On April 30, U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker, an Obama appointee, upheld many severe Florida restrictions on the initiative process, including the new ban on out-of-state circulators. Florida Decides Healthcare v Byrd, n.d., 4:25cv-211. See this story.

Here is the Opinion. It says, near the beginning, “Indeed, before the Legislature enacted the challenged legislation at issue in this case, the chances of successfully proposing and passing a statewide ballot initiative was an uphill battle unless a sponsor was able to marshall enormous resources and put them to work in a massive statewide campaign. Now, according to Plaintiffs, that process has gotten even more challenging, inefficient, and expensive due to new restrictions imposed by HB 1205.” Judge Walker had previously enjoined the part of the new law that bans out-of-state circulators, but the Eleventh Circuit had reversed him on a 2-1 vote, despite all the case law in the last 25 years from other circuits that had struck down bans on out-of-state circulators.

The decision will be appealed.