The Florida Supreme Court says it won't force state House members to return to the capitol for the end of this year's session. But the House did violate the constitution.

The high court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by state Senate Democrats.

Justices unanimously ruled that there would be no "beneficial result" by ordering House members back. The session is scheduled to end Friday at midnight.

But five of the seven justices agreed that the House violated the constitution by adjourning three and a half days early.

The Republican-controlled House filed legal papers defending its actions, while at the same time questioning whether the Florida Supreme Court even has the right to consider the lawsuit.

In their 23-page filing, attorneys for the House argue that the constitutional provision cited by the Democrats does not apply to a motion to end the session. They assert that for more than 40 years the Legislature has ended its session without a joint resolution between the House and Senate.

But the court battle has ratcheted up tensions. Rep. Matt Gaetz came under fire because late Thursday he criticized the Senate Democrat lawsuit on Twitter. Gaetz singled out two Democratic senators for legal errors and misspelled words contained in the filing. Both senators cited by Gaetz are black.

Joyner, who was one of those mentioned by Gaetz, called the comments "offensive" since he only mentioned black state senators. Other legislators, including Republicans, also criticized Gaetz's tweet. Rep. Mike Hill, a Pensacola Republican who is black, called the comments "divisive."

"There is absolutely no place in our party, state or nation for singling out people of color and suggesting they are inferior in their professional achievements," Hill said in a statement. "These types of antiquated insinuations do not bring people together in a way that represents the progress and greatness of our nation."

The legal decision brings a close to a contentious 60-day session for the Florida Legislature.

State legislators are ending their session without passing a new state budget. They have to pass a new budget by June 30 in order to avoid a government shutdown.

The divide between the two chambers is largely because a program that now provides more than $1 billion in federal aid to hospitals is to set to expire this summer although the state has asked for approval of an alternative program. Hospitals are predicting severe cutbacks if the money is lost.

The feds want Florida to expand Medicaid insurance to more than 800,000 low-income Floridians as part of the agreement to extend the hospital funds, which is part of the health care overhaul that President Barack Obama signed into law in 2010. But Florida Gov. Rick Scott and House Republicans are adamantly opposed to expanding Medicaid.

Senate President Andy Gardiner has asked House leaders to agree to return for a June special session to pass a new budget.