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Sancho

(9,070 posts)
Sun Jan 8, 2012, 12:59 PM Jan 2012

Lawsuits over 2011 Fla. legislation unresolved

As they start a new session tomorrow, Florida has more than the most unpopular Governor in the country: they also piles of lawsuits challenging last year's laws. From a current article in the Tampa Bay Times:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FL_XGR_LEGISLATIVE_LAWSUITS_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME

Just to put it mildly, the Florida legislature is just a crazy as any in the country. Florida doesn't have recall provisions like some mid-west states, and the Florida constitution is nothing but toilet paper to Scott and cronies.
Read the whole article to get a taste of what's happening here...

------------------clips from the article-----------

"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Several high-profile measures passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year are still being challenged in the courts as lawmakers get set to begin their 2012 session Tuesday.

The targets include 2011 legislation on elections, public employee pensions, prison privatization, welfare drug testing, guns and teacher pay and tenure - about a dozen cases in all.
--------snip----------
Ron Meyer, a lawyer involved in several of the cases, said he's never seen as many new laws challenged in a single year. He attributes it to overwhelming one-party rule. Besides a Republican governor, the House and Senate had veto-proof GOP majorities as a result of gains in the 2010 election.

"This has been unusual," Meyer said. "You see an exercise of power that perhaps goes over the top."
------------snip----
Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida, said simply believing something is the right thing to do is not a standard for good legislation.

"It's symptomatic of a Legislature that is hostile to constitutional values," said Simon, whose organization is challenging multiple new laws and executive orders issued by Gov. Rick Scott."

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