State Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran announced Aug. 30 that the Florida Department of Education had started to withhold funds from the Alachua and Broward County school districts in amounts equal to the monthly salaries of school board members who voted for student mask requirements.
Ron DeSantis
Gov. DeSantis Reshaped Florida’s Appeals Courts. It Seems to Be Working Out for Him
The question is whether the conservative monoculture DeSantis and his predecessors have built within the judicial branch is willing to check excesses committed by the executive and legislative branches, which the Republican Party has dominated for decades. The question is being answered in the negative.
Federal Judge Issues Injunction Against Florida’s Protest Law, Calling It ‘Vague and Overbroad’
Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker on Thursday blocked a controversial state law that enhances penalties and creates new crimes in protests that turn violent. Walker, who has frequently clashed with the DeSantis administration and the GOP-controlled Legislature, granted the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction blocking DeSantis and three sheriffs from enforcing the law.
Gov. DeSantis, in Palm Coast, Opens Federally-Funded Monoclonal Center at Daytona State College Campus
Continuing his tour across the state, Gov. Ron DeSantis this morning stopped at Daytona State College’s Palm Coast campus to announce the opening of a free monoclonal treatment center made possible by federal funds. The treatment will be open seven days a week starting Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The treatments do not require a prescription.
Judge Issues Written Ruling Barring DeSantis from Banning Mask Mandates or Enforcing Order, But Appeal Is Imminent
Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper on Thursday released a written ruling that said Gov. Ron DeSantis overstepped his constitutional authority in a July 30 executive order that sought to prevent school districts from requiring students to wear masks. Cooper issued an injunction barring the enforcement of DeSantis’ order.
Lawmaker and Non-Profit Sue Department of Health Over Its Refusal to Release Previously Available Covid Data
The Florida Center for Government Accountability and House Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, late Monday sued the Florida Department of Health and Surgeon General Scott Rivkees over the department’s refusal to provide Covid-related statistical records it used to make public daily.
Federal Judge Tangles with DeSantis Administration Lawyer Over ‘Rabbit Hole’ Protest Law
The Dream Defenders, the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and other organizations allege in a lawsuit that the measure, approved by Republican legislators and signed by DeSantis this spring, is unconstitutionally vague, has a “chilling” effect on First Amendment rights and gives local police too much power.
$2.3 Billion in Federal School Aid Still Sits Unused Because Florida Hasn’t Sent In Spending Plan
Florida is one of only five states that has not submitted a state plan for Covid relief to the U.S. Department of Education, holding up billions in federal funds to help the Florida education system recover from the impacts of Covid-19 in schools.
Those Disappearing Covid Stats: It’s Not Just Florida
Florida has been accused of being less than transparent with covid health data. Newspapers have sued or threatened to sue the state several times for medical examiner reports, long-term care data, prison data and weekly covid reports the state received from the White House.
Who Wants to Be Ron DeSantis’s Surgeon General? No Easy Answers.
Scott Rivkees announced he will leave his post as surgeon general and secretary of the Florida Department of Health next month. But the move comes amid a surge of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Combine that with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ antagonism to federal health authorities and mask mandates, and it might make it difficult to find a replacement.