Lawsuit seeks revised abortion ‘statement’
After two Florida Supreme Court rulings last week, backers of a proposed constitutional amendment that seeks to ensure abortion rights have filed a lawsuit over a “financial impact statement” that would be presented to voters. Such financial impact statements appear with ballot initiatives to provide estimated effects of the measures on government revenues and the state budget. A state panel issued a financial impact statement for the abortion measure before last week’s Supreme Court rulings. That statement included caveats about litigation surrounding state abortion laws and concluded, “Because there are several possible outcomes related to this litigation that differ widely in their effects, the impact of the proposed amendment on state and local government revenues and costs, if any, cannot be determined.” But the Supreme Court last week rejected a challenge to a 15-week abortion limit that lawmakers passed in 2022. That ruling also effectively will allow a six-week abortion limit to take effect May 1. Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature approved the six-week limit in 2023. The Supreme Court also ruled last week that the abortion-rights proposal, known as Amendment 4, can go on the November ballot. In the lawsuit filed Friday in Leon County circuit court, the Floridians for Protecting Freedom political committee said a new financial impact statement is needed because the statement approved by the panel is no longer accurate. The lawsuit, in part, said the panel’s financial impact statement “largely presents outdated information about the legality of abortion under statutes and litigation unrelated to Amendment 4” and that “the inclusion of such information renders it confusing, ambiguous and misleading.” Floridians Protecting Freedom has spearheaded the ballot initiative.
DeSantis OKs tougher theft laws
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that seeks to prevent “smash and grab” thefts and “porch piracy.” The legislation (HB 549) will, in part, make it a third-degree felony to act in concert with five or more people to overwhelm merchants and steal items. The measure, which will take effect July 1, also will make it a second-degree felony to solicit other people through social media to participate in retail theft. During an appearance at a Walgreens store in Stuart, DeSantis criticized laws in other states, such as California. “This retail theft ring is a total scam,” DeSantis said. “You have liberal laws and these people are exploiting that to basically further themselves, knowing that they can loot a certain amount without really facing any significant penalties." The legislation also will toughen criminal penalties for stealing items off porches, known as porch piracy.
Executive privilege arguments set
A panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal next month will hear arguments in a potentially far-reaching case about whether “executive privilege” shields Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records. The court on Tuesday issued an order scheduling arguments May 7. The case stems from a person, identified in court documents as J. Doe, filing a public-records request seeking information from DeSantis’ office about people involved in discussions about appointing Florida Supreme Court justices. In a subsequent lawsuit, Leon County Circuit Judge Angela Dempsey rejected the public-records request on a series of grounds, including executive privilege. State and national media organizations and open-government advocacy groups have said such use of executive privilege would undermine Florida’s public-records law. But lawyers in DeSantis’ office and Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office have disputed arguments that the use of executive privilege conflicts with a 1992 constitutional amendment aimed at providing access to public records.