A Florida law that regulates how merchants handle credit card swipe fees violates the First Amendment, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled.
The 2-1 ruling strikes down a state statute that makes it a misdemeanor to impose a “surcharge” on a customer for using a credit card but expressly allows the offering of a “discount” for paying in cash. That appears to create a circuit split—which can prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved—given that the Second Circuit in September upheld a similar New York law.
