Federal Judge Blocks State From Threatening TV Stations Over Amendment 4

The Florida Department of Health is prohibited from prosecuting local television stations for airing an abortion rights advertisement.

A federal judge sided with the networks after the surgeon general threatened to file criminal charges against broadcasters.

And the judge didn't mince his words.

“To keep it simple for the state of Florida: It’s First Amendment stupid,” Mark E. Walker, chief U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Florida, wrote Thursday as he issued a preliminary injunction against the surgeon general.

The case stems from a 30-second ad by the group Floridians Protecting Freedom, which supports Amendment 4.

The ad is about a brain cancer survivor named Caroline.

“If I didn't terminate my pregnancy, I would lose my baby, lose my life and my daughter would lose her mother,” she said in the ad.

The state health department said the claims in the ad were “false” and “dangerous” to public health.

Stations across the state aired the ad and the Department of Health's general counsel responded by sending cease-and-desist letters.

Floridians Protecting Freedom then filed a lawsuit asking the court to stop the state from following through on its threats to sue.

The judge ruled that the Health Ministry's threats amounted to “viewpoint discrimination.”

He said there was “a significant likelihood of demonstrating a continued violation of his First Amendment rights by threatening direct punishment for his political speech.”

The judge's order is valid until October 29, a week before Election Day.

This ruling prevents Florida's surgeon general from going after local stations for airing the Amendment 4 ads.