Dara Kam/News Service of Florida

In a decision that could have far-reaching implications in the legal battle over treatments for transgender children, a fiercely divided federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to reconsider a ruling that backed Alabama’s ban on hormone therapy and puberty blockers for trans minors.The decision by the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals effectively kept in place a ruling by a three-judge panel that overturned a preliminary injunction a district judge had issued blocking the Alabama law.

More than three months after a computer system serving as a backbone of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice was hacked, many contractors providing services to at-risk and troubled youths remain unable to access the network.Efforts to bring the network back online were still ongoing as the state was hit with a second cyberattack that resulted in outages of the Florida Department of Health’s Vital Statistics System. The statewide system is used to process birth and death certificates, among other records.

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday vetoed a measure aimed at regulating vacation rentals, saying the proposal would create “bureaucratic red tape” for local officials.Oversight of vacation rentals for years has been a thorny issue for the Legislature, as advertising for properties on platforms such as Airbnb has ballooned.

House and Senate leaders plan to use “rainy day reserve” money to keep afloat about 200 jobs after Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed more than $56 million from part of the state budget that pays for “legislative support services.”The vetoes wiped out funding for joint legislative offices used to pay for such things as the Office of Economic & Demographic Research, the Old Capitol Museum, the Office of Program Policy Analysis & Demographic Research, joint legislative committees, the Florida Channel, and lobbyist registration services.

Gov. Ron DeSantis — who’s come out swinging against a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow recreational marijuana — on Friday delivered a victory to potential pot competitors by vetoing a measure that would have severely restricted the sales and production of euphoria-inducing hemp-based products.Lawmakers passed the bill (SB 1698) in March, with supporters arguing it would address safety concerns as the use of THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, has boomed.

Three parents on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit challenging a controversial 2023 Florida law that increased scrutiny of school-library books and instructional materials, alleging the process for removing books unconstitutionally discriminates against parents who disagree with “the state’s favored viewpoint.”The law (SB 1069), in part, made the process of objecting to books and instructional materials easier — and came amid legal and political fights in Florida and other states about removing books from school shelves.

Florida supervisors of elections are pushing back on a rule proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration to update standards for determining voters’ intent on ballots, saying the proposal includes “inconsistencies” that could lead to problems for county canvassing boards.The proposal lays out what canvassing boards must consider when trying to figure out what voters were trying to choose when they have not filled in circles next to candidates’ names or issues on the ballot. Voters frequently use checkmarks, lines, stars, other marks — or sometimes words — to indicate their choices.

A federal judge on Wednesday blocked a key part of a 2023 law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that aimed to crack down on illegal immigration, finding the law “intrudes upon territory” under the responsibility of the federal government.The lawsuit, filed in July by The Farmworker Association of Florida, Inc. and individual plaintiffs, centers on part of the law (SB 1718) that threatens felony charges for people who transport an immigrant who “entered the United States in violation of law and has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry.”

aying the country is at a “deeply, deeply disturbing” juncture, Bacardi Jackson — a veteran litigator whose civil-rights advocacy is literally in her genes — is taking the mantle as executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

In a case that could have far-reaching implications for the state’s public-records laws, an appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to a judge’s ruling that “executive privilege” shields Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records.The appeal stems from a public-records request, filed by someone identified in court documents as J. Doe, 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.