Central Florida State Attorney Aramis Ayala is pushing forward with a challenge to Gov. Rick Scott's removal of her from 22 death penalty cases, including a high-profile case involving accused cop-killer Markeith Loyd.

Hailed as "a judge's judge," C. Alan Lawson was formally sworn in Wednesday as a member of the Florida Supreme Court in a ceremony marked by high praise for Gov. Rick Scott's first appointee to the seven-member panel.

In a decision that opens the door for a poker room in downtown Miami --- and possibly others throughout South Florida --- an appeals court on Tuesday decided that gambling regulators were wrong to deny a new pari-mutuel permit to a Miami operator.

One case involved a tiny horse track where an employee waved a red rag to start a "race" between two aging nags

Another centered on whether pari-mutuels could continue to offer popular "designated-player" poker-style games at card rooms throughout the state.

And a third focused on a dispute between a public hospital system and an industry giant over building a new medical center in Doral.

A key House committee Tuesday approved a gambling measure aimed at creating a new agreement with the Seminole Tribe, though a tribe representative recently called the proposal a "non-starter" and major differences remain with the Senate.

A day after a newly elected prosecutor said she would not seek the death penalty in capital cases, the remainder of Florida's 20 state attorneys affirmed Friday they intend to pursue death sentences when appropriate.

A philosophical schism is plaguing a fractured Republican Party leading up to what insiders characterize as potentially one of the most contentious legislative sessions in modern history.

Senate President Joe Negron resigned from his law firm to avoid a possible conflict of interest over the Republican leader's advocacy on a water issue that has put him directly at odds with one of the firm's biggest clients.

With little discussion and virtually no debate, a Senate panel unanimously signed off Wednesday on a sweeping gambling plan proposed by one of the chamber's most powerful members.

A senator instrumental in the passage of the Legislature's last major gambling bill released a massive proposal Thursday that would allow slot machines in eight counties where voters have approved them, let South Florida pari-mutuels run blackjack games, and give tracks permission to do away with greyhound racing while keeping lucrative cardrooms and slots.