In a type of case it said has become increasingly common, a South Florida appeals court Wednesday rejected a legal-dependency request for a Guatemalan teen who entered the United States as an undocumented immigrant.

The ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal in a Palm Beach County case came a week after another appeals court rejected similar dependency requests for teens from El Salvador and Honduras.

Pointing to a time crunch, a Leon County circuit judge Wednesday gave the Florida Legislature little more than two months to draw new congressional districts and to defend them in court.

Judge George S. Reynolds III issued an order that said a special legislative session to redraw districts and a subsequent trial must be finished by Sept. 25. The order came after the Florida Supreme Court last week tossed out eight congressional districts because it found that lawmakers violated a 2010 constitutional amendment aimed at preventing gerrymandering.

After a high-profile legislative debate this spring about concealed weapons on college campuses, a state appeals court is poised to hear arguments in a dispute about whether guns should be allowed in residence halls and other housing at the University of Florida.

The case started with a dental assistant who went into surgery for carpal-tunnel syndrome and ended up suffering a perforated esophagus.

Now, nearly eight years later, the case could be another blow to a controversial 2003 law that limited the amounts of money injured patients can receive in medical-malpractice cases.

With supporters saying a free-market approach would spur more competition and more choices for patients, a House panel Tuesday approved a proposal that would eliminate key regulations on building hospitals.