Legal Precedents Set in Florida

The Supreme Court of the State of Florida has a long history of legislation and setting legal precedents. The following are a few highlights of legal precedents set in Florida:
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<br>1. Recently, in the case of a 14-year-old boy killed in an ATV racing accident, the Florida Supreme Court ruled 4 to 1 in favor of the boy's parents who sued the ATV Park operator for their child's death. Justice Harry Lee Anstead wrote in the majority opinion "Florida's children and parents need not worry, after today's decision, that careless commercial operators may be immunized from their carelessness by the presence of an exculpatory clause in a ticket for admission."
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<br>2. In September of 2008, a proposed constitutional amendment in Florida which could have resulted in a serious battle over taxing business services such as advertising was thrown off the November ballot by a unanimous decision of the Florida Supreme Court yesterday. In April, the Florida Taxation and Budget Reform Commission approved a proposed constitutional amendment to significantly overhaul the way the State pays for schools - Amendment 5. The proposed amendment directed the legislature to choose among one or more of four options for making up the lost revenue: "(1) repealing sales tax exemptions "which are determined not to advance or serve a public purpose;" (2) increasing the current sales tax rate by one percent; (3) spending cuts in other state programs; and (4) "other revenues identified or created by the legislature."
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<br>3 In October 2008, the Florida Supreme Court announced its final ruling in Murray v. Mariners Health/ACE USA, reinstating hourly attorneys' fees in workers compensation cases.
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<br>4. In January, 2006, the Florida Supreme Court denied the state of Florida the ability to fund private schools with taxpayer money in their Decision on Opportunity Scholarships. "As the dissent and the First District Court of Appeal stated, 'Nothing in Article IX, Section 1 clearly prohibits the Legislature from allowing the well-delineated use of public funds for private school education, particularly in circumstances where the Legislature finds such use is necessary.' It marks the first time the Florida Supreme Court has struck an educational program only because private schools participate equally in it.
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<br>5. In 2006, the Supreme Court struck down a law passed by the Florida legislature that had created the United States' first state-wide education voucher program.
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<br>6. In Engle v. Liggett Group, the Supreme Court of Florida ordered decertification of a class action lawsuit against big tobacco companies that effectively reversed the largest punitive damage jury award, $145 billion, in U.S. history.
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<br>7. In 2004, the court struck down a piece of legislation from the Florida legislature designed to reverse a lower court decision in the Terri Schiavo case.
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<br>8. In the 2000 presidential election controversy, the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Florida Supreme Court after it had ordered a statewide recount.
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<br>9. In 1999, a dissenting opinion by one of the Justices sparked a world-wide debate over the use of Florida's electric chair, which may have led to events that caused the Florida Legislature to adopt lethal injection as the state's method of execution only a few months later.
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<br>These are just a few of the legal precedents state set in Florida. It will be interesting to see what future precedents will be set in Florida.
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Time that Champions League was for Champions | ArticlesBase.com

<p>Don't get me wrong, the current Champions League competition is an absolute marvel to watch, some great teams battle it out every week in this extraordinary clash of titans. But if one was to tell you that out of the 32 teams that participate only half are actual Champions in their own respective leagues.</p> <p>That has got to change. Yes some big clubs will miss out but why not. If a team is not good enough to win a league in their own country why should they be given the right to participate in a League of Champions. It obviously all smells of money but over the long term the small clubs who are Champions in their own countries will lose out meaning a monopoly, if you like, of just the larger European clubs. Why on earth a 4th place spot should be put into a qualifier for the biggest European trophy on offer is beyond belief.</p> <p>Many may oppose the idea but it should really just consist of 32 European champions, the rest and I mean 2nd, 3rd and 4th should be put into the Europa League to slug it out. Some may say that the Georgian Champions will have no chance against Manchester United, what, like Burnley never stood a chance?</p> <p>By getting into the Champions League each club makes a fortune through advertising and tv revenue, why can't the smaller nations be given a slice of this, rather than providing the 2nd and 3rd best teams in each country that bit extra for the next transfer market.</p> <p>Whilst the last two Champions League finals have been won by actual Champions it has not always been the case. Why does FIFA not allow teams in the World Cup qualification groups that finish in 3rd or 4th place to go through automatically? Because it would make the competiton worthless. In truth everyone wants to see the best teams play each other, but then is finishing 4th in another league granting you the title "one of the best teams" I think not and doubt very much that the tournament will change tact for at least another 5 years if at all.</p> <p>The Champions League needs to go back to how it was so that the <a href="http://www.qwertycasino.com/top10bookmakers.htm" rel="nofollow">best online bookmakers</a> can provide credible prices on who might win as a Champion, rather than just making the top 2 in Spain and England automatic favourites. It is still a cup and strange things happen, particularly in football. Some of the bigger teams can quite easily be beaten by other good teams with little money.(AC Milan lost 0-1 at home to FC Zurich of Switzerland) Although in fairness to Zurich, Milan should not have even been in the tournament.</p> <p>As the World changes so does the need to look after the smaller footballing communities and if that means a few of the so called bigger teams will have to make room then so be it.</p><strong>About the Author:</strong><br /><p>Ben Carsi is a freelance article writer from Kent currently working on <a href="http://www.qwertycasino.com" rel="nofollow">online casinos</a>.</p>