HM Florida-ORL, LLC v. DeSantis

Case Overview

HM Florida-ORL, LLC v. DeSantis is a First Amendment challenge to Florida's Protection of Children Act, Fla. Stat. section 827.11, a 2023 law that makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly admit a child to an "adult live performance." The plaintiff, HM Florida-ORL, which operates the Hamburger Mary's restaurant in Orlando and hosts drag shows, sued under 42 U.S.C. section 1983, arguing that the statute's use of the word "lewd" and the phrase "the age of the child present" made it unconstitutionally overbroad and vague. In June 2023 the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Judge Gregory A. Presnell) granted a preliminary injunction and barred the Secretary of the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation from enforcing the Act against anyone in the state. A divided Eleventh Circuit panel affirmed, but the full court granted rehearing en banc. On August 4, 2026, the en banc Eleventh Circuit vacated the injunction in its entirety and remanded. The majority, in an opinion by Judge Brasher, held that the district court lacked authority to issue a universal injunction covering everyone in Florida under Trump v. CASA, Inc., 606 U.S. 831 (2025), and that Hamburger Mary's was not entitled even to a narrower injunction because its claims were not likely to succeed: the Florida Supreme Court's narrowing definition of "lewd" cured any overbreadth, and the phrase "the age of the child present" did not make the Act unconstitutionally vague. Judge Grant concurred; Judges Rosenbaum and Abudu dissented. The mandate issued on September 2, 2026, the stay was lifted, and the case returned to the district court for further proceedings.