TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A judge is hearing additional legal argument on the privatization of health care services in Florida's state prisons.
Circuit Judge Kevin Carroll ordered another hearing for Tuesday in Tallahassee. Carroll initially heard argument on May 29.
Public employee unions and two nurses are challenging a state budget provision that lets the Department of Corrections outsource inmate health care across Florida.
Another Tallahassee judge in a similar case has ruled lawmakers violated the state constitution by using the budget to privatize the operation of prisons in South Florida instead of passing a stand-alone law.
A three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal is set to hear oral argument in the state's appeal of that ruling on Wednesday in Tallahassee.
Associated Press