TALLAHASSEE \u2014 Florida\u2019s laws look a lot different than they did in January.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s in large part because of court orders issued this year, which affected regulations from gun laws to book bans.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to know about the biggest decisions from 2025 \u2014 including one where a judge held the state\u2019s attorney general in contempt of court<\/a> \u2014 and what they mean going forward.<\/p>\n Florida has long stood apart from other conservative states when it comes to gun laws.<\/p>\n The Florida Legislature passed a ban on the open carrying of weapons in the 1980s, and it remained in law in the decades since \u2014 making Florida one of only a handful of states to ban open carry in nearly all circumstances.<\/p>\n But in September, the 1st District Court of Appeals struck down that statute as unconstitutional.<\/a><\/p>\n Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier quickly announced that he would not challenge the court\u2019s ruling and declared open carry \u201cthe law of the state.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n That means people in Florida can now openly carry firearms in public. Private property owners<\/a> can still bar guns from their homes or business establishments, and carrying weapons is still prohibited in certain sensitive zones, like courthouses and schools.<\/p>\n The court case that led to the open carry ban being toppled stemmed from the 2022 arrest of a man named Stanley McDaniels, who livestreamed himself in downtown Pensacola with a visible holstered pistol and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.<\/p>\n In ruling that Florida\u2019s open carry ban is unconstitutional, the 1st District Court of Appeals rejected a 2017 Florida Supreme Court decision that upheld the ban. They said that a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, which says firearm regulations must be based in historic practice,took precedence. Uthmeier agreed.<\/p>\n The Florida Legislature could make some changes to the state\u2019s gun laws based on the ruling. Uthmeier has said there may be \u201ccleanup<\/a>\u201d needed for state statutes, though he didn\u2019t specify further,and Senate President Ben Albritton said he wasthinking the issue through.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not yet clear what the Republican leadership\u2019s plan is.<\/p>\n In May, the 5thDistrict Court of Appeals ruled unconstitutional<\/a> a state law allowing minors to get an abortion without parental consent.<\/p>\n Florida law says minors could petition a judge to give them the OK to get an abortion without their parents\u2019 approval. Judges were tasked with deciding if the minor was mature enough to decide on their own to have an abortion.<\/p>\n That\u2019s what a 17-year-old did earlier this year. After a judge denied the waiver, the girl appealed to the 5thDistrict.<\/p>\n But instead of focusing on the 17-year-old individually, theappellate judges,in a move they themselves acknowledged as unorthodox<\/a>,used the case to ask broader constitutional questions about the judicial bypass process itself.<\/p>\n The court also invited Uthmeier<\/a>, Florida\u2019s attorney general, to weigh in on those legal questions, a move that some observers said was unusual. Uthmeier argued that the law violated parents\u2019 rights. The court agreed.<\/p>\n Now, Florida teenagers hoping to get an abortion are far more limited in being able to do so without their parents\u2019 OK. Only victims of child abuse could be able to move forward, an abortion access advocate said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear if the case will move forward to the Florida Supreme Court. But Florida\u2019s Legislature, which recently passed a ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy<\/a>, is unlikely<\/a> to try to bring the access back.<\/p>\n Early this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law that would create a state criminal offense<\/a> if a person in the country illegally enters Florida.<\/p>\n But that law has been blocked<\/a> since April, when a federal judge ruled that it was likely unconstitutional. The judge said the job of immigration enforcement is reserved for the federal government.<\/p>\n After Judge Kathleen Williams issued her ruling, Uthmeier told state and local law enforcement agencies that he could not \u201cprevent\u201d<\/a> them from making arrests under the law.<\/p>\n He argued that the judge\u2019s ruling only stopped those named in the lawsuit \u2014 the statewide prosecutor, some state attorneys and Uthmeier himself.<\/p>\n Williams disagreed and took the unusual step of holding Uthmeier in contempt of court<\/a>. Uthmeier\u2019s office must now file reports detailing any arrests under the blocked law.<\/p>\n According to the status reports Uthmeier has submitted so far, there have been six arrests under the blocked law. In each of those six arrests, the state attorney\u2019s office dropped the charge for illegal entry or took no action on it.<\/p>\n In the meantime, Florida has appealed Williams\u2019 ruling.<\/a><\/p>\n Major publishers last year challenged<\/a> a 2023 state law that led to thousands of books being pulled from school libraries.<\/p>\n This summer, those publishers \u2014including Penguin Random House, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster \u2014 prevailed.<\/p>\n A federal judge ruled that the law, which restricted books that describe \u201csexual content,\u201d was overly broad and unconstitutional.<\/a><\/p>\n The judge in his ruling noted that the statute led to the removal of books that he said were not obscene, including \u201cThe Bluest Eye,\u201d \u201cWater for Elephants,\u201d \u201cThe Color Purple\u201d and \u201cThe Kite Runner.\u201d<\/p>\n Publishers had argued the state law didn\u2019t consider a book\u2019s literary or artistic merit when pulling it from the shelves.<\/p>\n Florida has appealed the ruling.<\/a><\/p>\n DeSantis stepped into a role typically reserved for the Legislature when he in 2022 had his office draft<\/a> Florida\u2019s new congressional districts map.<\/p>\n Florida lawmakers ended up adopting his map<\/a> \u2014 which had 20 of Florida\u2019s 28 seats projected to go to Republican candidates \u2014 and that\u2019s exactly how the results shook out.<\/a> (The previous map had 16 Republican seats, and one fewer representative.)<\/p>\n Opponents argued the map unfairly diluted Black voting power<\/a> by disassembling a North Florida district that stretched across the Panhandle. DeSantis said the previously drawnseat relied too much on race.<\/p>\n The Florida Supreme Court agreed with the governor<\/a> when it issued a 6-1 ruling this summer, saying that the former district was a race-based gerrymander. The result: Florida\u2019s congressional map stays as DeSantis\u2019 office crafted it.<\/p>\n Unless he tries to change it again.<\/p>\n DeSantis has floated his interest in redrawing Florida\u2019s map earlier than the usual 10-year redistricting timeline. Other states like Texas have redrawn their districts at President Donald Trump\u2019s urging, while states like California have redrawn their maps in retaliation. Trump has eyed growing the House Republican majority ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.<\/a><\/p>\n In October, DeSantis turned his focus to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is hearing a case that could affect how race is considered in redistricting. DeSantis said if the court finds using race in drawing maps unconstitutional, it would mean Florida would have to redistrict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TALLAHASSEE \u2014 Florida\u2019s laws look a lot different than they did in January. 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