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Flagler, Florida and Beyond
FlaglerLive | December 28, 2016
Gonzalez’s bills are a reflection of the Legislature’s latest assault on judicial power. But taking aim at separation of powers considered fundamental, if not sacred, to American government may be more of a partisan than a realistic exercise.
FlaglerLive | October 4, 2016
Darlene Walker, formerly ex-Elections Supervisor Kim Weeks’s deputy, claims Kaiti Lenhart fired her in 2015 after she returned from a medical leave because of her age and her disability.
FlaglerLive | September 30, 2015
The settlement agreement after an 18-month fight clears the way for Open Door Ministry to run a 12-bed residential program for drug and alcohol addicts on East Booe Street in Bunnell.
FlaglerLive | July 30, 2015
The 2-1 decision by a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was a victory for the National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates and a defeat for medical groups that argued, at least in part, that the law infringed on doctors’ First Amendment rights.
FlaglerLive | July 30, 2015
The plane was misled to Flagler airport instead of the nearer Ormond airport when the emergency began, the two daughters of the pilot and two sons of a passenger claim in their federal lawsuits.
FlaglerLive | May 2, 2015
The federal lawsuit challenged corrections officials’ claim that they were not required to provide kosher meals, as well as the rules the agency used to determine who was eligible to receive the meals.
FlaglerLive | April 30, 2015
The 5-4 decision, written by Chief Justice Roberts, upholds a ban in a case started by Lanell Williams-Yulee, who in 2009 sent out a mass mailing asking for campaign contributions during her bid for a Hillsborough County judgeship.
FlaglerLive | April 29, 2015
At least 42 Floridians have gone to prison on tainted FBI evidence, including one who was executed and as many as nine who remain on death row, after trials in which FBI “experts” gave testimony that the agency concedes to have been unscientific.
FlaglerLive | January 1, 2015
U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle warned that clerks of court who refuse to comply with the ruling expose themselves to be a party to the suit, allowing successful plaintiffs to recover costs and attorneys’ fees.
FlaglerLive | November 8, 2014
Four ex-deputies have sued Sheriff Jim Manfre in federal court over briefings they were forced to attend without being paid, causing the Sheriff to shelve a 1 percent raise previously due the agency’s employees.
FlaglerLive | April 2, 2014
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected arguments from Rick Scott’s administration that the effort to remove suspected non-citizens from the voting rolls did not violate a federal law barring wide-ranging efforts to cleanse those rolls within 90 days of an election.
FlaglerLive | March 13, 2014
Linda Thomas, a retired attorney in Palm Coast, filed the lawsuit in federal district court, charging the city’s code enforcement division with violations of the 4th and 14th amendments. Flagler County circuit court in two rulings already found the code enforcement division had improperly and arbitrarily cited Thomas, but the court did not address constitutional issues.
FlaglerLive | May 29, 2013
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals declared an executive order by Riock Scott to drug-test 85,000 state employees and all job applicants as mostly unconstitutional, but left room for a lower court decision to be rewritten to allow for certain employees in certain categories to be drug tested–essentially restoring Florida’s drug-testing standard to what it was before the governor’s executive order.
FlaglerLive | March 27, 2013
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over all of Florida, ruled that the Lakeland City Commission’s custom of opening meetings with a prayer was constitutional, though the court sidestepped the city’s focus on Christian prayers, and its closed door to atheists, agnostics, humanists or other non-clergy representatives.
FlaglerLive | October 28, 2011
If successful, the lawsuit would have far-reaching consequences as it seeks reimbursements for all ticket fines, which in Palm Coast exceed $1.35 million since 2008.
FlaglerLive | October 24, 2011
Judge Mary Scriven called Florida’s requirement that welfare recipients be drug-tested a violation of 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable searches, and dismissed claims that the law would save money.
FlaglerLive | October 19, 2011
American citizens who’ve lived in Florida for years and have all the documents to prove it are denied in-state tuition rights the moment they can’t prove that their parents are lawful Florida residents–an unconstitutional form of discrimination against citizens, the Southern Poverty Law Center charges in the lawsuit.
FlaglerLive | September 9, 2011
Federal District Judge Ursula Ungaro rejected the argument that the anti-gerrymandering amendment allows voters to meddle in legislative redistricting. Weird alliances between incumbent Democrats and Republicans have formed to keep fighting the voter-approved amendment.
FlaglerLive | September 7, 2011
The new law requires recipients of temporary cash assistance to pay $35 to $45 for a drug test first. The ACLU charges the law stigmatizes low-income people and amounts to a suspicionless search.
FlaglerLive | August 12, 2011
A divided panel of the conservative 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, in a case from Florida, ruled health reform unconstitutional, saying it is “unprecedented, lacks cognizable limits and imperils our federalist structure.”
FlaglerLive | July 18, 2011
A businessman had paid for the 6-ton monument, but a judge said its message was a clear government endorsement of religion, violating the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
FlaglerLive | June 22, 2011
Judge Jose Martinez, a George W. Bush appointee, relied on a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring judges from interpreting “aggravating factors” independent of juries’ explicit findings.
FlaglerLive | January 6, 2011
Citing savings and security, the sheriff is banning non-postcard correspondence beginning Jan. 15. The ban costs inmates money and chills their speech, a federal lawsuit filed over a similar policy in Santa Rosa County charges.
FlaglerLive | December 13, 2010
Monday’s ruling doesn’t stop the roll-out of federal health care reform. Two federal judges have previously ruled the law constitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court will settle the issue by 2012 or 2013.
FlaglerLive | December 8, 2010
The most popular reason offered for the dearth of financial crisis prosecutions is that the banking system was hit by a systemic and unforeseeable disaster, which means that it’s unlikely that anyone committed any crimes. Is it?
FlaglerLive | October 10, 2010
A U.S. District Court opinion about an Al-Qaeda suspect held at Guantanamo Bay’s Gitmo prison was removed from circulation and rewritten, revealing critical alterations and insights into the Justice Department’s elaborate deceptions, which undermine the credibility of the court system.
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