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A 2015 law requiring women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion remains on hold tonight. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, a circuit judge in the state Capitol today gave the state 60 days to prove the state has a compelling interest in delaying abortions.

The 24 hour waiting period was passed and signed into law in 2015. It’s been in court every since. In February the State Supreme Court chastised an appellate court for allowing the law to go into effect. It concluded the mandatory delay law infringes on a woman’s right to privacy. Then it sent the case back to the trial level.

On Wednesday, Julia Kaye of the ACLU asked Judge Terry Lewis to rule the law unconstitutional.

“The only thing this law does is impose a one size fits all mandate that she must delay her procedure by 24 hours, even if she’s ready” the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project lawyer told the court.

But  Denise Harlee, Deputy Solicitor General asked for more time to gather evidence.

“We would like to look at facts from other states that do have a waiting period to show that women are changing their minds” Harlee told the judge.

Judge Terry Lewis made it clear the state has a huge hurdle to prove the law isn’t a burden on women.

“It’s Been going on a long time. I think if I were in your shoes, I’d be ready a long time ago.”

Still, he gave the state 60 days to prove its case.

“On the other hand, I think it’s very important that whatever happens here. there is a complete record” said Lewis.

Richard Johnson, the attorney for Gainesville Woman Care, who challenged the law, thinks the writing is on the wall.

“It does seem like he wants to bullet proof what he’s doing, and make sure that’s it’s just beyond challenge” said Johnson afterward.

Since 2015, the twenty-four hour wait has only been in effect  for about two months.

ACLU’s Julia Kaye it’s impact was still felt.

“And what we saw is that it caused tremendous harm” says Kaye.

Even after a likely October decision, the 24 hour wait is likely to remain in limbo as more appeals grind through the system

Florida’s Constitution has a stronger right to privacy than most states and the US Constitutions. The ACLU argued the wait has had the biggest impact on poor women, forcing them to take extra days off work, find childcare and additional transportation.

In the entire United States, AAA Motor Club says there are only two cities it calls speed traps, Lawtey and Waldo Florida. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the driver centered organizations now says it is considering changing their designation.

Lawtey and Waldo Florida are both on heavily traveled US 301. Waldo abolished its police force in 2015 after officers admitted ticket quotas were a reality. Lawtey has four full time officers and the chief.

Officer Jay Raulerson works morning in Lawtey.

“36, 37.”

His first stop, a correctional officer doing 37 in a residential neighborhood. The posted speed limit, 20. Raulerson’s message to the driver:  “The Chief’s been getting a lot of complaints of people speeding up and down through here.” The DOC employee got a break. Our crew replaced the printer that Raulerson would have used to issue a ticket.

Shane Bennet was elected Police Chief in Lawtey in 2014, after the previous chief of 52 years retired.

“The city of Lawtey, on a citation that’s a hundred and ninety six dollars, Lawtey only gets about thirty six dollars of that.So it’s not the cash cow that people think it is, and quite certainly its not our goal. Our goal is traffic safety” says the Chief.

Police here average 17 tickets a day.That’s one for every thousand cars that passes down this road.

Bennet has asked AAA motor clubs to reconsider their speed troop designation.

“We don’t want to be a speed trap designation. We don’t think we are a speed trap designation” says Bennet.

In a statement, AAA Vice President Kevin Bakewell says Given the abolishment of the Waldo police department and what appears to be more reasonable leadership in Lawtey, we are revisiting their designations.

“We want visitors to come through here, stop at our stores. And know that they are welcome and that they are not targeted” says the Chief.

One question AAA has asked. How many tickets go to locals compared to outsiders…Bennet says the answer is isn’t a winner for the small town. Locals are outnumbers 17 to one on Lawtey roads every day of the year.

Lawtey’s chief believes the city’s future is growing its tax base through tourism and economic development, not making people mad by giving them a ticket. AAA says we will be the first to know if the speed trap designation is removed.

Four Florida Insurers were in court this afternoon in the State Capitol, challenging a law that requires them to locate life insurance beneficiaries going back 25 years. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the companies say they don’t have to find anyone before the law was passed.

A year old Florida law requires life insurers to keep track of their customers who die and then track down the beneficiaries if a claim hasn’t been made. the four companies in Court say they are okay with finding beneficiaries polices of policies that were sold after the law took effect, but Attorney Barry Richard says the state can’t make them go back to 1992.
“What they can’t do Constitutionally, is impose it retroactively and say even though you followed the law, we’re going to change the law and you are going to go back and fix it at your cost” says Richard.

28 companies have settled and are not challenging the law.

The majority of the companies that settled with the state were already actively searching death records, so they knew when one of their policy holders died. They just didn’t do anything about it.

When passed, sponsorLizbeth Benacquisto estimated the state residents could be entitled up to up to a billion dollars.

“And if the beneficiary did not know they were named in that policy, and didn’t make a claim for those monies, the insurance companies kept the money” Benacquisto told the Senate.

The Companies in court say they never searched death records.

“The insurance company had an obligation to pay benefits upon proof of death, presented to it by survivors. It didn’t require insurance companies to constantly search records to see who died” says Richard.

An adverse ruling for the state in this case, could effectively stop the searchers being made prior to last year, leaving thousands of deceased policy holders wishes unfulfilled.

This afternoon, A circuit Judge in the Capitol told the state is must limit what records it wants to see and also limited the questions it can ask company officials when being deposed. The state promised to appeal the ruling.

A former Florida A&M University admissions officer was sentenced to five years probation, sixty days in jail, and fined fifteen hundred dollars. 46 year old James Ulee plead guilty to taking bribes from two parents to get their kids into the university. Judge James hankinson turned down defense requests to without adjudication.

“The amount of money involved is not great. The trust that you you betrayed is pretty…pretty amazing” Hankinson told Ulee,

Ulee was caught when a third parent went to police.