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.
Civil Rights
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.
Take Pride
This Pride Month, there’s not much to be proud of in people who to this day would rather burn than raise the Pride Flag. It’s about time it replaced all those MIA flags in school yards and at courthouses. LGBTQ victims, unlike the mythical missing, are real, and they’re piling up.
To Survive Poverty, Prayer Helped. But So Did Government.
In Florida, I worked three jobs — not enough to make ends meet, but enough to disqualify me from food stamps and cash assistance. Politicians who cut our safety net say these strict rules encourage work, but for me it was the opposite.
A Memorial Month for Our Rights
Tuesday begins a month of memorial days as we watch our Supreme Court continue to roll back those very rights soldiers died for, trampling them more effectively than any enemy foreign or, for the most part, domestic, ever has.
Nearing Presidential Run, DeSantis Signs Series of Anti-LGBTQ Bills Critics Call ‘Slate of Hate’
With LGBTQ advocates decrying it as a “slate of hate,” Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed a suite of bills that will prohibit or limit medical care for transgender people, prevent minors from attending drag shows and impose restrictions on which bathrooms trans people can use.
FPC Student Vandalizes ‘Offensive’ Civil Rights-Inspired Posters. School Board’s Chong Rallies To His Side.
In response to one parent’s complaint about civil rights era-inspired posters by students, and to the the parent’s son vandalizing posters he found offensive at Flagler Palm Coast High School, School Board member Christy Chong has rallied to the side of the parent and the student and is seeking to revisit policies that address the display of student work in school hallways. Board members Will Furry and Sally Hunt are joining Chong in seeking that discussion.
In Florida, We Are All Child Abusers Now
The Florida Legislature is legalizing a Jim Crow-like system of punishing, demonizing and denying the existence of LGBTQ children. Few sessions of the Florida Legislature provided the legal framework for as much state-sponsored and citizen-empowered terrorism against children as this one.
Republicans Lost GenZ with Expulsion of Two Black Lawmakers
As have many shameful lawmakers before them, Tennessee Republicans weaponized the rules of conduct to punish state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. But respectability politics mean nothing to GenZ. If such glaring issues as gun violence, healthcare, and climate change were not enough to engage the youth, watching racism and inequality so blatantly on display certainly did the job.
Volusia GOP House Rep. Webster Barnaby Likens Trans People to ‘Mutants,’ ‘Demons and Imps’
Florida House Rep. Webster Barnaby, A Volusia County Republican, called trans people “demons” and “imps,” and compares them to “mutants living among us on planet Earth” during a House Commerce Committee meeting on a bill that would ban transgenders’ use of bathrooms of their choice.
Anti-Trans ‘Bathroom Ban’ Is Quickly Moving Through Florida Legislature
Florida could be next in line to criminalize transgender adults who intentionally enter a restroom or changing facility opposite their sex at birth, according to two bills hastily moving through the Legislature. Similar bathroom bans are advancing through legislatures around the country.
DeSantis Is Destroying Florida Universities’ Hard-Earned Respect in the Name of White Nationalism
Florida’s public universities have been gaining national prominence and respect, with U.F. and FSU ranked Nos. 5 and 19 among public universities. DeSantis’s assault on academic freedom in the name of a white-nationalist, America-first curriculum is demolishing that hard-earned respect and making an embarrassment of the state.
Teaching Heroic Musician Graham Jackson’s Story in Florida Could Now Be Illegal
Florida’s “anti-woke” legislation and the state’s recent rejection of the AP African American studies curriculum are well-known examples of a disturbing trend that attempts to criminalize exploring the stories of Black people such as Graham Jackson.
School Board’s Chong Demands ‘Safe Space’ Sign Be Removed Seconds After Decrying Violence at Matanzas
Flagler County School Board member Christy Chong had just decried a Matanzas High School student’s attack on a teacher aide there when, not a minute later, she demanded that a “safe space” poster associated with LGBTQ groups and anti-bullying be removed from a Matanzas classroom.
GOP House’s Anti-Immigration Hearing Turns White Nationalist Screed
The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Tuesday at times sounded more like a bile-brimming Unite the Right rally than a congressional proceeding. It was essentially a white nationalist promotional appearance.
Dear Gov. DeSantis: Suppressing Black People Doesn’t Play Well Outside Fox Echo Box
Governor, we all know that you’ve stopped even pretending you’re not racist. But pitching hissy fits about gay people, drag queens, and black history ain’t a good look if you want to appeal to anyone outside the Fox swamp. RuPaul has one of the most popular shows in the nation.
How the New African American Studies Course Was Purged
After it was rejected by Gov. Ron DeSantis, the College Board on the first day of Black History Month released the framework for its new Advanced Placement African American Studies course. Here’s where the course hits the mark and where it comes up short.
DeSantis Aims to Scrap Higher Ed Diversity Programs and End Tenure as We Know It
DeSantis seeks to remove ‘ideology’ from college campuses, prohibit state funds from going towards critical race theory programs and diversity initiatives, have university presidents be more involved in faculty hiring, and end professors’ tenure was we know it.
Bayard Rustin, Civil Rights’ Often-Forgotten Secret Weapon
Bayard Rustin was America’s signature radical voice during the 20th century, and those voices includes that of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whom Rustin trained and mentored. His vision of nonviolence was breathtakingly broad.
Taking a Hard Look at Police Killings
In spite of the huge public attention to police violence since 2020, police are actually killing more people than before, with communities of color facing a much higher risk.
‘Disgusted’ Sheriff Rick Staly Denounces Tyre Nichols Killing as Video Exposes Brutality
Sheriff Rick Staly described himself as “disgusted” by the actions of Memphis police officers as the nation reacted with shock to a video showing the wanton brutality of the beating of Tyre Nichols after a traffic stop on Jan. 7. Nichols, 29, died three days later from the injuries he suffered in the beating.
Leaders Pledge to Fight DeSantis Administration Suppression of African-American Studies Course
Saying that an African-American studies course “lacks educational value,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration is defending its rejection of the curriculum, while Black religious leaders and elected officials are pledging to “fight like hell” against the decision.
Kamala Harris in Tallahassee Mocks DeSantis’s Version of ‘Freedom’ Over Abortion and Women’s Rights
During a roughly 20-minute address in Tallahassee marking what would have been the 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Harris mocked DeSantis’ self-described “freedom” agenda as anathema to the struggles of generations of Americans to expand upon the basic rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
‘Unbossed’ Spirit of Shirley Chisholm, Former Palm Coast Resident, Takes the Stage at AACS
“Unbought & Unbowed” is a one-woman show starring New York actor Ingrid Griffith in the role of Shirley Chisholm, who made history as the first woman to run for president from a major party, and who lived some of her last years in Palm Coast. The play is staged at the African American Cultural Society Saturday and Sunday.
DeSantis Administration Wanted ‘Mental Examination’ of 12-Year-Olds Suing Over Trans Rights
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.
The Divisive Distortions of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Words
The consequences of the misuse of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words are playing out everywhere from the halls of Congress to corporate diversity training sessions to local school board meetings.
Trump Is No Longer the Villain at the Border. Now It’s Biden.
Title 42 mixed with new White House immigration policy creates potentially illegal asylum restrictions. It’s time to treat this president, Joe Biden, as the same level of threat that Trump was to the rights of migrants.
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.
Maga Insurrection 2.0
Florida’s Matt Gaetz and his maga-hatted contras reenacted the Jan. 6 insurrection by other means this week. This insurrection is from within. It’s just starting. They’re about destruction, not achieving the country, their mentality comparable only to the psyche of the suicide bomber.
Divided Appeals Court Rejects Protection for Transgender Bathroom Use in St. Johns School Case
After a five-year legal battle, and reversing a lower court ruling, a sharply divided federal appeals court upheld a St. Johns County School Board policy that prevented a transgender male student from using boys’ bathrooms at a high school.
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.
Supreme Court Seems Unwilling to Embrace Broad Version of ‘Independent State Legislature’ Theory
The Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled that it may not be ready to adopt a sweeping interpretation of the Constitution, known as the “independent state legislature” theory, that would give state legislatures broad power to regulate federal elections without interference from state courts.
‘Independent State Legislature Doctrine’ Could Reverse 200 Years of Democratic Progress
In a case to be heard Wednesday, Moore v. Harper, the U.S. Supreme Court could decide that state legislatures have control over congressional elections, including the ability to draw voting districts for partisan political advantage, unconstrained by state law or state constitutions.
Black Twitter’s Expected Demise Would Make It Harder to Publicize Police Brutality and Discuss Racism
Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has thrown the future of Black Twitter into question. Social media users argue that the takeover has already had an impact on the Black social media community. Multiple sources report an almost immediate spike in the use of the N-word, and Musk has also allegedly mocked Black Lives Matter in general and the group’s apparel found at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco, California.
Shirley Chisholm Trail, Marking Giant National Legacy, Is Dedicated Along Palm Coast’s Pine Lakes Parkway
The Shirley Chisholm Trail, the work of the Democratic Women’s Club of Flagler County, connects Chisholm’s retirement years in Palm Coast to her historic achievements as the first Black member of Congress and the first woman to run for president from a major party, among many firsts. She died in 2005.
Beaming Misogyny Around the World
Misogyny, a sexist contempt and hatred of women, aims to keep women in a lower position than men within a patriarchal society. With discrimination against women enshrined in Qatari law – which, among other things does not criminalise domestic violence or sexual assault – misogyny is being beamed through televisions internationally, via the means of the 2022 men’s football World Cup.
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.
How Same-Sex Marriage Gained Bipartisan Support
While public opinion and different state laws on abortion rights are sharply dividing the country, there’s growing indication that most people agree on another once-controversial topic – protecting same-sex marriage.
Marco Rubio and Rick Scott Reject Protecting Gay Marriage as Key Step Clears Senate; Waltz Had Voted Yes
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted 62 to 37 to move ahead with a historic bill that would give federal protection to same-sex mariage, with 12 Republican senators joining Democrats to overcome the 60-vote threshold for a filibuster. Both of Florida’s Republican senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, voted against the measure.
‘Chaos and Confusion’: The Campaign to Stamp Out Ballot Drop Boxes
Drop boxes have become a symbol of the attacks on voter access even though there’s been no cases of fraud, vandalism or theft involving drop boxes that could have affected election outcomes. Up to one-fourth of Florida drop-boxes had to be eliminated due to a new law restricting their use and locations.
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.