Pointing to an arbitrary process that “ignores substance in favor of blind luck,” an administrative law judge rejected a state emergency rule drawn up to help license more methadone-treatment centers across Florida.

Judge R. Bruce McKibben, in a 44-page order, hammered a process in which the Department of Children and Families accepted applications for the licenses on a first-come, first-served basis. The News Service of Florida reported in December that the process led to applicants camping out at the department’s headquarters to be first in line.