambia County lawsuit over the book removal, however, does not appear near settlement.
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor issued an order last week saying mediation was not necessary after the two sides filed a joint document saying the “distance between the parties’ acceptable resolutions of this case renders mediation futile.”
CONDO COSTS
DeSantis again said this week that lawmakers must act before the 2025 regular legislative session to address problems facing condominium associations and owners.
Suggesting no-interest or low-interest loans to help condo owners being hit with large assessments for such things as repairs, DeSantis said Monday while in Miami Lakes that lawmakers should further tweak laws passed after 98 people died when a Surfside condominium collapsed in 2021.
“We do need to do something this year,” DeSantis said during an appearance in Miami Lakes. “I don’t think this is something that you can just put off until next March or April.”
Lawmakers aren’t expected to return to Tallahassee until after the November election, but DeSantis said they need to talk with constituents and develop ideas that can be implemented quickly. The 2025 regular session will start March 4.
Legislation advanced in 2022 required condominium associations to have adequate financial reserves to cover repairs, with inspections and regulations directed at condominium buildings three stories or higher. The law was tweaked in 2023, but homeowners’ association fees have continued to mount.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Legal fights escalated over the use of state resources to oppose a ballot measure that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “There is nothing extraordinary and nothing nefarious about the timing of the ACC’s lawsuit or the forum that it chose. … You’d have to be wearing garnet and gold-colored lenses to come up with Tallahassee as the answer for the most natural place for that contract dispute.” — Alan Lawson, a former Florida Supreme Court justice who represents the Atlantic Coast Conference, arguing that a lawsuit filed by the ACC in North Carolina should take priority over a lawsuit filed by Florida State University in Leon County circuit court.