Judge recuses herself from school choice and funding lawsuit

The judge latest assigned to preside over Florida’s school choice and education adequacy lawsuit has decided to recuse herself from the case after plaintiffs raised questions about her involvement with Catholic organizations.

In a one-page order Friday, Judge Angela Dempsey does not explain her decision to take herself off the case, but indicates that it will be assigned to a different judge. The five-year-old case has already been passed among to multiple judges in the Leon Circuit Court.

The original request to disqualify Dempsey from hearing the case drew attention from critics of the lawsuit, for whom it conjured images of anti-Catholicism that has plagued debates over American education for centuries.

However, the plaintiffs reworked their arguments, and appear to have overcome objections lodged by attorneys representing the state.

The lawsuit argues Florida has not lived up to its constitutional obligation to adequately fund public schools, and lodges objections to a wide range of state education policies, including school choice programs, including the tax credit scholarships, which are administered by groups like Step Up For Students, which co-hosts this blog.