Thursday, March 28, 2024

Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against DeSantis Migrant Flights

-

Democrats are infuriated after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Florida Governor ' migrant flights, teeing up a possibility the governor may resume the program shortly.

While Leon Circuit Judge John C. Cooper dismissed the lawsuit, he still handed liberals a win. The judge also gave state Sen. Jason Pizzo (D-Miami) — the plaintiff who sued DeSantis and other state officials — two weeks to revamp his lawsuit, according to Politico.

“We're talking about technical pleading issues, we're not talking about the ultimate decision in this case, or anything else,” Cooper said in Tallahassee. “Anything that I said by the way of hypotheticals, or whatever, should not be taken as a ruling or anything of that nature, for or against.”

“It's not authorized in the or the House for your dollars or my dollars to be spent in Texas,” Pizzo told reporters Monday.

Judge Cooper said there were not currently enough specific details in the lawsuit that showed the program was unconstitutional for it to move forward. He also questioned whether the litigation, which was originally filed against DeSantis and Department of Transportation head Jared Perdue, was aimed at the correct individuals.

Cooper recommended Pizzo and his attorneys craft a new complaint clearly spelling out their arguments questioning the constitutionality of the migrant flights and how state policies were violated by top officials not properly bidding out contracts for the jobs.

“I don't know that there is an enforcement official in this, or that the governor is a quote-unquote enforcement official under this statute,” Cooper said. “It seems to me the ability to sue the governor in this case depends upon other facts that might be unique to the situation here, which I think need to be alleged.”

Attorneys for the DeSantis administration sought to dismiss the suit entirely, arguing it “fails at the starting gate.”

Pizzo sued DeSantis and other Florida officials in September after 50 migrants were flown to Martha's Vineyard, triggering an intense backlash from the left.

As American Liberty News previously reported:

Pizzo says he wants to take DeSantis to court to prevent the governor from using any more taxpayer dollars to fund the flights. However, DeSantis justified the flights by pointing to the state budget that sets aside $12 million for a new program to transport migrants unlawfully in the . A majority of Democrats voted to approve the measure, including Pizzo.

“The legislature gave me $12 million. We're going to spend every penny of that to make sure that we are protecting the people of the state of Florida,” DeSantis said.

However, Pizzo points out that the budget states that the money was for transporting those individuals “from this state.” All of the individuals transported by Florida were picked up in Texas.

This is a story. Check back with American Liberty News for the latest updates.

READ NEXT: Iran's Violent Protests a Powder Keg for Regime – Where's Biden? >>

Nancy Jackson
Nancy Jackson
Nancy grew up in the South where her passion for politics first began. After getting her BA in journalism from Ole Miss she became an arts and culture writer for Athens Magazine where she enjoyed reporting on the eclectic music and art scene in Athens, GA. However, her desire to report on issues and policies impacting everyday Americans won out and she packed her bags for Washington, DC. Now, she splits her time between the Nation’s Capital and Philadelphia where she covers the fast-paced environment of politics, business, and news. In her off time, you can find Nancy exploring museums or enjoying brunch with friends.

3 COMMENTS

    • It is a cliff-hanger. We shall see in time, as motives and schemes surface into view. If my information is correct, one fact remains: the ‘migrants’ were asked to sign permission statements. Other than that, state sovereignty should prevail (let us hope so).

Comments are closed.

Latest News