Over the last couple of years, Tennessee and several other states [including Florida] have been making it easier for schools to suspend or expel students. But study after study has shown that harsh disciplinary practices such as mandatory expulsions are ineffective at reducing violence in schools. What’s more, research shows that such practices often lead to Black students and students with disabilities being disproportionately suspended and expelled, making them more likely to end up in the criminal justice system.
Civil Rights
The GOP’s Romance with Misogyny
That was Donald Trump watching the Democratic National Convention, wheezing in impotent rage at those uppity, nasty women, and all those people determined to elect Kamala Harris. The Party of Misogyny (you know them as Republicans) simply cannot process the possibility a woman, a chick, a human with a vajayjay! might become the most powerful person on the planet.
Appeals Court Stays Judge’s Injunction, Allowing Florida to Restrict Treatment for Transgender for Now
A federal appeals court has at least temporarily allowed Florida to move forward with restrictions on treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender people. A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday issued a stay of a ruling by U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle that blocked the restrictions. The stay effectively means the restrictions can take effect while the appeals court considers an underlying appeal of Hinkle’s decision.
Project 2025’s Secret Training Videos for a 2nd Trump Term
“Eradicate climate change references”; only talk to conservative media; don’t leave a paper trail for watchdogs to discover. In a series of never-before-published videos, Project 2025 details how a second Trump administration would operate.
Florida and 3 States Scramble to Avoid Enforcement of Federal Rule Prohibiting Gender Discrimination
Hours after a U.S. district judge ruled against them, Florida and three other states late Tuesday asked an appeals court to temporarily halt a new federal rule about sex-based discrimination in education programs. The states have prevented transgender students from using school bathrooms that don’t match their sex assigned at birth and blocked or restricted treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for people with gender dysphoria.
Trump-Appointed Federal Judge Rejects Florida’s Claim That Biden Administration Overstepped on Gender Rules
Florida and three other states alleged in part that the Biden administration overstepped its legal authority in extending Title IX regulations to apply to discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Judge Axon, who is based in Alabama, said the plaintiffs had not provided adequate arguments to obtain a preliminary injunction.
The Solution to Homelessness Is Not Criminalization. It’s Housing.
With half of all renter households now spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing, millions are one emergency away from homelessness. Punishing people for our country’s failure to ensure adequate housing for all is inherently “cruel and unusual.” Widespread homelessness directly violates the human right to housing under international law, which must be recognized in the United States.
Florida Supreme Court Finds No Threat to ‘Peaceful’ Protest in DeSantis Restrictions on Protesters
Rejecting arguments that the law is ambiguous, the Florida Supreme Court said Thursday that peaceful protesters are not threatened by a measure that Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Legislature passed in 2021 to crack down on violent demonstrations.
Banning Asylum Is No Way to an Immigration Fix
Under both U.S. and international law, anyone fleeing persecution in another country has a right to request asylum and have their claim assessed. But both the Trump and Biden administrations have dramatically undermined these protections. Most recently, Biden’s executive order and accompanying federal rule on “Securing the Border” — which effectively closed the U.S.-Mexico border this June — all but suspended the right to asylum altogether.
In Florida and Elsewhere, New GOP Rules Hostile to Voter Registration Threaten Fines and Criminal Penalties
Republican lawmakers in Florida , Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, and Texas have enacted a variety of voter registration laws over the past four years. The measures add new requirements around registering and communicating with voters and threaten hefty penalties for violations. The stated goal of the new laws is to prevent fraud, but in the absence of any evidence of more than very rare fraud some voting rights groups contend their real purpose is to dampen participation by likely Democratic voters.
Florida High School Athletic Association Replaces Word ‘Gender’ With ‘Sex’ in Snub at Anti-Discrimination Guidelines
The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved changes in the Florida High School Athletic Association’s bylaws that include replacing mentions of the word “gender” with the word “sex,” amid a larger dispute between federal and state officials. The changes came as Florida and other Republican-led states are challenging a Biden administration rule that would help carry out Title IX, a decades-old law that bars discrimination in education programs based on sex.
Florida’s Attorney General Calls Starbucks’ Diverse Hiring ‘Illegal’
Florida’s Attorney General took to a national radio show hosted by Gov. Ron DeSantis–he was sitting in for Sean Hannity–to charge that Starbucks’s pledge to hire people of color in 30 to 40 percent of its positions violates the law.
St. Augustine/St. Johns County Win Nod for Museum of Black History; Getting It Built Is Next Challenge
A state task force assessing possible sites for a proposed Florida Museum of Black History voted 5-4 Tuesday in favor of St. Johns County, where Martin Luther King once rallied protests against segregation in the city of St. Augustine but where the site would require extensive development, including roadbuilding. The close vote followed intense lobbying by St. Augustine/St. Johns, which branched out to support from surrounding counties, including Flagler County, where Palm Coast and the School Board lent support.
Flagler Pride Fest Cancelled Amid Turmoil as Organization’s Founder Resigns, Board Frays and Wagons Circle
To the dismay of a following that had grown substantially over the years, what was to be the fifth annual Flagler Pride Fest at Palm Coast’s Central Park in a month was abruptly cancelled last week through a cryptic, short-lived Facebook post that was scarcely cleared up when what remained of the organization’s officials posted a not-entirely accurate statement attempting to explain the decision on Tuesday, and betraying infighting.
Bacardi Jackson , New Florida ACLU Leader, Points to ‘Urgency of Now’ at ‘Deeply Disturbing’ Juncture
Bacardi Jackson, a veteran litigator seeped in civil-rights advocacy, took the leadership of of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida on Monday amid a growing number of challenges to laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Jackson views her new position as an opening to spur action at a critical juncture in the history of the state and the nation.
Flagler School Board Will Send Letter of Support for Locating Museum of Black History in St. Johns
Following the recommendation of Will Furry, its chair, the Flagler County School Board will send a letter of support to a state task force in hopes of luring the future Museum of Black History to St. Johns County. St. Johns was ranked first among three finalists for the location. Its competitors are Eatonville in Orange County and Opa-locka in Miami-Dade County.
Florida Joins GOP Lawsuit to Kill Federal Protections for Transgender Students
Republican State Attorney General Ashley Moody has enlisted Florida in multi-state litigation challenging new Biden administration regulations protecting transgender people from discrimination in schools, colleges, and universities.
Arrests and Threats of Expulsions of Students Protesting Gaza War Increase at Florida University Campuses
Arrests of protesters on Florida university campuses increased this week, after tensions ratcheted up at the University of Florida and the University of South Florida during demonstrations about the war between Israel and Hamas. The arrests Monday of a dozen people at the two Florida universities came as pro-Palestinian campus protests draw attention across the country. The ACLU of Florida denounced the threats of expulsions, calling protest a fundamental right.
Chief Engert: How Flagler County Jail Stepped Up to Ensure Brendan Depa’s Continuing Education
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and its jail were not responsible for the education of Brendan Depa, the former Matanzas High School student arrested over a year ago on a charge of aggravated battery of a school employee. Nevertheless, the jail, under the supervision of Chief Daniel Engert, has ensured that a team of volunteers and professionals have continued Depa’s education, with notable and continued successes.
Brendan Depa’s Sentence: Neither Vengeance Nor Mercy. Only Humane Justice.
On May 1 Circuit Judge Terence Perkins will sentence Brendan Depa on a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. The punishment will be nowhere near that: the sentencing guidelines don’t call for it, the incident doesn’t warrant it, and Perkins is not a hanging judge. The question is whether he will impose any prison time, and whether reason and justice, not mercy or vengeance, will prevail.
Yes, Efforts to Eliminate DEI Programs Are Rooted in Racism
In the past year, a number of states have begun to dismantle their DEI programs. Alabama, Utah, Texas and Florida have all passed and signed into law anti-DEI legislation ranging from prohibiting diversity training to terminating all positions associated with DEI efforts. Florida lawmakers have restricted the teaching of what they call racially “divisive” subject matter in public schools, colleges and universities. Legislatures in more than two dozen additional states are considering similar measures.
Florida Is Blatantly Mixing Church and State in So-Called ‘Pregnancy Crisis Centers’
Planned Parenthood says Crisis Pregnancy Centers are “run by anti-abortion activists who have a shady, harmful agenda: to scare, shame, or pressure you out of getting an abortion, and to tell lies about abortion, birth control, and sexual health.”
They/Them vs. Him/Her: A Federal Judge Will Decide Legality of Florida’s Ban on Pronoun Freedom
A federal judge on Friday heard arguments in a court battle over a law restricting educators’ use of personal pronouns and titles in schools, in one of a series of challenges to Florida policies targeting LGBTQ people. The challenge alleges the law violates the teachers’ First Amendment rights and runs afoul of a federal civil-rights law.
Cash Bail: Unfair, and a Violation of Due Process
When arrested on suspicion of committing a crime, everyone in the United States has the right to due process and to defend themselves in court. But in a cash bail system, when judges set bail amounts, those who cannot pay the full amount remain jailed indefinitely — a clear violation of their due process rights — while the rich can pay their way out of jail.
Wrongfully Arrested Migrant To Be Freed on Immigration Bond as Civil Rights Suit Is Filed Against St. Johns Sheriff
Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the Guatemalan migrant who had been wrongfully arrested outside his motel in St. Johns County last May and charged with manslaughter after the sudden death by heart attack of his arresting deputy, is to be released from federal custody on an immigration bond this week. On Tuesday, one of his attorneys filed an amended federal lawsuit accusing St. Johns County Sheriff Robert Hardwick of violating Mendez’s civil rights.
As DeSantis Crows, Opponents of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Say Settlement Rectifies Some of the Damage
Gov. Ron DeSantis was quick out the door with a claim that a settlement in a legal challenge to his Parental Rights in Education Act— or Don’t Say Gay — vindicated his efforts “to keep radical gender and sexual ideology out of the classrooms of public-school children.” In fact, the settlement agreement’s terms also limit enforcement of that law which the governor pushed through the Legislature two years ago to bar public school instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity.
Tom Joad, the Voice of a Better America, Has Been Silenced
From the Book of Ruth to Eugene Debs to Tom Joad in Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath,” the voice of solidarity spoke a communion with needs and pains greater than one’s own, a willingness not only to walk in the other’s shoes, but to be the shoes–to be the soles–when the other has none. It was once the voice of America. We have lost that voice as blame and judgment have replaced solidarity and grievances about what we think we’re losing snuff out protest on behalf of those not lucky enough to have something to lose.
State Attorney Dismisses Charges Against Virgilio Mendez, 18, Migrant Accused of Manslaughter in Deputy’s Death
The State Attorney’s Office today dropped the charges against Virgilio Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant arrested last May in St. Augustine over a dubious encounter with sheriff’s deputies prompted by nothing apparent, then charged with aggravated manslaughter in the death of one of the deputies, who had died of a heart attack the medical examiner ruled was of natural causes from heart disease. The charges drew widespread public outrage.
Florida House Passes Ban on Homeless Sleeping In Public Despite Added Burdens to Local Governments
The Florida House on Friday approved a controversial proposal that would prevent homeless people from sleeping in public, despite concerns about increased costs for local governments. The Republican-controlled House voted 82-26 along almost-straight party lines to pass the bill (HB 1365), which is backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. It also would make it easier for residents and business owners to challenge local officials over how homelessness is addressed.
Florida Lawmakers Back Modest Reparations for Dozier School’s Black Victims of Rampant Abuse
The Florida Senate measure would create a $20 million “Dozier School for Boys and Okeechobee School Victim Compensation Program” to compensate “living persons who were confined” to Dozier or the Okeechobee School, another reform school, between 1940 and 1975 and “who were subjected to mental, physical, or sexual abuse perpetrated by school personnel.”
The Controversial Concept of ‘Fetal Personhood’ Is Creeping Up on Florida
If fetuses have legal personhood, abortion-rights activists argue it would infringe the rights of pregnant women and have serious implications for medical procedures like in vitro fertilization and the treatment of ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages. For all practical matters, the Florida Constitution is silent on the issue of fetal personhood, despite Chief Justice Muniz’s suggestion that fetal personhood rights might already exist.
Equal Justice Initiative Unveils Statue of Rosa Parks
The Equal Justice Initiative has unveiled a statue of Rosa Parks at its Legacy Museum in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, part of a broader effort to memorialize civil rights icons.
In the coming months, statues for Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis will also be erected at the museum, connected with the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, also known as the lynching memorial.
Florida’s Open Season on Civil Liberties
Florida lawmakers don’t care about the insurance crisis; they don’t care about runaway rents; they don’t care about hungry children or sick women or the climate crisis or pollution or the teacher shortage or anything that you and I and anyone else with two brain cells to rub together would identify as pressing problems here in the increasingly dysfunctional State of Florida. What they care about is ending your liberties. Here’s a list.
Flagler Pride Installs Its New Board as It Looks To Be a ‘Beacon of Support and Empowerment’
Flagler Pride, the non-profit Eryn Harris established four years ago as the county’s first LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, and the organizational muscle behind the annual Pride Fest, installed its new, four-member board at Coquina Coast Brewing on Jan. 12. It’s led by President Tyler Jones, with Skyler Loder as vice president, Margaret “Maggie” Potter as secretary and Calvin Vincent Neugent as treasurer. The organization’s founding board members–Harris, Erica Rivera and Garrett Marinconz–have taken on advisory roles.
Defense Files Motion to Dismiss Manslaughter Charge Against Migrant in Arrest Followed by Deputy’s Heart Attack
Two weeks after all but accusing the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office of fabricating parts of the account surrounding the arrest of 18-year-old Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the migrant’s defense attorney has filed a motion to dismiss the manslaughter count against him, calling it “legally insufficient” and arguing that there’s no connection between Mendez and what led to the death of Sheriff’s deputy Michael Kunovich of a heart attack after the arrest.
This Hyper Talk of a Border ‘Invasion’ Is an Old American Playbook
With persecution, poverty, and climate change driving large numbers of migrants to the southern border, some in politics and the media are again pushing the panic button and purposely but inaccurately using words like “invasion” to describe problems at the border.
Defense Calls Out Sharp Inaccuracies in Arrest Account of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Death of Deputy
The defense lawyer for Virgilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant held for over eight months on an aggravated manslaughter of an officer charge in the death of a St. Johns County deputy, is calling his arrest “legally insufficient,” describing his arrest report as a series of misrepresentations and misapplications of the law, and citing the medical examiner’s report to conclude that the death of the deputy was unrelated to the arrest.
The Check MLK Wanted Cashed for the ‘Riches of Freedom and the Security of Justice’ Is Still Bouncing
The African American community is experiencing record low unemployment, record highs in income and educational attainment, and has seen a massive decline in income poverty since the 1960s. Despite all that, the check for racial economic equality is still bouncing. Without intervention, it will take centuries for Black wealth to catch up with white wealth in this country.
An Interview with Acclaimed Civil Rights Attorney and Equal Justice Initiative Founder Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal clinic in Montgomery, Ala., that’s made strides on prisoners’ behalf, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a six-acre remembrance space highlighting the racial terrorism campaign that saw the lynching of over 6,500 victims, including women and children. In a wide-ranging interview, he reflects on the state of race in America and how honest accounts of history can help overcome resistance to progress.
From Abortion to Disney, Guns, Pot, Trans and Social Media Law: 10 Florida Court Cases to Watch in 2024
High-profile Florida cases in state and federal courts in 2024 include a challenge to the 15-week abortion ban, Disney’s claim that the DeSantis administration illegally retaliated against it, a challenge to the state’s age-restriction on buying long guns, whether the wording of a constitutional amendment legalizing recreational pot can head for the ballot, and several more.
Judge Mulls Trial Competency of Migrant Facing Manslaughter Charge in Sudden Death of Deputy After Arrest
Declaring it a “complex situation,” Circuit Court Judge R. Lee Smith at the end of a three-hour hearing today said he needed time to think before issuing a decision on whether Vergilio Aguilar Mendez, the 18-year-old migrant controversially charged with manslaughter in the death of a St. Johns County deputy Michael Kunovich last May, is competent to stand trial. Kunovich died several minutes after Mendez was arrested for resisting arrest after a stop-and-frisk encounter in St. Augustine.
A Poisoned Tree Grows in St. Augustine
An 18-year-old migrant faces an aggravated manslaughter charge for the death by heart attack of the sheriff’s deputy who arrested him on a resisting charge, while the migrant was on a sidewalk eating dinner and speaking to his mother by phone at his motel in St. Augustine. The death of the deputy was a tragedy. The charge against the migrant compounds it with a miscarriage of justice in the making.
Coded Racism in Jason Aldean’s Song Exposes Problem with Small-Town Values
The Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, has come to represent the overlooked cultural divisions between urban and small-town America.
The courthouse was the site of the lynching of a Black teenager in 1927. It also served as a rallying spot for white vigilantes who assembled there during race riots in 1946. It is now the focus of a modern-day controversy over singer Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”
The Republican Brand Returns to White Supremacy
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is another example of how the Republican brand is no longer bigger business and smaller government. It’s white supremacy. Their platform? White supremacy. Their political and social goals? White supremacy.
Judge Hears Arguments About Florida’s New Discriminatory Land Ownership Law Targeting Chinese
A federal judge listened to more than two hours of arguments Tuesday about whether he should block a new Florida law that restricts people from China from owning property in the state.
Un-Achieving Brown v. Board of Education
It took 69 years, but today the U.S. Supreme Court took its revenge on Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark case that cracked the door a smidge to desegregating schools. It did so in a vengeful, cynical decision re-inventing color-blindness in an America where only whites wear the blinders.
Anti-Trans Politicians Take Pages from Nazi Playbook
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and other GOP leaders are following the Nazi playbook, substituting transgender youth for the Jews. They industriously promote hatred, fear, and physical revulsion of this small group — also barely 1 percent of the population — and pretend it’s out of concern for children.
The American Way of Woke
What is truly perverse today are those who actively seek to infringe upon the liberties of others while masquerading as defenders of liberty, argues Brad West. We are not perfect, and will always be a work in progress, even in wokeness. But we get better because of those who have been, and are, woke.
Exuberant Pride Day Follows Drag Night as Palm Coast Goes United Colors of LGBTQ+ in Town Center
Bookended by an exuberant evening of drag the night before and Sunday evening’s more solemn vigil in memory of the Pulse massacre victims, Flagler Pride today celebrated the local and regional LGBTQ community with song, dance, causes and bounties of divergence in the fourth annual Pride Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center, drawing some 750 people.
In Surprise Victory for Voting Rights, Supreme Court Rejects Redistricting Map Diluting Black Vote
By a vote of 5-4, the justices issued a major voting rights decision, ruling that Alabama’s new congressional map likely violates the Voting Rights Act. Even more significantly, the court declined an invitation to adopt an interpretation of the act that would have made it much more difficult to challenge redistricting plans.