Legal Issues

FLORIDA GEORGIA WATER WARS After nine years of legal battling, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected a lawsuit in which Florida argued Georgia has used too much water in a river system shared by the states. The Court ruled the collapse of the Florida oyster industry was due more the state’s mismanagement rather than the diversion of water by Georgia.

VOLKSWAGEN LAWSUIT Rather than hear the case, the U.S. Supreme Court asked the federal government to weigh in over Volkswagen’s alleged anti-tampering law violations stemming from the 2015 diesel emissions-cheating scandal for which Florida is suing the company.

20TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT The Governor has scheduled a primary election for November 2nd and a general election on January 11th for the seat formerly held by U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings. However, Elvin Dowling, a candidate who is running for the seat filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis. Dowling wants the court to force the Governor to schedule the election this Fall.

CRUISES FROM FLORIDA Florida announced its intention to sue the federal government and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to force the restart of the cruise industry in the state. Port Canaveral has already started vaccinating port workers and ship crew in an effort to prepare for the re-opening of the cruise industry.The CDC has issued guidelines that will allow for test cruises with volunteers to study COVID-19 protocols.