Judge continues to block DeSantis administrators’ anti-abortion pressure campaign as state politicians tune in to Gov.

A federal judge has extended a temporary restraining order he issued earlier this month blocking the head of the Florida Department of Health from lobbying any threats on local television stations that air ads in support of Amendment 4, a proposition on the Florida ballot next week. which codifies abortion rights in the state constitution.

That means Florida State Surgeon General and Department of Health Chairman Joseph Ladapo will not be able to take any further steps to intimidate television stations into running ads until Election Day. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker made the decision during a hearing Tuesday, where he heard arguments from attorneys for state officials and Floridians Protecting Freedom, the group behind the abortion measure. Walker said he will decide whether to grant the preliminary injunction sought by FPF by Nov. 12, when the extended restraining order expires, or sooner.

FPF campaign director Lauren Brenzel sent a statement to TPM in response to Walker’s latest decision to side with the group:

“While this case is far from over, this second decision is yet another important victory for every Floridian who believes in democracy and the sanctity of the First Amendment. Once again, the court reaffirmed what we’ve known all along: The government cannot silence the truth about Florida’s strict abortion ban. This is a deadly ban that puts women’s lives at risk. This decision continues to remind us that Floridians will not back down in the face of government intimidation.”

As reported by TPMWalker initially issued a temporary restraining order in response to a FPF lawsuit seeking to stop just one level of the DeSantis administration’s taxpayer-funded Amendment 4 scare campaign. In addition to cease-and-desist letters to television stations that would have allowed broadcasters to face criminal charges for airing the ads, the DeSantis administration has used taxpayer dollars and state resources to oppose a measure that, if passed, would repeal the ban for six-week abortions in the state.

The DeSantis administration also used state resources to create state website attacking the amendment and even deployed law enforcement agencies to interrogate the supporters of the election event. In September, several Florida newspapers reported that plainclothes police were showing up at the homes of Floridians who had signed a petition to help put Amendment 4 on the ballot, asking them about their signatures and claiming they were investigating fraud. Also, earlier this month, the administration released a report alleging that FPF had committed “widespread petition fraud” in its effort to gather signatures to put the measure on the ballot.

In recent weeks, the governor’s office announced a fine against FPF and even tried to get the state legislature to investigate the group. Even former Florida Department of Health General Counsel John Wilson, who was originally named as a defendant in the FPF lawsuit along with Ladapo, said in a written affidavit that he had resigned about the ways in which the DeSantis administration instructed him to prepare and send cease-and-desist letters to television stations.

The shameless use of public resources to push for a political fix has even caused some of the state’s most influential Republicans to distance themselves from DeSantis’ police state project on intimidation. Here’s State Senator Joe Gruthers, former chairman of the Florida Republican Party, speaking with Politico in an article this week:

“No matter where you stand on an issue, it’s still a democracy, and in a democracy we don’t spend taxpayer dollars up front on a political issue,” he said. “Tax dollars are meant to be spent on our police, schools, roads and other public programs that make our state great, not on political agendas.”