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Hand v. Scott Edit
In January 2018, Walker ruled against Florida and ordered Governor Rick Scott to restore the voting rights of felons after their release from prison.[6]
League of Women Voters v. Detzner Edit
In July 2018, Walker invalidated as unconstitutional Florida's total prohibition on early voting sites on college and university campuses.[7] Walker determined the prohibition violated the First, Fourteenth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments and the law revealed a "stark pattern of discrimination" against younger voters. Consequently, in the 2018 midterms, nearly 60,000 people voted at the on-campus early voting locations.[8]
Keohane v. Jones , et al. Edit
Walker ordered the Florida Department of Corrections to continue providing a transgender woman prisoner with hormone treatment and ordered them to provide her with women's undergarments and grooming products.[9] The prisoner was diagnosed with gender dysphoria but has been housed in a male-only correctional facility. The case is currently on appeal.
Madera-Rivera v. Detzner Edit
In September 2018, Walker decided another significant voting rights case, in which he granted a preliminary injunction against Florida's Secretary of State, directing him to ensure that Spanish speaking voters have access to ballots in the Spanish language for the November 2018 elections.[10] This decision, made on the basis of Section 4(e) of the Voting Rights Act, was especially critical, as Florida was grappling with a recent influx of Puerto Ricans fleeing the aftermath of 2017's Hurricane Maria.
League of Women Voters v. Scott Edit
After the 2018 midterms, Judge Walker ruled in favor of then-Governor Rick Scott who oversaw the state's ongoing recount in which he was a candidate for U.S. Senate. “Though sometimes careening perilously close to a due process violation, Scott’s most questionable conduct has occurred in his capacity as a candidate rather than as governor," Walker wrote. Though Scott's actions were “reckless and haphazard“ and “Scott has toed the line between imprudent campaign-trail rhetoric and problematic state action. But he has not crossed that line."[11]
Anti-protest law Edit
On September 9, 2021, Walker blocked Florida's anti-riot law as violation of the 1st amendment. [12]
University of Florida professors Edit
In another free speech case, on January 4, 2022, Walker refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed by professors at the University of Florida after the University tried to stop them from testifying in a voting rights lawsuit. [13]
League of Women Voters v. Laurel M. Lee Edit
On March 30, 2022, Walker ruled that Florida Senate Bill 90 violated the Voting Rights Act, issued a permanent injunction against the law’s restrictions on absentee ballot drop boxes, and required Florida to obtain preclearance from federal courts before enacting election laws.[14][15][16]
In an outline of the legislative history of the bill, Walker wrote, "And the exact justification for SB 90 as a whole, and for its constituent parts, is difficult to pin down, with sponsors and supporters offering conflicting or nonsensical rationales."[17]
