INSURANCE--PROPERTY--LIMITATION OF ACTIONS. The 2011 amendment to section 95.11(2), which changed the event for commencement of the limitations period for claims for breach of property insurance contracts from the date of the insurer's breach to the date of the casualty loss, does not apply retroactively to a claim that arose in 2011 when the insurer denied any further liability for damages that resulted from a 2006 incident. Read more...

TRAFFIC INFRACTIONS--RED LIGHT CAMERAS. The court dismissed a case charging a red light camera violation, finding the city failed to prove its compliance with statutory notice requirements, that the contract between the city and program operator violated statutory prohibitions on vendors receiving remuneration based on the number of violations detected, that the procedure of having the program operator transmit replicas of traffic citations to the court was contrary to statutory requirements, and that section 316.0083 was unconstitutional. Read more...

ELECTIONS--RACIAL DISCRIMINATION--VOTING RIGHTS ACT. Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act, which sets forth the formula for determining which jurisdictions are subject to Section 5's preclearance requirements before any change in the voting procedures can take effect, is unconstitutional, and its formula, which is not grounded in current conditions, can no longer be used as a basis for subjecting jurisdictions to preclearance. Read more...

EQUAL PROTECTION--RACIAL DISCRIMINATION--COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES—ADMISSIONS PROGRAM. The standard of strict scrutiny applied in a suit brought by a Caucasian student challenging the state university's consideration of race as one factor in its undergraduate admissions process. Read more...

EQUAL PROTECTION--DUE PROCESS--SAME-SEX MARRIAGE. Defense of Marriage Act, which excludes a same-sex partner from the definition of "spouse" as that term is used in federal statutes, is unconstitutional as a deprivation of the equal liberty of persons that is protected by the Fifth Amendment. Read more...

EQUAL PROTECTION--DUE PROCESS--SAME-SEX MARRIAGE--STATE LAW. The supporters of Proposition 8, which amended a state constitution to define marriage as the union between a man and woman and thereby banned same-sex marriage, lacked standing to appeal the district court's order declaring the law unconstitutional and enjoining public officials from enforcing the law. Read more...

ADOPTION--TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS--INDIAN CHILD WELFARE ACT. Relevant provisions of ICWA do not apply when the relevant parent never had custody of the child, and do not bar termination of a parent's rights when the parent abandons the Indian child before birth and never has custody of the child. Read more...