Crowley Political Report

Will this be an issue in the final days of 2010 campaign?

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, just hours before the deadline, has decided not to challenge an appeal court ruling allowing gays to adopt children.

McCollum said he does not believe the decision by the Third District Court of Appeal is the right case to defend Florida's law banning gay adoptions.

In a statement, McCollum said:

"The constitutionality of the Florida law banning adoption by homosexuals is a divisive matter of great public interest. As such, the final determination should rest with the Florida Supreme Court, not a lower appellate court. But after reviewind the merits of independently seeking Supreme Court review, following the decision of our client, the Department of Children and Family Services, not to appeal the decision of the Third District Court of Appeal, it is clear that this is not the right case to take to the Supreme Court for determination.

"No doubt someday a more suitable case will give the Supreme Court the opportunity to uphold the constitutionality of this law."

McCollum's final line suggests that while the issue appears resolved today, there is a chance that new case challenging gay adoptions will eventually find its way to Florida Supreme Court.