Supreme Court of Florida. Credit: Danielle J. Brown
The Florida Supreme Court denied a petition Thursday morning from a South Florida attorney who alleged that Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials interfered with the campaign for the the state’s proposed abortion-rights amendment.
The justices unanimously sided with the DeSantis administration in one of the legal challenges that emerged after a state health agency published a webpage alleging that Amendment 4 “threatens women’s safety.”
Petitioner Adam Richardson filed the case on Sept. 10, claiming Florida’s top leaders were misusing and abusing their offices in opposition to the amendment, which would protect abortion access until the point of viability. Someone found guilty of the statute Richardson cited in his petition would have committed a criminal misdemeanor of the first degree.
Justice John D. Couriel is the 90th justice on the Florida Supreme Court. Credit: Supreme Court website.
In the opinion, Justice John Couriel wrote that as a private citizen, Richardson couldn’t bring those criminal charges against the defendants — Richardson filed the challenge against DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Jason Weida, secretary of the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration.
“For one thing, we have never held that the writ lies to compel the criminal prosecution of a state actor or to enable a private citizen to enforce a state criminal statute. It is hard to see how he asks us to do anything short of that, for the statute is express about what a violation of its requirements constitutes: ‘a misdemeanor of the first degree,’” Couriel wrote.
Richardson wrote in a message to Florida Phoenix that he disagreed with the outcome but appreciated the court’s consideration of the case. The governor’s office, the attorney general’s office, and AHCA did not immediately respond to the Phoenix’s request for comment.
Just last week, a Tallahassee judge tossed out a similar suit filed by the ACLU of Florida and Southern Legal Counsel seeking to stop use of state resources to defeat Amendment 4.
Health department comes after pro-Amendment 4 ads
Meanwhile, the DeSantis administration continues moving against the amendment. The Florida Department of Health sent cease-and-desist letters on Oct. 3 to TV stations airing ads from Floridians Protecting Freedom, the political committee backing the amendment, according to the Miami Herald.
The department threatened to criminally prosecute the stations if they keep running an ad portraying a woman who was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago and said in the ad that the state’s six-week abortion ban would have prevented her from seeking an abortion.
Outrage over the move from the DeSantis administration prompted Jessica Rosenworcel, head of the Federal Communications Commission, on Tuesday to label the state’s efforts as “dangerous.”
“The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment. Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech,” she said.