Two unions representing nurses and other state employees were back in court this morning, arguing that efforts by the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC) to privatize prison health services violate state law.

The case was heard at 11:05 a.m. by Judge Kevin Carroll of the 2nd Judicial Circuit Court.

But the prison privatization saga is nowhere near over. The parties will be back in court in a couple of weeks, when Carroll will decide whether to let the case proceed, or else dismiss it and tell the unions they need to start from scratch and file a new lawsuit.

The Florida attorney general's office is investigating allegations that as many as half of the cardiac operations at some of Floridas major hospitals are being performed needlessly.

The Supreme Court of the United States has just ruled on a matter of great public controversy. Conservatives, and others committed to judicial restraint, are in an uproar: one of their own has betrayed them.

A sitting justice was the swing vote in a decision that radically and expansively altered the relationship between citizens and their constitutional liberties.

We had been assured by elected officials repeatedly during the soon-to-be justices Senate confirmation hearings that he was a conservative home run.

The recent shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by volunteer crime-watcher George Zimmerman in Seminole County has Florida Democrats in a furor, calling for a re-examination or repeal of the states controversial Stand Your Ground statute.

Related: "Public Pensions Can Sink the Ship"

One of the most dramatic Florida stories playing out through much of the 2012 legislative session was last years signature reform of the state employee retirement system.

Although none of the Republican candidates looking to defeat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson commands a monopoly of support, North Floridas major Republican players seem to agree on one thing: the U.S. Senate race in Florida is a virtual two-way between former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux and U.S. Rep. Connie Mack IV.

Certainly theyre the two front-runners, in terms of name recognition and fundraising, Bob McClure, the president and CEO of the James Madison Institute, told Sunshine State News.