SHUT UP NEXT TIME A federal district court judge has ordered a new trial in an insurance fraud case against the former medical director of a West Palm Beach sober living home. The judge ruled that his 2022 conviction was tainted when the government’s star witness “forgot to shut up” during testimony plagued with lies. No timetable has been set for a retrial.
BOOK BANS A federal judge has declined to dismiss a lawsuit by six publishing houses, two parents of schoolchildren and five bestselling authors. The suit challenges a state law that restricts books in school libraries. The trial can now proceed.
PREGAME PRAYER The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down a request from Tampa’s Cambridge Christian School for the full appeals court to hold a hearing on an earlier opinion. That opinion, by a three-judge panel, sided with the Florida High School Athletic Association in a dispute about blocking the school from praying over a loudspeaker before a football game. The panel concluded there was no violation of First Amendment rights when it prevented the school from offering a prayer over a loudspeaker before a 2015 high school championship game.
SCHOOL LIBRARY BOOK APPEALS U.S. district judge Allen Winsor has dismissed a lawsuit that accused Florida of discriminating against those opposed to library book removals across the state. A 2023 law created a process for parents to appeal when a school board decides to keep, but not remove, their challenged books on the shelves. The judge determined that the process is “available only to parents who had their own objection denied”.