A Senate committee next week will consider a proposal that would shield from release the home addresses of state and local elected officials. The proposal furthers an accelerating trend toward government secrecy in numerous forms, without documented evidence that th secrecy is necessary or beneficial to the public.
Rights & Liberties
Florida Court Clears Way for Trump Lawsuit Against Pulitzer Board Over Russian Interference Articles
A Florida appeals court Wednesday cleared the way for President Donald Trump to pursue a defamation lawsuit against Pulitzer Prize board members in a dispute rooted in the organization awarding a prize to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting about alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Spat with DeSantis Resolved, Legislature Begins Third Special Session on Immigration Today
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Republican leaders of the Legislature announced Monday evening their agreement on the state’s immigration enforcement response under the Trump administration after a month-long public dispute.
Federal Judge Blocks ‘Catastrophic’ Cut to NIH Grants
A federal judge on Monday blocked the National Institutes of Health from changing the percentage that universities and medical schools pay in facilities and administrative costs, blocking a decision that was rebuked by academic institutions throughout the country and members of Congress. Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts entered the brief, two-page order, which “shall remain in effect until further order of this Court.” Kelley set an in-person hearing date for Feb. 21.
Tallahassee Goes Looney Tunes Over Immigration
Ron DeSantis is spittle-spouting, white boot-stamping, holding-his breath-till-he’s-blue, screaming-till-he’s-sick mad. He’s toddler mad, Elmer Fudd mad: like, vewy, vewy angwy. The Florida Legislature has defied him; dissed him; insulted him on immigration. Whatever his future, these days DeSantis is becoming shrill, declaring he’ll veto the Legislature’s bill, flying around the state (at taxpayer expense, naturally), telling Floridians to get up in their lawmakers’ faces and demand complete capitulation: “You have your marching orders.”
A History of Birthright Citizenship at the Supreme Court
Birthright citizenship was explicitly added to the Constitution in 1868 when the 14th Amendment was adopted following the Civil War. The United States is one of roughly 30 countries, including neighboring Canada and Mexico, that offer automatic citizenship to everyone born there. There is a “strong likelihood” that the challengers of a presidential executive order ending birthright citizenship “will succeed on the merits of their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth Amendment” to the Constitution.
Kendrick Lamar’s Big Super Bowl Moment
As a world-renowned Grammy- and Pulitzer Prize-winning artist, Kendrick Lamar stands in a league of his own. His unflinching critiques of racial injustice, systemic inequality and the exploitation of Black culture have made him a boundary-pushing artist and cultural visionary.
Trump Proposes a Crime Against Humanity in Gaza
Trump’s proposal to ethnic-cleanse Gaza of Palestinians, transfer them to Jordan, Egypt and other Arab countries, and apparently annex Gaza’s 141 square miles (about the size of Palm Coast and the barrier island combined) to the United States, or at least rezone it as the “Riviera of the Middle East,” would be a crime against humanity on the scale of Stalin’s internal deportations and land expropriations of the 1930s and 40s.
Your Tax Dollars Are About to Fund Religious Schools, Salafist Madrassas and Satanic Temples
Let’s examine why Saudi Arabia’s Islamists are so aroused over the U.S. Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling by June that using public money to fund religious madrassas is perfectly fine. The court took on the case last week from Oklahoma, where an online Catholic school, St. Isidore of Seville, but really more of 7501 NW Expressway in Oklahoma City, across from Home Depot and the Mattress Firm Clearance Center, sued after it was denied a charter and tax dollars.
Education Department Kills Biden’s Title IX Protections Against Gender-Based Discrimination
The U.S. Department of Education said Friday it is scrapping a Biden administration rule about gender-based discrimination in education programs. The department will use a previous rule about enforcement of Title IX, a landmark 1972 law that bars discrimination in education programs based on sex. In 2020, the Flagler County School Board revised a policy that added “gender identity” to the list of explicit protections in the school district’s anti-discrimination policy. That wording may now be in question.
Hillsborough Commissioner Donna Cameron Cepeda Wants Lawmakers To End Sunshine Law for All County Commissioners
Among the list of legislative proposals that the Hillsborough County Commission is asking their state lawmakers to enact this year is a request from one commissioner to eliminate the Sunshine Law for county commissioners across Florida. Donna Cameron Cepeda, a Republican first elected in 2022, claims it’s not about reducing transparency but giving county commissioners more room to talk about sensitive subjects out of view of the public.
DeSantis Ramps Up Feud with Legislature, Pledging to Veto Bill Targeting Undocumented Immigrants
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday pledged to veto an immigration bill passed during a special legislative session Tuesday, triggering a potential showdown with Republican House and Senate leaders in a tug-of-war over efforts to carry out President Donald Trump’s agenda. The governor’s latest criticism ramped up what has become a brutal — and public — feud between the Republican legislative leaders and DeSantis, who repeatedly called the bill “weak” and “pathetic” and lobbed personal attacks at his foes.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Calls Undocumented Immigrants ‘Dirtbags’
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the former governor of South Dakota, was in New York City, accompanying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in arrests across the city. In a video posted to social media, Noem — clad in a vest labeled POLICE/ICE — said she was in the city “to get the dirt bags off our streets.”
Sharply Rebuking DeSantis, Lawmakers Opt for Special Session on Their Own Terms, and Override Budget Veto
The House and Senate started and quickly ended a special legislative session that DeSantis called — and then immediately opened their own special session and released proposed immigration legislation. The moves came after DeSantis angered House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, and Senate President Ben Albritton, R-Wauchula, by calling a special session that they said was premature.
Imagine What Will be Left of Florida After Our Leaders Are Done With It
This is the country we’re now living in: dictatorial, unrepresentative, and deeply unkind. What will be left of Florida in four years? What will be left of America?
American Trilogy: OJ Simpson, Louis Farrakhan, Donald Trump
On Oct. 3, 1995, after a trial that had lasted as long as a presidential election campaign, a jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of murdering Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Blacks cheered. Whites were horrified and angered that Blacks cheered. Blacks cheered even louder at whites being horrified. All they saw was white derangement syndrome. Sound familiar?
Should Public Money Fund Religious Charter Schools? Supreme Court Will Decide Constitutionality.
In Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board v. Drummond and St. Isidore of Seville Catholic Virtual School v. Drummond, the Oklahoma Supreme Court agreed with the state’s attorney general, Gentner Drummond, that the charter school board violated state law, the Oklahoma Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution when it allowed St. Isidore, a Catholic online school, to become a charter school.
DeSantis Cant Wait to Get His Hands on ‘Illegal Immigration’ Legislation
Gov. Ron DeSantis used the power of his bully pulpit on Thursday to once again lean on the Florida Legislature to come together for a special legislative session next week to further restrict illegal immigration, vowing to fight like a “junkyard dog” that just won’t stop until he sees results. The governor has said repeatedly over the past couple of weeks that the Legislature must not wait until the regular session opens in March to address the newly implemented executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on reducing the number of the undocumented in Florida.
Protesters Disheartened and Disbelieving at an Abortion-Rights Rally in St. Pete: ‘Florida Is Gone’
Two months after a proposal to repeal Florida’s six-week abortion law and enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution failed to gather the 60% required for passage, more than 100 people gathered Wednesday on four street corners in downtown St. Petersburg to advocate for the cause. But it was a dispirited and disbelieving protest.
Trump’s Attack on Birthright Citizenship
One of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders relating to immigration and immigrants is a direct attack on the long-standing constitutional principle of birthright citizenship. That’s the declaration in the 14th Amendment to the Constitution that anyone born on U.S. soil is a U.S. citizen, regardless of their parents’ nationalities or immigration status.
“We Cannot Walk Alone… We Cannot Turn Back”
A brief history of the origins and battles of the Martin Luther King federal holiday, and of the MLK monument at the Washington Mall, with full text and video of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech.”
Revamped Proposal to Legalize Recreational Pot in Florida Emerges, With Tweaks to Blunt Opposition
Two months after a similar measure failed to garner enough voter support to pass, a political committee bankrolled by the state’s largest medical-marijuana company has launched a new effort to allow recreational pot in Florida. The revamped proposal, filed Tuesday at the state Division of Elections by the Smart & Safe Florida committee, would go on the 2026 ballot. It seeks to address a number of issues raised by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who led a drive to defeat last year’s proposed constitutional amendment.
DeSantis Calls Special Session on Immigration, Condo Safety, Hurricane Relief and Petition-Gathering
Saying he expects a “sea change” in federal immigration policies from the incoming Trump administration, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday called the Florida Legislature into special session to deal with illegal immigration and three other issues. The session will begin on Jan. 27 and will include deliberations on condominium safety regulations, hurricane relief, and fraudulent signature-gathering petitions for constitutional amendments.
DeSantis Signs Death Warrant for James D. Ford, 64, Killer of Greg and Kimberly Malnory in 1997
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of brutally murdering a couple at a Charlotte County sod farm in 1997. James D. Ford, 64, is scheduled to be executed Feb. 13 at Florida State Prison in the murders of Greg and Kimberly Malnory. It would be the first execution this year in Florida and would come after one inmate was executed in 2024.
When Democracy Dies in Broad Daylight
While Trump openly bellows whatever imperial fever dreams about Greenland, Canada, the Panama Canal and the Gulf of Mexico visit him in the dark of night, once proud institutional bulwarks rush to prostrate themselves before him in advance of any demand that they do so. Alas, the mainstream media is not immune to this siren-call of cowardice.
Judge Scraps Biden’s LGBTQ Protections and Bans Requiring Teachers to Use Students’ Chosen Pronouns
A federal district court judge struck down President Joe Biden’s effort to protect transgender students and make other changes to Title IX, ruling the U.S. Department of Education violated teachers’ rights by requiring them to use transgender students’ names and pronouns. The ruling, which applies nationwide, came as a major blow to the Biden administration in its final days and to LGBTQ+ advocates. President-elect Donald Trump took aim at transgender people in a culture war-focused campaign.
University Board Nominee Calls Career Women ‘Medicated, Meddlesome and Quarrelsome.” DeSantis Defends Him.
Gov. Ron DeSantis defended his appointment to the University of West Florida Board of Trustees of a political scientist who claims that encouraging women to prioritize their careers has led to the decline of family life. In speeches, essays, articles, and interviews Scott Yenor details his views against same-sex relationships, including that LGBTQ+ practices bring “dreaded diseases,” and labeling career-oriented women as “medicated, meddlesome and quarrelsome.”
Christian Pressure Group Pushing Lawmakers to Ban Freedom of Personal Pronouns in Local Governments
John Labriola, a lobbyist for Christian Family Coalition Florida, told Marion County lawmakers Wednesday that his organization would like to see restrictions in the 2023 education law extended to city and county governments. Labriola said he hopes the issue will be considered during this year’s legislative session, which will start March 4.
Drag Show Case Still Has Legs, Orlando Restaurant Challenging Florida Ban Argues
As an appeals court considers the constitutionality of a 2023 Florida law banning children from attending drag shows, it is pondering whether the case moot after Hamburger Mary’s, the Orlando restaurant challenging the law closed. An attorney for Hamburger Mary’s argued in a brief to the court that the business has continued to produce drag shows with other venues and plans to host shows when it reopens in Kissimmee.
Rethinking Who Belongs on Historical Markers
As the United States prepares to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, many states are inventorying, mapping and repairing old historical markers, as well as installing hundreds of new roadside signs, plaques and interpretive panels. In South Carolina, the focus is on sharing lesser-known stories of women, children, Native Americans, enslaved and free Black people and even the Loyalists who sympathized with King George III.
Doctor Faces $10,000 Fine for Violation Abortion Waiting Period
After the state Department of Health called for revoking the doctor’s license, the Florida Board of Medicine this week issued a final order imposing a $10,000 fine and reprimanding a physician who did not comply in 2022 with a law requiring 24-hour waiting periods before abortions can be performed.
Clarence Thomas Eludes Investigation Over Ethics Lapses as Federal Courts Circle Wagons
The federal courts will not refer complaints that Justice Clarence Thomas violated ethics laws to the Department of Justice for investigation. The national policymaking body for the federal courts on Thursday rejected Democratic lawmakers’ request to refer to the attorney general claims that Thomas violated the law when he failed to disclose luxury travel, the sale of property to billionaire Harlan Crow, and other gifts.
Lawsuit Proceeds After District Allowed Christian, But Not Satan, Banners at Schools
A federal judge this week allowed a lawsuit to move forward against the Broward County School Board over its refusal to allow banners that said “Satan Loves the First Amendment” at two schools.
‘Smart Cities’ Are Also Surveillance Cities: Privacy-Busting Cameras Are Everywhere
People on the roads are likely used to red light and security cameras at intersections, but advancements in cloud technology and artificial intelligence allow transit agencies and cities to collect far more data than ever before, and to use that data in more strategic ways. But with increased monitoring, data collection and analysis comes ethical and privacy concerns.
Despite Investigation Clearing Starbucks, Moody Targets Company for Alleged Race-Based Hiring
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody in May filed a complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations alleging that Starbucks had policies that “appear on their face to be racial quotas.” But after an investigation, the commission’s executive director in November issued a determination that there was “no reasonable cause” to believe that the Seattle-based coffee company violated a state anti-discrimination law.
Court Sides with Prison Guards Accused of ‘Deliberate Indifference’ in Restrained Inmate’s Death
A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision, upheld a district judge’s ruling granting summary judgment to 10 Lake Correctional Institution officers. The estate of inmate Jose Gregory Villegas filed the lawsuit, but a district judge and the appeals-court majority found that the officers were entitled to what is known as qualified immunity.
Jimmy Carter’s One Hundred Years of Solitude
Contrary to his undeserved and simplistic reputation, Jimmy Carter was one of the better presidents of the 20th century. But Americans like their country to be run as a theme park. Annoyances like reality, responsibility and malaise have no place. Neither did Carter. The fantasists have been taking their revenge on him ever since, even as Carter’s legend grew in the 43 years since his presidency. He became the busiest ex-president in history, if still the least celebrated and the most shunned.
As Florida Celebrates Ignorance, SAT Scores and College Rankings Drop, Teachers Flee
A recent column in the Independent Florida Alligator laments how college professors and other educators who teach disfavored subjects or use certain words are beginning to self-censor. The headline reads, “Think While It’s Still Legal.” Gov. Ron DeSantis and his angry regime aren’t big fans of thinking. Or learning. They hate and fear knowledge.
LGBTQ+ People Relive Old Traumas as They Age on Their Own
Of the 3 million Americans over age 50 who identify as gay, bisexual, or transgender, about twice as many are single and living alone when compared with their heterosexual counterparts. This slice of the older population is expanding rapidly and faces a daunting array of problems, including higher-than-usual rates of anxiety and depression, chronic stress, disability, and chronic illnesses such as heart disease, according to numerous research studies.
Biden Commutes Nearly All Federal Death Sentences
President Joe Biden commuted the sentences on Monday of 37 death row inmates, citing his conscience as a force behind the decision. He also left the death sentences unchanged for three men charged with hate-motivated mass shootings and terrorism.
Justifying Book Bans, Florida Says It’s Not Required to Provide Libraries to School Students. Publishers Disagree.
Major publishing companies and authors Friday argued that a federal judge should deny Florida’s request to dismiss a lawsuit over the removal of school library books, saying a controversial state law violates First Amendment rights. Attorneys disputed a state position that selection of school library books is “government speech” and, as a result, is not subject to the First Amendment.
Florida Imposed More Death Sentences Than Any Other State in 2024
Florida led the nation this year in imposing death sentences, reflecting DeSantis’ successful push to eliminate the requirement of a unanimous jury recommendation. The Death Penalty Information Center reports that 26 people were sentenced to death in the United States in 2024, seven of them in Florida.
Maga’s Mega Mean Girls
Maga Mean Girls take pleasure in tormenting people, especially those weaker than themselves, and causing gratuitous pain. As Atlantic Monthly essayist Adam Serwer wrote in 2018, “The cruelty is the point.” And nobody enjoys cruelty more than Donald Trump, Mean Girl of the Century.
Court Rejects Teen’s Challenge to Florida Law Banning Trans Women Athlete from Teams
A federal judge appointed by Donald Trump dismissed a Broward County teen’s challenge to the constitutionality of a 2021 Florida law that bars transgender female students from playing on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
Appeals Court Splits Verdict on School District’s Sunshine Violations in Library Books Case
An appeals court Wednesday said an Indian River County School Board textbook committee violated the state’s open-government Sunshine Law but a committee that reviewed school library books did not.
Florida Senate President Ben Albritton Wants to Phase Out ‘Dreamers’ Tuition Break
Senate President Ben Albritton suggested phasing out a decade-old law that allows some undocumented immigrant students, known as “dreamers,” to receive in-state tuition rates at Florida universities and colleges.
Why Americans Are Furious With Health Insurance CEOs
Over 8,000 Americans die every day, many unnecessarily. The United States still does not have in place a national health care system that guarantees everyone adequate medical attention. Some 25 percent of Americans have people in their family who have had to delay medical treatment for a serious illness because they couldn’t afford the care. Some 79 percent of America’s nurses, for their part, say they’re working in inadequately staffed health facilities.
A Furious Judge Puts 34-Year-Old Suspect and His Family ‘On Notice’ in Bizarre Aggravated Stalking Case
Zachary Tuohey, 34, is facing a felony charge of aggravated stalking after an injunction. He was arrested in October for repeatedly violating an injunction by continuing to send communications to the alleged victim. The case’s bizarre turns and the maneuvers by the defendant and his family to avoid another jailing illustrate how difficult it can be at times for authorities, including the court, to ensure that victims of harassment or stalking,
Ex-Trump Adviser Michael Flynn Loses Defamation Suit Against Man Who Called Him ‘Putin Employee’
A state appeals court upheld a decision dismissing a defamation lawsuit that former Trump administration national-security adviser Michael Flynn filed against Rick Wilson, a political strategist and key player in the “Never Trump” movement. Wilson referred to Flynn in a 2022 tweet as “Putin employee Mike Flynn” and in 2023 retweeted “FYI, Mike Flynn is Q.”
The Importance of London’s New Slavery Memorial
In 2026, a new memorial to the 12.5 million enslaved people transported to the Americas and Europe – and their descendants – will be unveiled on West India Quay in London’s Docklands. The winning commission, an installation piece by US artist Khaleb Brooks called The Wake, will take the shape of a seven-metre bronze cowrie shell – the currency that was used in the trade of enslaved peoples, and an object symbolic of the entangled history of slavery and capitalism.