Free Republic

Florida wins its lawsuit against the CDC to overrule the Conditional Sailing Order to allow cruises to resume. The federal Judge has finally decided in the lawsuit filed by the State of Florida against the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to lift the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO). This news comes after Florida and the CDC failed to work out their differences under mediation, and cruises out of Florida have remained on hold for 15 months. However, the CDC has been working to resume cruises safely with the cruise lines more recently. Florida Overrules CDC, Cruises Can Resume...

A federal judge ruled in favor of Florida in a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, saying the agency overstepped its authority. Judge Steven Merryday said the CDC is "preliminarily enjoined" from enforcing its conditional sail order -- a set of guidelines for cruise companies wishing to resume sailing in the U.S., including test cruises and vaccine requirements -- beginning July 18. "This order finds that Florida is highly likely to prevail on the merits of the claim that CDC's conditional sailing order and the implementing orders exceed the authority delegated to CDC," the ruling said. Merryday...

Brown was sentenced in 2017 to five years in prison. She was let out last year due to COVID-19 concerns in the federal prison where she as serving her time.The appeal was based on arguments about a juror that Brown contended was improperly removed from her 2017 trial because he said the “Holy Spirit” told him Brown was not guilty of fraud and tax charges.

A federal court has upheld a Florida city's decision to issue nearly $30,000 in code violation fines to a homeowner whose grass was overgrown. Following a two-year legal battle, a judge from the Middle District of Florida ruled this week that Jim Ficken, 71, will have to pay the fines to the city of Dunedin, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

DUNEDIN — A federal court upheld the City of Dunedin’s decision to issue almost $30,000 in code violation fines in 2018 to a homeowner for an overgrown lawn.Jim Ficken sued Dunedin in May 2019 after the city agreed to foreclose on his home, according to court records. He and his lawyers argued Dunedin’s fines were excessive and given with no notice.After a two-year legal battle, a judge from the Middle District of Florida ruled on Monday that the 71-year-old will have to pay up. Ficken said he plans to appeal the court’s decision.“The city’s behavior toward Jim is outrageous,” read...

The youngest U.S. district judge nominated by President Trump was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday evening to serve in the Tampa division of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. But the nomination of Washington, D.C., attorney Kathryn Kimball Mizelle, a 33-year-old Lakeland native, has made waves in the legal community. The American Bar Association sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in September saying that, despite her credentials, Mizelle’s lack of trial experience renders her unqualified to be appointed to the federal judiciary. snip Mizelle is close to Justice Clarence Thomas, has expressed admiration...

Kolfage, a Purple Heart veteran who lost an arm and two legs in Iraq in 2004, was arrested at his home in Florida and is accused of being the main beneficiary of the scam, allegedly pocketing a staggering $350,000 of donor money while he and his wife flaunted their extravagant lifestyles on social media. Newly resurfaced footage of the pair taken on June 24, 2019 shows the two men openly laughing and joking about peddling money from the border wall scheme, more than a year before the feds swooped in. In the video, part of We Build The Wall's 'Wall-A-Thon'...

A judge in Florida has rejected the city of Dunedin's motion to throw out a lawsuit over its fining of a homeowner $500 a day for having long grass. The Institute for Justice is defending Jim Ficken, who faces $30,000 in fines or even foreclosure. But a judge in the Middle District of Florida denied the city's motion to dismiss his lawsuit, which argues the fines are excessive under both the U.S. and Florida Constitutions.