OUR CASES
BLAKE ANDREW WARNER V. HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD
Focus area: Educational Choice and Parental Rights
Court: United States Supreme Court
Case status: Active
Blake Andrew Warner v. Hillsborough County School Board, Supreme Court of the United States Case No. 24-718 (February 7, 2025). The Foundation filed a brief amicus curiae in the United States Supreme Court along with seven other non-profit organizations from around the United States in support of a Petition for Certiorari by Blake Andrew Warner asking the Court to recognize his right to appear and represent his son in Court in a lawsuit against the School Board alleging the school districting lines were discriminatory.
COWLEY V. SPICLIFF, INC.
Focus area: Private Property Rights
Court: Federal District Court of Appeals
Case status: Closed
Cowley v. Spicliff, Inc., 1D21-0092 (November 30, 2021), aff’d 329 So.3d 129 (Fla.1st DCA 2021) The Foundation successfully supported the Landlord and Property Owner in an appeal from an order of the County Court of Escambia County that found unconstitutional an Agency Order of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Center that prohibited property owners throughout the United States from evicting tenant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aff’d 329 So. 3d 129 (Fla. 2021)(table)
CHEVRON DEFERENCE IN FLORIDA
Focus area: Administrative Challenges
Court: Florida Constitutional Revision Commission
Case status: Closed
1. Foundation President Frank Shepherd supported and helped craft Article V, sec. 21 of the Florida Constitution, adopted by the people of the state on November 6, 2018, which prohibits judges from giving deference – ie. “rubber stamping” – agency interpretations of statutes and rules in the Florida courts. He appeared before the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission on two occasions that year to testify in favor of the amendment.
2. On March 20, 2024, Florida Legal Foundation secured a landmark decision confirming that Article V, sec. 21 applies to hearing officers at the Florida Department of Administrative Hearings, the state agency that hears most administrative cases in the State of Florida. The Court ruled:
"We appreciate and respect the experience of the amici in this case. We agree that article V, section 21 represents a sea change in Florida law and is applicable to hearing officers at the Department of Administrative Hearings.”
Article V, section 21 of the Florida Constitution was adopted by the people of the State of Florida to prohibit courts and Administrative Law Judges (ALJ) from deferring to an administrative agency’s interpretation of a state statute or rule. The agency’s effort in this case to impose its interpretation of section 409.9131(2) on the ALJ is specifically prohibited by Article V, section 21 of the Florida Constitution.
STATE OF FLORIDA AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE DEVELOPMENT V. ALFRED IVAN MURCIANO
Focus area: Administrative Challenges
Court: Florida Constitutional Revision Comm
Case status: Closed
BUREAU OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, FIREARMS, AND EXPLOSIVES
The Agency’s proposed rule represents a usurpation of legislative authority, in that the Agency is attempting to change the meaning of the law to impose criminal sanctions upon millions of Americans. The difference lies between the definition of a “handgun” and a “rifle.”
Focus area: Separation of Powers
Court: Office of the Attorney General Department of Justice, Washington, D.C.
Case status: Closed
