Back in 1995, then-attorney general Bob Butterworth used a secret type of injunction in an effort to shut down out-of-state interests running bingo parlors as illegal gaming operations. But the state eventually lost the case. But the AG's office refused to post a $1.4 million bond in case of damages, claiming it had sovereign immunity.

Not so, says Orlando attorney Steve Mason. He said that under the "sword and shield doctrine," the state isn't allowed to use the sword of a secret injunction to harm someone and then use the shield of sovereign immunity.

Mason said every court, from the trial court to the Fifth DCA to the Florida Supreme Court has agreed with him. And now a judge has ordered Attorney General Bill McCollum to pay $7 million in a case that could have cost taxpayers far less if it had just settled way back when rather than used the courts and repeated motions to fight a losing case.