Jim Saunders

A sharply divided Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a man didn't automatically give up paternal rights when he provided sperm to a couple for at-home artificial insemination. (Teresa Crawford/AP file)

Sperm donor didn’t give up paternal rights, Florida Supreme Court rules

December 31, 2025 at 10:44 a.m.

A sharply divided Florida Supreme Court has ruled that a man didn't automatically give up paternal rights when he provided sperm to a couple for at-home artificial insemination.

Backers of a proposed recreational-marijuana constitutional amendment filed a lawsuit Monday challenging directives by state elections officials that invalidated about 71,000 petition signatures. ( FatCamera/Getty Images file)

Marijuana amendment backers fight invalidation of signatures

December 30, 2025 at 1:26 p.m.

Backers of a proposed recreational-marijuana constitutional amendment have filed a lawsuit challenging directives by state elections officials that invalidated about 71,000 petition signatures.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier spekaing at Palm Beach State College west of Lake Worth on Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025, said the "deep state" was involved in trying to manipulate apportionment of congressional districts. (Amy Beth Bennett / South Florida Sun Sentinel)

Florida Supreme Court rejects Uthmeier proposal for lawyers to skip state bar exam

December 30, 2025 at 10:09 a.m.

The Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a proposal by Attorney General James Uthmeier that would have allowed some lawyers to practice in the state without taking the Florida Bar exam.

Calling it the “Health Care Medical Freedom Act,” a House Republican on Monday filed a bill that says health-care providers could not “discriminate” against patients based on vaccination status and seeks to add disclosure requirements when children get vaccinated. (Dreamstime/TNS)

Florida bill targets vaccination discrimination

December 29, 2025 at 4:57 p.m.

A House Republican has filed a bill that says health-care providers could not “discriminate” against patients based on vaccination status and seeks to add disclosures when kids get vaccines.

The U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to take up a challenge to a 2018 Florida law that bars people under age 21 from buying rifles and other long guns. (U.S. Supreme Court)

10 legal issues to watch in Florida in 2026

December 29, 2025 at 11:24 a.m.

Legal battles about myriad Florida issues — guns, Alligator Alcatraz, social media, utility rates and more — remain unresolved heading into 2026. Here are 10 big legal issues to watch.

Florida's lethal injection gurney is shown in an undated handout photo taken in the death chamber at Florida State Prison.

Justices reject challenges to Florida’s death penalty law

December 18, 2025 at 4:38 p.m.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rejected two challenges to a 2023 law that allows judges to impose death sentences without unanimous jury recommendations.

Florida biologist’s lawsuit gets go-ahead after her firing over Kirk social media post

December 16, 2025 at 4:39 p.m.

A federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss most of a First Amendment lawsuit filed by a former Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission biologist who was fired because of a...

A projected slide from the Charter Review subcommittee proposing rural boundaries in Orange County, at the board of county commissioners meeting in Orlando, Tuesday, May 21, 2024. Orange County and other municipalities are fighting in court over a new state law may invalidate the boudaries. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

Florida seeks to head off challenges to law suspending local growth limits

December 16, 2025 at 11:05 a.m.

The state is trying to short-circuit challenges to a law that blocks cities and counties from approving "more restrictive or burdensome" changes to growth plans.

Attorneys for condemned killer Frank Walls have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to prevent his scheduled Thursday execution. (Curt Anderson/AP file)

US Supreme Court asked to halt execution of Florida killer

December 16, 2025 at 10:19 a.m.

Attorneys for condemned killer Frank Walls have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch attempt to prevent his scheduled Thursday execution.

Florida State Prison in Raiford is where the state carries out its executions. (Sentinel archives)

Appeals court refuses to block latest Florida execution date

December 15, 2025 at 3:02 p.m.

Frank Walls is scheduled Thursday to become the 19th Florida inmate put to death by lethal injection this year.

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