On Tuesday morning, Rick Kriseman held a news conference announcing legislation that would repeal the new law that restricts what doctors can say to their patients about guns. But he admitted that the chance of it even getting a committee hearing in the GOP controlled Legislature was extremely slim.
But on Wednesday he learned that law might be repealed without any action required from his Tallahassee colleagues.
That 's because a U.S. District Judge (originally appointed by George W. Bush) blocked its enforcement, ruling that the law violates the U.S. Constitution’s free speech guarantees and does not trample gun rights.
In Miami, Judge Marcia Cooke said it was important to emphasize “the free flow of truthful, non-misleading information within the doctor-patient relationship.”
This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2011.