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Florida Law
Blockbuster law cases with lasting significance
Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District
Summary: In 1994, when Florida businessman Coy A. Koontz purchased a 15-acre tract in east Orange County, he proposed building a subdivision on 3.7 acres of the property. He offered to set aside the rest of the land, which was mostly wetlands, for a conservation area. When the St. Johns River Water Management District also wanted him to replace culverts on district land more than four miles away, the deal fell through, and Koontz sued.
Significance: Nearly 20 years later, the U. S. Supreme Court favored Koontz in a decision that has been praised by land-rights advocates. Others say that the decision wasn’t clear enough and will just lead to more landuse litigation.
Beckwith Electric Company v. Kathleen Sebelius
Summary: Thomas Beckwith, owner of 168-employee Beckwith Electric in Largo, challenged the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that required him to include certain contraceptives in the company’s employee health plan. Beckwith, a devout Southern Baptist, balked at the plan’s mandate that he cover the morning-after pill and intrauterine devices that prevent fertilized eggs from implanting in the uterus. Beckwith argued that his religious beliefs equate using the contraceptives to murdering an unborn child. Beckwith won an injunction barring the government from enforcing the mandate.
Significance: Beckwith’s suit was the 50th filed in the country against the law’s contraceptive coverage mandate and the first to be decided in Florida. In November, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider the matter, focusing on suits involving Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma Citybased arts and crafts chain with 13,000 full-time employees, and a Pennsylvania company that makes wood cabinets.
Masone v. Aventura/ Orlando v. Udowychenko
Summary: The Florida Supreme Court heard arguments in these cases in November. Each involves a motorist who received a citation for running a red light in 2009.
Significance: The court agreed to hear the cases after conflicting opinions by lower courts concerning red light camera use. This ruling will likely determine the constitutionality of red light cameras in Florida.
Town of Greece v. Galloway/Atheists of Florida v. Lakeland
Summary: The Greece, N.Y., case involves a local government’s right to open a public meeting with a religious prayer. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing the case.
Significance: In March, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirmed Lakeland’s right to continue opening its city commission meetings with a prayer, so long as all faiths have an opportunity to pray. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, in Greece v. Galloway, could have the final say.
Alachua County v. Expedia
Summary: The case, currently being considered by the Florida Supreme Court, involves how much tax online travel sites, such as Expedia, must pay on Florida hotel rooms the sites sell online.
Significance: Local governments want the online sites to be taxed on the markup that the sites charge to their customers. Because that’s not happening now, Alachua County officials estimate they lose $100,000 a year in tax revenue.
