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Flagler, Florida and Beyond
Pierre Tristam | January 29, 2017
The executive order Trump signed on Friday does the opposite of what it aims for: it belittles American law, projects a nation in cowardly fear, alienates its own Muslim communities and endangers our security.
Pierre Tristam | December 9, 2016
It’s a widely accepted but dangerous myth: that cops are under siege, handcuffed by “new restrictions.” The reality is the opposite, with more unbridled and brutal policing than we care to admit.
FlaglerLive | July 16, 2016
Cops are owed all the appreciation and respect their profession commands. Blacks are owed their right to life. The two are not mutually exclusive, but certain differences matter, especially when they falsely paint cops as the victims and blacks as the aggressors.
FlaglerLive | May 26, 2016
Courtrooms are using computer programs to predict who will be a future criminal, informing decisions from bail to sentencing. Meant to be fairer than human biases, one such program in Florida is particularly likely to falsely flag black defendants as future criminals, wrongly labeling them this way at almost twice the rate as white defendants.
FlaglerLive | May 25, 2016
A Leon County judge said lawmakers met their constitutional obligation to provide free, quality public education for Florida students, but advocates plan to appeal, laying the groundwork for a landmark opinion by the Florida Supreme Court.
FlaglerLive | April 1, 2016
In a nightmare of the persistence of bureaucratic errors, Dakota Ward, 19, who’s never been in trouble, was confused with another man and falsely arrested on a battery charge last week. His case is still proceeding.
FlaglerLive | March 31, 2016
In a harshly worded ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle chastised state officials like Pam Bondi for reluctance in acknowledging that the Florida ban had been overturned
FlaglerLive | March 23, 2016
Barbara Revels, who chairs the county commission, is proposing an amendment to a housing ordinance to extend non-discrimination protection to individuals for sexual orientation.
FlaglerLive | September 7, 2015
Kim Davis is not the problem. She’s a symptom of a dangerous movement that seeks to carve out religious objections all over the law books, making civil government a vassal of religious edicts.
FlaglerLive | July 10, 2015
As a conservative who has always supported gay marriage, it’s difficult for Nancy Smith to understand why so many people of her generation — the ones who grew up witnessing some of the worst discrimination of the 20th century — could consistently rage against it.
FlaglerLive | March 8, 2015
When shots were fired as a group of black friends walked along the beach, there was no rush to call 911. They feared what could happen if police came rushing into a group of people who, by virtue of their skin color, might be mistaken for suspects.
FlaglerLive | January 2, 2015
The reversal from the association’s lawyers should remove the last roadblock to gay marriage starting in Florida, though some clerks say they’ll refuse to perform ceremonies.
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 | December 30, 2014
Stephen Schlairet and Ozzie Russ are a typical couple in many ways. They finish each other’s sentences, and reminisce over a photo album of their commitment ceremony nearly 15 years ago.
FlaglerLive | December 22, 2014
Flagler County Clerk of Court Gail Wadsworth, whose office will be responsible for issuing same-sex marriage licenses starting Jan. 6, assuming legalities are worked out, speaks of her support for the sweeping change and hopes that it does not apply in one part of Florida but not others.
FlaglerLive | December 20, 2014
It’s no longer a maybe, an if or a pending: clerks of court in Florida must begin issuing gay-marriage licenses on Jan. 6 as the U.S. Supreme Court Friday evening denied Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request that a stay on the matter be extended.
FlaglerLive | December 4, 2014
A federal appeals court Wednesday rejected Attorney General Pam Bondi’s request to at least temporarily extend Florida’s ban on gay marriage — possibly setting the stage for same-sex marriages to start in January.
FlaglerLive | August 21, 2014
It is the fifth court decision in the state finding against Florida’s ban, but the first federal-court decision, and the first that applies state-wide. Nevertheless, as in previous cases, the judge stayed the decision, granting time for this and other decisions to be appealed.
FlaglerLive | July 17, 2014
Judge Luis Garcia, a Jeb Bush appointee, ruled that fundamental rights such as marriage may not be defined by the state, nor can they depend on a vote, such as Florida’s 2008 constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. But the ruling applies only in Monroe County.
FlaglerLive | July 11, 2014
The Supreme Court’s decision granting some companies authority to deny contraception to employees is a reminder that women-hating, science-bashing and religiously-based bigotry veiled as “faith” are alive and well in America.
FlaglerLive | May 2, 2014
Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre had nothing to do with a sadistic postcard-only mail policy at the Flagler County jail when he was targeted by an ACLU lawsuit charging First Amendment violations. A federal judge formalized the final settlement of that lawsuit on Thursday.
FlaglerLive | April 16, 2014
Florida voters in 2004 approved a constitutional amendment that requires parents to be notified before their minor daughters can have abortions. But an appeals court ruling released Friday shows how far teens can go to challenge the law–and preserve their privacy when seeking an abortion.
FlaglerLive | March 14, 2014
The lawsuit lists numerous examples of alleged disparate treatment, such as the state retirement system providing benefits to the surviving spouses of dead public employees who were in heterosexual marriages. Such benefits are not available to surviving spouses in same-sex marriages.
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 | June 26, 2013
Though Floridians rejected gay marriage in a 2008 vote, Florida LGBT activists, fired up by Wednesday’s Supreme Court rulings favoring same-sex unions, said they have no intention of leaving matters as they stand.
FlaglerLive | June 20, 2013
It was a costly, day-long project involving personnel from four city departments, including police, on a house already facing a $50,000 lien, but officials defended forcibly cleaning up the property on Deen Road at taxpayers’ expense, saying it was a matter of maintaining property values. The case shows the extent–and limits–of code enforcement’s growing authority.
FlaglerLive | April 19, 2013
After tense debate that included allegations of lying and large-scale eugenics, the House on Thursday passed a measure banning abortions meant to avoid having a baby of a particular gender or race and criminalized harm of the unborn in the act of harming or killing its mother.
FlaglerLive | December 13, 2012
Erin DiMeglio made history as the first female in Florida to play quarterback in a varsity high school game, and was elected South Plantation High’s homecoming queen. That wouldn’t have happened without Title IX, the landmark legislation assuring females the same opportunities as boys at both the high school and college levels.
FlaglerLive | October 17, 2012
Sandwiched within a long list of issues on a crowded ballot, Amendment 6 is emerging as a multi-million dollar fight touching abortion, parental rights and privacy protections now guaranteed in the Florida Constitution.
FlaglerLive | August 7, 2012
Flagler County schools are among five Florida districts cited by the Southern Poverty Law Center in complaints filed with the federal Office of Civil Rights, calling for federal investigations into discriminatory punishments that disproportionately target black students.
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