Case Explained: HM FLORIDA-ORL, LLC v. GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA, et al SECRETARY OF THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION

Court: United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit Filed: 2026-08-04 Docket: 6:23-cv-00950-GAP-LHP The eleventh-circuit vacated the district court’s preliminary injunction and remanded the case for further proceedings. The court held that the district court lacked equitable authority under the Judiciary Act of 1789 to issue a universal injunction prohibiting enforcement of Florida’s Protection of Children Act against all persons in the state, citing *Trump v. CASA, Inc.*, which established that such injunctions lack historical pedigree. Furthermore, the court determined that the plaintiff did not have a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of its facial First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment challenges. Applying rational-basis review to the statute’s regulation of obscenity for minors, the court found the Act constitutional because it tracks the *Miller* standard as adapted for children in *Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton*. The court concluded that the Florida Supreme Court’s authoritative construction of the term “lewd” eliminated any overbreadth or vagueness concerns, and that the statute’s age-variable standard (“age of the child present”) did not render the law unconstitutionally vague or overbroad. Do It For The Case Law is a news reporting service. Nothing in this episode constitutes legal advice.