Florida Constitutional Law

Book excerpt: Florida Constitutional Law, a casebook used throughout Florida since 1992, is now available in a new edition. This new edition updates, deepens, and refines its focus on an array of state constitutional points. The chapters include the functions of a state constitution and how the Florida constitution is amended; separation of power issues; the major constitutional limits on legislative power; the constitutional jurisdiction of the Florida courts, as well as the separation of powers limits on the courts that resemble the article III limits on federal judicial power; units of local government and their relationship to the state and each other; the major constitutional limitations on taxation and borrowing; a selected review of various sections of the Florida constitution's declaration of rights, including Florida's privacy guarantee (which is far more extensive than privacy under the United States Constitution), and Florida's homestead provision. The third edition retains the same clear organizational scheme as the first two. Although principally a casebook, the cases are stitched together with both text and problem sets. Four basic changes have been made: the depth of coverage has been increased; more explanatory text has been added to link the major edited cases together; additional chapter subheadings have been added; and new cases have been substituted for older ones.