Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is asking a federal judge for permission to perform “mental examinations” on a pair of 12-year-olds who are plaintiffs in a challenge to a state rule preventing Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender people.
Ron DeSantis
DeSantis Wants Freedom of Medical Disinformation and Bans on Safety Requirements
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday, flanked by Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, unveiled an initiative to permanently ban mask requirements across Florida, permanently block Covid-19 vaccine requirements at schools and businesses, and provide protection of “medical freedom of speech”–that is, physicians who disagree with Covid science.
DeSantis’ Attack on New College Is Latest Poisoning of Public Education
The governor has just appointed six new ultra-conservative trustees to the board of New College of Florida in Sarasota. They want to trash its tradition of intellectual freedom and transform it into an institution DeSantis’ base would love, a Bob Jones-style religious school funded with taxpayer money.
Florida Is Accused of Violating Federal Court Order and Restricting Race Education Anyway
Plaintiffs challenging a state law restricting how race-related concepts can be taught in higher education accused Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration Wednesday of violating a federal judge’s order that blocked parts of the law from being enforced.
Moms for Liberty Want ‘Don’t Say LGBTQ’ Law Expanded to Cover K-8
The Florida chapter of Moms for Liberty, the conservative nonprofit that advocates for parental rights in schools, would like state lawmakers to expand the state law that restricts classroom instruction about gender identity and sexual orientation for children from kindergarten through the third grade.
On Rosewood Massacre Anniversary, Sad to See DeSantis Embrace Florida’s Old South Legacy
It’s sad to see Ron DeSantis embrace our Old South legacy rather than trying to lead us to a more inclusive New South future. Instead of demanding equal treatment under the law, open-eyed education and zero-tolerance for anti-Semitism and racism, he runs the other way.
DeSantis Invokes Bible, Gun Analogies and Anti-Wokism in Inaugural Pitched to Ambitions
The governor vowed to “stand our ground” in defense of low taxes, parental rights in education, “law and order,” and more — although Democrats, independents, and overall progressives in Florida would likely beg to differ. The theme and tenor of the speech suggests that DeSantis spoke to a larger goal: running for president.
Myocarditis: Covid-19 is a Much Bigger Risk to the Heart than Vaccination
Perhaps the most common point of conflict concerning Covid-19 vaccines is the risk of myocarditis following immunization, particularly among young people. In Florida, Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo and Gov. Ron DeSantis have turned against vaccinating younger people based on that misconception.
Acceding to DeSantis, Florida Supreme Court Impanels Grand Jury to Investigate Vaccines
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday approved a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate alleged wrongdoing related to Covid-19 vaccines.
DeSantis Stokes Culture Wars at the Expense of Bright Schools and Free Speech
The culture war battles being waged in Florida are not only doing lasting damage to the public education system but to the basic constitutional rights of all Floridians. Freedom of speech protects the right to freedom of conscience, debate ideas and question authority.
Florida Ranks Poorly in Social Capital, Personal Freedom and Governance in Milken Center Report
Florida ranks 31st in overall prosperity according to the American Dream Prosperity Index (ADPI), 47th in social capital and 37th in personal freedoms, significantly lower marks than Gov. Ron DeSantis has been giving himself.
Democracy Has Its Place, But Apparently Not at the Florida Capitol
Determined to keep the Free State of Florida the most incredibly free in the Land of the Free where freedom rings 24/7, Gov. Ron DeSantis is going to stop loud, tacky, possibly gay people from waltzing into his Capitol to “protest.”
Flagler Public Health Officials Reassert Efficacy of Covid Vaccines as DeSantis Intensifies Denialism
In a sharp escalation of Covid vaccine denialism by a sitting governor, Ron DeSantis on Tuesday called on the state Supreme Court to empanel a grand jury to investigate alleged “wrongdoing” related to the vaccine, as Flagler County’s architects of the response to the pandemic reasserted the efficacy of the vaccine and relied on the latest science.
Jacob Oliva Warns Districts That Their LGBTQ Support Policies Don’t Align With Parental ‘Rights’
Jacob Oliva, senior chancellor for the education department–and a former superintendent in Flagler schools–wrote letters to school superintendents in 10 districts, warning them that LGBTQ support policies may run afoul of current law and state board rules. The state board will discuss the policies during a meeting Wednesday.
Major DeSantis Donor and Board of Governors Member Kent Stermon, Under Investigation, Takes His Own Life
Kent Stermon, a Jacksonville-area businessman and member of the state university system’s Board of Governors, was found dead in an apparent suicide. Stermon was president and chief operating officer of Total Military Management.
Federal Lawsuit Charges DeSantis Migrant Relocation Program Is ‘State-Sponsored Harassment’
Accusing Gov. Ron DeSantis of an “attempt to legalize state-sponsored harassment,” immigrant-advocacy groups filed a federal lawsuit challenging an “unauthorized alien” relocation program approved by state lawmakers earlier this year.
DeSantis Continues Attacks on Disney on Word of Lawmakers’ 2nd Thoughts
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ron DeSantis called “fake news” on reports that Republican lawmakers are working on legislation to scale back a law rushed through earlier this year stripping Walt Disney of its unique self-governing power in Central Florida.
In Local Interview, Paul Renner Repeats Baseless Claims About Drag Queens and ‘Sexualization’ Of Children
Rep. Paul Renner, the Palm Coast-based Republican just elected Speaker of the House, returned to his criticism of “drag queen storytime” today in an interview on WNZF, repeating controversial–and baseless–claims that some parents are more interested in defending drag queens than ensuring that children learn to read.
DeSantis’s New Target: Restricting Demonstrations at State Capitol in Name of Protecting Children
The state Department of Management Service’s proposal, in part, seeks to prohibit actions or displays that are “harmful” to children from taking place in the Capitol. The DeSantis Administration proposal is the latest in a series of measures restricting protest and speech.
Florida Is Turning Its Back on the New South, Embracing its Dixie-fied Past
Florida for decades was determined to leave Jim Crow behind and separate ourselves from the likes of Alabama, with leadership committed to equal justice, open government, and voting rights — however imperfectly achieved. No more. With the reelection of Ron DeSantis, and ultra-conservative victories in gerrymandered congressional districts across the state, Florida is sliding back into the mire of its Old South past.
Citing Orwell, Federal Judge Calls DeSantis’s ‘Stop Woke Act’ Unconstitutional Muzzling of Academic Freedom
Calling the state’s approach “positively dystopian,” a federal judge on Thursday blocked a law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis that restricts the way race-related concepts can be taught in universities. The law is “antithetical to academic freedom and has cast a leaden pall of orthodoxy over Florida’s state universities,” Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker wrote in the 139-page ruling.
DeSantis Deflects But Doesn’t Silence Speculation on 2024 Presidential Bid
Following former President Donald Trump officially launching his 2024 presidential campaign, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday didn’t acknowledge Trump’s big announcement last night. And former President Trump didn’t mention DeSantis’ name during his speech at Mar-a-Lago Tuesday evening.
State Emergency Management Chief Kevin Guthrie Calls for ‘Holistic’ Re-Engineering of Florida Coast
Speaking at Flagler Tiger Bay Club, Kevin Guthrie, the state emergency management director, never used the words “climate change,” but nevertheless addressed needed changes in how Florida manages and re-engineers its coastline in words that would intrigue even Greenpeace activists.
Ladapo Will Continue as DeSantis’s Controversial Surgeon General
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that controversial state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo will remain in the post as DeSantis enters his second term.
Leann Pennington, Theresa Pontieri, Will Furry and Cathy Heighter Win, Half-Cent Tax Passes, Amendments Fail
For Flagler County and Palm Coast, it is an election of new faces: four races, four newcomers to elected office: Leann Pennington won a seat on the County Commission, Theresa Pontieri and Cathy Heighter won seats to the Palm Coast City Council, and Will Furry won a Flagler County School Board seat.
DeSantis Administration Violated Public Records Law With Snub of Migrant Flight Data Request
A Leon County circuit judge Tuesday ruled that Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration did not comply with the state’s public-records law after an open-government group sought records about a controversial decision to fly migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
Culture Wars, Abortion, Crime, Immigration and Spin Dominate Raucous DeSantis-Crist Debate
Crist opened the evening as a clear underdog whom DeSantis has far outstripped in fundraising and polling. The governor’s sitting on more than $107 million in cash on hand. Crist has just $2.2 million in comparison.
DeSantis, Transportation Department and Contractor Sued Over Records on Migrant Flights
The Florida Center for Government Accountability filed a lawsuit last week against Gov. Ron DeSantis and the governor’s office and this week against against the Florida Department of Transportation and a state contractor, alleging they did not comply with public-records requests stemming from controversial flights of migrants to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts.
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Federal Judge Weighs ‘Stop Woke Act”s Gag on Certain Forms of Instruction About Racism
A federal judge on Thursday sparred with attorneys about a controversial state law that restricts the way race-related concepts can be taught in classrooms, as university professors argue it violates speech rights.
Florida Center for Government Accountability Sues DeSantis Over Migrant Flight Records
The Florida Center for Government Accountability filed the lawsuit in Leon County circuit court and alleged that the governor’s office did not comply with requests to release a series of records about the migrant flights.
Rebuilding Southwest Florida Will ‘Take a Hell of a Long Time,’ Biden Says in Fort Myers
The president and First Lady Jill Biden surveyed storm damage by helicopter. He pledged that federal, state and local governments will work together to help the people of Southwest Florida recover from the massive Hurricane Ian disaster.
Lawsuit Cites DeSantis Trickery in Seeking to Block Further Migrant Flights
Lawyers representing asylum seekers who were allegedly “tricked” into going from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard on flights funded by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration said Wednesday they are seeking a nationwide injunction to block the governor from luring immigrants to travel across state lines.
DeSantis’s Martha’s Vineyard Trafficking May Be Illegal
Transporting consenting migrants who have the paperwork to be in the U.S. is legal. But certain factors – like DeSantis’ intent and knowledge of the migrants’ immigration status – could create potential civil and criminal liability.
DeSantis Pulls From Segregationists’ Playbook with Anti-Immigration Stunt
Governors Greg Abbott in Texas and Ron DeSantis in Florida are following the playbook of segregationists who provided one-way bus tickets to Northern cities for Black Southerners in the 1960s. At that time, the fight for racial equality was attracting national attention and support from many white Americans, inspiring some to join interracial Freedom Rides organized by civil rights groups.
Judge Clears Way for Challenge to Law Allowing State to Override Local Police Budget Decisions
A Leon County Circuit judge on Tuesday cleared the way for a lawsuit challenging part of a controversial protest law that gives the governor and Cabinet the authority to override local governments’ decisions about police spending.
Federal Judge Skeptical of DeSantis Suspension of Elected Prosecutor, But No Reinstatement for Now
A federal judge refused on Monday to reinstate Andrew Warren as state’s attorney for Hillsborough County, saying he first wants to fast-track a trial to better establish the motivation behind Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of the elected prosecutor.
DeSantis Pledges More Migrant Flights Out of Florida at State’s Expense
The flights Wednesday mostly involved Venezuelan migrants and included about 10 children. Two planes went from San Antonio, Texas, to the Florida Panhandle community of Crestview before going north.
DeSantis Defends Martha’s Vineyard Migrant Flight But Details of ‘Repulsive’ and ‘Cruel Ruse’ Scant
Saying undocumented immigrants were sent to “greener pastures,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday defended Florida’s participation in a pair of flights carrying about 50 migrants, including children, that landed Wednesday at Martha’s Vineyard Airport.
Another DeSantis ‘Press’ Conference Basks in Applause and Takes No Questions
Gov. Ron DeSantis opened the floor for questions at the end of a Jacksonville news conference Monday and left after allowing a single person in the crowd to shout what sounded like, “We love you.”
Federal Judge Clears UCF Prof Robert Cassanello to Sue Over DeSantis’s ‘Stop Woke Act’
Cassanello, a history professor at UCF, and other plaintiffs, including public-school teachers and a student, filed the lawsuit in April after DeSantis signed the law (HB 7), arguing that it violated First Amendment rights and was unconstitutionally vague.
In 4th Legal Challenge Against DeSantis’s ‘Stop Woke Act,’ USF Professor and Student File Suit
In a 91-page complaint, lawyers for USF associate professor of history Adriana Novoa, student Samuel Rechek and the First Amendment Forum at University of South Florida raised a series of arguments that the law violates speech rights.
Nikki Fried Challenges Gov. DeSantis’s ‘Publicity Stunt’ in Vote-Fraud Arrests of 20 Felons
Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services Nikki Fried notes that it is the responsibility of the Division of Elections to screen prospective voters for criminal records, because the county supervisors of election lack access to the necessary state databases.
Who Will Rescue Our Tender Youth from Deviant Professors and their Noisome Notions?
Give it up, wokester profs: Ron DeSantis will no longer tolerate your anti-American spin on our history, your critical race theorizing, your LGBTQ weirdo agenda, and your communist indoctrination of our kids in Florida’s great state universities.
Ex-Judges, Prosecutors, Police Chiefs and Legal Scholars Lambast DeSantis Suspension of State Attorney
More than 100 legal scholars and dozens of former judges, prosecutors and police chiefs are decrying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, arguing that the move runs counter to professional standards, sets a dangerous precedent and violates the constitutional separation of powers.
DeSantis Press Conference: Bash Biden. Praise Self. Bash Biden. Campaign Shrilly. Bash Biden.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “news conferences” are heavy on campaigning and Biden-bashing and light on actual policy announcements. The governor packs these events with supporters who cheer him plus local officials and administration figures who lavish him with praise.
Federal Judge Urged to Halt Law Muzzling Instruction on Gender and Sexual Orientation
The 26-page motion contends that the law, passed this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, “was enacted with the purpose to discriminate and has the effect of discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and those with LGBTQ+ family members.”
Citing Grand Jury Report, DeSantis Suspends Broward School Board Members Over Parkland Massacre
The grand jury report, completed in April and released last week, said the targeted board members’ and Runcie’s “uninformed or even misinformed decisions, incompetent management and lack of meaningful oversight” resulted in cost overruns and delays in a $1 billion school-safety program approved by county voters in 2014.
In Latest Attack on Students, All LGBTQ Support Documents Are Ordered Out of Florida Schools
Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. on Wednesday gave his staff the go-ahead to “pull” LGBTQ support documents at all school districts, after a State Board of Education member asserted that some could violate a controversial new law.
DeSantis Would Expand Teaching Corps to Retired Cops and Firefighters
DeSantis teased legislation aimed at recruiting to teaching jobs retired law-enforcement officers, emergency-medical technicians, paramedics and firefighters who have bachelor’s degrees. They’d be eligible for $4,000 bonuses and would not have to pay for the state teacher-certification exam.
Military Vets Without Bachelor’s Degrees Will Soon Be Teaching in Florida Schools
Gov. Ron DeSantis has approved a new law to create an alternative temporary teaching certificate for military veterans, saying that their prior military experience will have value in the classroom. But the law would get around a prerequisite expected of thousands of teachers in Florida — a bachelor’s degree.