From election legal guidelines to sports activities betting, listed here are some Florida circumstances to keep watch over in 2022.
FLORIDA, USA — If there’s one factor folks will take away from Florida in 2021 – apart from “Champa Bay” and the coronavirus – it is that the state loves its authorized battles.
For almost your entire yr, legal professionals representing the state have been out and in of courtroom defending legal guidelines and government orders handed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. There have been some victories and losses, however many high-profile circumstances by no means met a definitive ending.
In actual fact, fairly a couple of will spill into the brand new yr.
From election legal guidelines to sports activities betting, listed here are some Florida circumstances to keep watch over in 2022.
Elections legislation
2022 will see many high-profile elections throughout the nation, together with right here in Florida. However, a present authorized battle between the Sunshine State and voting rights teams could form how these ballots are forged.
U.S. District Choose Mark Walker is about to listen to arguments from each side starting on Jan. 31 in a trial that challenges a legislation handed by lawmakers.
SB 90 modifications Florida’s vote-by-mail system, together with limiting dropbox use to a county’s early voting hours somewhat than permitting ballots to be dropped off 24/7, making in-person monitoring of all dropbox places necessary in addition to an entire host of different safety measures for vote-by-mail. Voters would even be required to submit vote-by-mail requests each election cycle as an alternative of each two cycles.
Democratic lawmakers have mentioned the legislation will make it tougher for seniors, folks of coloration, and people with disabilities to vote.
UF professors
One other trial linked to Florida’s elections legislation is scheduled to be heard on Jan. 7, however this one doesn’t contain the state.
In November, the College of Florida prevented six of its professors from testifying in opposition to the state in its election legislation trial. The college would finally reverse its determination, however the injury had already been completed. Six professors would file a lawsuit in opposition to the college, claiming it had encroached on their First Modification rights.
“Anti-riot” legislation
Following protests and riots stemming from the demise of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Gov. Ron DeSantis made HB 1, also referred to as the “anti-riot” legislation, his prime precedence in 2021.
Nevertheless, since its passage, it has been met with authorized challenges from teams just like the ACLU, NAACP Florida State Convention and Dream Defenders. The teams argued that the legislation was unconstitutional by violating free speech rights and will have a chilling impact on folks’s proper to assemble.
A federal decide would finally rule that the brand new legislation was unconstitutional. However, in January, an appeals courtroom will evaluate the case once more.
Sports activities playing
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe of Florida need to an appeals courtroom to assist save what’s left of a gaming compact that was signed into legislation in 2021.
The compact, which gave the tribe sole possession of on-line sports activities betting in Florida, was just lately dominated unconstitutional by a federal decide. United States District Courtroom Choose Dabney Friedrich discovered the compact violated the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act in addition to the state’s personal structure.