Written by Brandon Larrabee The News Service of Florida TALLAHASSEE - House leaders pulled the plug today on a controversial bill that would have spelled out legislators' immunity from testifying in civil lawsuits moments after a key senator said he could not support the bill. Under the measure (HB 7123), lawmakers would be immune from any civil action surrounding state business, though they could still be called to testify in criminal matters. Staff members would also be immune and could not waive their immunity without the permission of the lawmaker they were working for at the time or the presiding officer. http://www.news-press.com/article/20120220/NEWS0120/120220030/Florida-legislative-immunity-bill-dead-year?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome … [Read more...]

Courtesy of Earth Justice Tallahassee, FL —Earthjustice today filed a Government-in-the-Sunshine suit against the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission because the agency illegally held closed-door meetings to craft a plan which would cut off the public’s boating access to part of Fisheating Creek in Glades County. The state’s ill-advised plan is to build roads through wetlands and dump 50 million pounds of sand into Fisheating Creek to permanently block the public navigation channel. “It’s unconscionable to see a state agency—which runs on our tax dollars—illegally bar the public from meetings which should be public. It’s even worse when the state agency is behind closed doors hatching a plan to let a politically powerful agricultural company illegally shut off ordinary people’s rights to run their boats down a public waterway,” said … [Read more...]