Palm Coast’s decades-old discrimination against colored houses may be over. In a remarkable vote on Tuesday, the Palm Coast City Council unanimously agreed to repeal almost all restrictions on exterior house colors in place since before Palm Coast was a city. The requirement of only two base colors and some accent-color allowances will remain. The repeal is nowhere near final. It requires a rewrite of the ordinance, a hearing before the planning board, and two more hearings before the council. The vote was a victory for Mayor Mike Norris, who pushed hardest for the repeal.
First Amendment
Pulitzer Prize Board Appeals to Supreme Court to Halt Trump Defamation Lawsuit
Pulitzer Prize board members have gone to the Florida Supreme Court as they seek to halt a defamation lawsuit that President Donald Trump filed after the board refused to rescind a 2018 award to The New York Times and The Washington Post.
DeSantis Joins Other Southern States to Develop Anti-‘Woke’ University Accreditation System
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced, alongside State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues and university leaders from Texas and South Carolina, that the states are developing a Commission for Public Higher Education that will combat “woke” ideologies such as diversity, equity, and inclusion, and remake state higher education institutions to be more conservative.
Court Strikes Down Law Requiring Posting of 10 Commandments in Classrooms
The 5th U.S. Court of Appeals, often described as one of the most conservative courts in the nation, found the law unconstitutional because it violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment, which bars the government from endorsing a religion or creating laws that favor one religion over another.
Four ‘No Kings’ Protests of Trump’s Authoritarian Swerve Draw Upward of 1,000 in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach
Demonstrators by the hundreds in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach this morning peacefully but loudly, festively and–for Flagler County–massively transformed major intersections, a bridge overpass and a 1,000-ft. stretch of State Road 100 in Palm Coast into the largest anti-Trump protests to date. The size of the protests surprised even organizers and frequent participants, two of whom, after attending every protest this year on State Road 100, said today’s was more than double any previous one.
Officials Threaten Floridians with Jail as They Prepare for Anti-Trump Rallies
Floridians in more than 70 cities throughout the state plan to join nationwide demonstrations to protest the Trump administration on Saturday, prompting Attorney General James Uthmeier and other law enforcement officials to say they won’t hesitate to quash protests. The protests, part of the “No Kings” movement, are set to take place the same day as the multimillion-dollar military parade in D.C. and President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday. Two protests are planned in Palm Coast at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Florida School Appeals to U.S. Supreme Court to Allow Christian Prayer Over Stadium Loudspeakers
Arguing the case “presents issues of utmost importance for religious liberty in this country,” a Tampa Christian school wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a years-long battle about whether the school should have been barred from offering a prayer over a stadium loudspeaker before a high-school football championship game.
DCF Threatens Reporter Investigating Hope Florida Scandal with Cease and Desist
The Department of Children and Families (DCF) has sent a cease and desist letter to an Orlando Sentinel reporter who has been digging into the Hope Florida scandal. Jeffrey Schweers, the Sentinel’s Tallahassee bureau reporter, has broken some scoops regarding the embattled charity backed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis.
Young Americans’ Support for Free Speech Has Cratered
For much of the 20th century, young Americans were seen as free speech’s fiercest defenders. But now, young Americans are growing more skeptical of free speech. In 2021, 71% of young Americans said people should be allowed to insult the U.S. flag, which is a key indicator of support for free speech, no matter how distasteful. By 2024, that number had fallen to just 43% – a 28-point drop. Support for pro‑LGBTQ+ speech declined by 20 percentage points, and tolerance for speech that offends religious beliefs fell by 14 points.
Florida Law Restricting Ballot Initiatives Survives Court Challenge
A federal judge Wednesday refused to block parts of a new Florida law that placed additional restrictions on the state’s ballot-initiative process, turning down arguments by groups seeking to take issues to voters in 2026. As an example of the controversial parts of the law, it would shorten from 30 to 10 days the length of time to submit signed petitions to supervisors of elections. The judge agreed that the law makes it harder to get proposed amendments on the ballot, but disagreed tha it has severely burdened voters’ speech.
The Supreme Court Hands a Temporary Defeat to Religious Charter Schools
Critics of funding religious charter schools warned a faith-based charter would be an unconstitutional breach of the “establishment clause,” which forbids the government from establishing an official religion or promoting particular faiths over others. In an anticlimatic outcome, the Supreme Court issued a brief order in a 4-4 outcome that leaves a lower court judgment in place that prevented St. Isidore’s from opening – but did not explain why.
Maga’s Fearful War on Universities
Ron DeSantis has been trying for years to regulate speech in colleges and universities, impose restrictions on what teachers can teach in schools, and decree which books the state of Florida finds “acceptable.” DeSantis, nothing if not energetic in his rage, is now determined to shield our precious college students from Dangerous Thoughts. He’s the model for someone else in charge.
Consequences of Repealing Section 230, the ‘Law That Built the Internet’
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996 as part of the Telecommunications Act, has become a political lightning rod in recent years. The law shields online platforms from liability for user-generated content while allowing moderation in good faith. Lawmakers including Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., now seek to sunset Section 230 by 2027 in order to spur a renegotiation of its provisions.
Children May Attend Drag Shows, Court Rules, Striking Down Florida Law
Describing the law as “substantially overbroad,” a federal appeals court Tuesday upheld a preliminary injunction blocking a 2023 Florida law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows. The 2-1 majority opinion said that “by providing only vague guidance as to which performances it prohibits, the act (the law) wields a shotgun when the First Amendment allows a scalpel at most.” The decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals backed the Central Florida venue Hamburger Mary’s in a First Amendment challenge to the law.
If Approved, Religious Charter Schools Will Shift Yet More Money from Traditional Public Schools
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on April 30, 2025, in what could be the most consequential case for public education since the court started requiring schools to desegregate in the years following Brown v. Board of Education. If the court allows churches to operate religious charter schools, the public education system, as Americans know it, will take on an entirely new face and set of financial challenges.
Religious Charter Schools’ Fate May Hinge on Justice Roberts
The Supreme Court on Wednesday was divided over a Catholic virtual charter school’s bid to become the country’s first religious charter school. With Justice Amy Coney Barrett recused from the case, the outcome appeared to hinge on the vote of Chief Justice John Roberts, who asked probing questions of both sides but did not make his position clear.
Randy Fine’s Bill Banning Pride Flags at Public Buildings Fails, as Does Preferred-Pronoun Ban
LGBTQ advocates are celebrating several bills — including one that could have banned Pride flags flown at government buildings — stalling out this Session. Some of the dead bills including HB 75/SB 100 that would have banned government buildings, schools and universities, from flying flags that represented a “political viewpoint.” The proposal was sponsored by outgoing state Sen. Randy Fine before he left for Washington, D.C.
Florida Lawmakers Raise New Barriers to Citizens’ Ballot Initiatives
With Democrats calling the changes an “assault on the very spirit of Florida’s democracy,” the Republican-controlled Legislature on Friday finalized a plan that will impose additional hurdles on the ballot-initiative process and heighten penalties for wrongdoing. Gov. Ron DeSantis pushed lawmakers to crack down on the process after highly contentious and expensive battles over proposals last year that sought to place abortion rights in the state Constitution and allow recreational marijuana for adults.
Flagler County Library Director Braces for Possible Cuts After Trump Order to End Library Support Agency
Assistant Flagler County Administrator Holly Albanese is preparing the county’s public library system, its Board of Trustees and local officials for possible local consequences of an executive order that seeks to end the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services, a mainstay of library and museum funding across the country. Cuts may be as little as $20,000, which the library system can easily absorb, or could be much larger if grants already awarded are called back.
Our Silent Genocide of Transgender People
The United States in general and Florida in particular are enacting laws that literally erase the existence of an entire class of human beings. Trump signed an order declaring that transgender people don’t exist. Florida is about to adopt a law that would let government employees dehumanize their transgender colleagues by refusing to refer to them by their preferred pronouns. It is a new kind of genocide: bloodless, to be sure, but no less obliterating.
Federal Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Against Florida Law Restricting Minors on Social Media
Senior U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee dismissed a challenge against the state’s law barring Floridians younger than 14 from using social media apps with addictive features filed by industry organizations NetChoice and Computer & Communications Industry Association representing companies including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube.
Lawless Persecution of Mahmoud Khalil Is a Threat to Free Speech Everywhere
Without a warrant or charges, plainclothes Department of Homeland Security agents forced their way into Columbia University’s student housing and detained Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil, who had demonstrated against the Israeli genocide in Gaza. They then shipped him to an immigration jail in Louisiana, impeding his access to attorneys and visits from family. Khalil is a lawful U.S. permanent resident who hasn’t been charged with any crime. Khalil’s fate — and the larger battle over the First Amendment — concerns all of us.
Anti-DEI Rules Are Gutting Educators’ Free Speech Rights
The Trump administration’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion have continued in the form of a “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education to educational institutions – from preschools through colleges and universities.. The directive the letter infringes on free speech, misunderstands the law and undermines education.
The Sun Is Setting on Government Transparency in Florida
Florida, the “Sunshine State,” once known as a beacon of government transparency, is growing ever darker, and the clouds are spreading throughout the United States. Legislators have passed more than 1,100 exemptions to the Florida Sunshine Law, and growing.
Florida Law Banning Kids off Some Social Media Prevails as Judge Refuses to Block It
A federal judge has rejected a request to block a 2024 Florida law aimed at keeping children off some social-media platforms, ruling that industry groups did not show they had legal standing to challenge the measure.
University of Chicago’s Tony Banout, Freedom of Expression Expert, Speaks at Stetson March 26
As academic freedom and freedom of expression become flashpoints on college campuses nationwide, Stetson University will host a national expert March 26 to speak about the importance of free inquiry and expression. Tony Banout, Executive Director of the University of Chicago’s Forum for Free Inquiry and Expression, will give a talk entitled “Why is Wrongheaded, Immoral, and Offensive Speech Protected on Campus and Constitutionally?”
Flagler Beach Officers Under Investigation as Wrongful Charge of Man Outside Funky Pelican Is Quickly Dropped and City Bristles
Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney has requested an internal affairs investigation of the two officers who arrested a man on a trespassing charge simply for holding a sign outside the Funky Pelican restaurant at the pier, and City Manager Dale Martin has ordered that all city employees receive training in respecting citizen’s rights. The arrest caught public attention and provoked outrage. The State Attorney’s office on Thursday dropped the felony charge of armed trespassing against Gray. The city expects a lawsuit.
Man Holding ‘God Bless Homeless Vets’ Sign on Public Sidewalk Outside Funky Pelican Arrested on Armed Trespassing Charge
Jeffrey Marcus Gray, a 55-year-old resident of Forest Court in St. Augustine, was arrested on a felony charge of armed trespassing Sunday morning after he refused to leave the immediate vicinity of the Funky Pelican, the restaurant at the Flagler Beach pier. The pier is public property, as is the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. The restaurant itself leases its space from city government in Flagler Beach. But individuals may be trespassed from public sidewalks or parks or other public property, if not without raising potential legal issues.
Federal Judge Clears Way for Publishers’ Lawsuit Against Florida and Volusia Boards of Education Over Banned Books
With major publishing companies and authors arguing a 2023 state law violates First Amendment rights, a federal judge Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit against members of the State Board of Education over the removal of school library books. U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza, appointed by President Obama, rejected a state motion to dismiss the case, which also names as defendants members of the Orange County and Volusia County school boards.
No, You May Not Discipline a Teacher for Personal Facebook Posts, Court Rules
A Florida appeals court Friday sided with a now-retired Duval County math teacher who argued his speech rights were violated when he was disciplined for personal Facebook posts. A three-judge panel of the 5th District Court of Appeal overturned a decision by the Duval County School Board to suspend Thomas Caggiano without pay for three days and to issue a reprimand.
Who Do You Think You Are? Here’s Why You Should See ‘The Niceties’ at CRT
“The Niceties,” which opens tonight at City Repertory Theatre, is familiar to our ideologically poisoned times, raising questions about whether there is such a thing as objective truth. It subverts assumptions about American and Black history, generational divides, and power. It will make you angry only if you’re not honest with yourself as it also subverts your own assumptions about who you think you are.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Florida Leads an Authoritarian Assault on Higher Education
Authoritarians always love the poorly educated and the mis-educated. The well-educated, the readers, the questioners, those who demand evidence, gather facts, and trust verifiable information (as opposed to propaganda) are a threat. Aspirants to dictatorhood know the first play is destroy education. Nip that critical thinking in the bud. DeSantis is showing the way in Florida.
Federal Court Rules TikTok Ban Constitutional
The law Congress passed this year to force the Chinese parent company of social media giant TikTok to either sell the service or face a U.S. ban is constitutional, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled Friday. The order from a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals preserves the bipartisan law President Joe Biden signed in April forcing ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to cease operations in the United States.
Cape Coral Is Punishing Residents Fighting for Pollution Controls
Cape Coral’s elected officials seem to think the great American tradition of speaking your mind should be forbidden: three residents challenging the city’s permit to remove a waterway lock face $2 million in legal bills merely for fighting the city.
Trump To Senate Republicans: Kill Bill Protecting Press Freedom
President-elect Donald Trump ordered congressional Republicans to block a broadly popular bill to protect press freedoms, likely ending any chance of the U.S. Senate clearing the legislation. The measure would limit federal law enforcement surveillance of journalists and the government’s ability to force disclosure of journalists’ sources, codifying regulations the Department of Justice has put in place under President Joe Biden.
Texas Board of Education Approves Curriculum Heavy on Christianity
A majority of the Texas State Board of Education gave final approval Friday to a state-authored curriculum under intense scrutiny in recent months for its heavy inclusion of biblical teachings. Critics, which included religious studies scholars, say the curriculum’s lessons allude to Christianity more than any other religion, which they say could lead to the bullying and isolation of non-Christian students, undermine church-state separation and grant the state far-reaching control over how children learn about religion.
Federal Judge Bans 10 Commandments from Classrooms
Do the Ten Commandments have a valid place in U.S. classrooms? Louisiana’s Legislature and governor insist the answer is “yes.” But on Nov. 12, 2024, a federal judge said “no.” Litigation over the Ten Commandments is not new. More than 40 years ago, in Stone v. Graham, the Supreme Court rejected a Kentucky statute that mandated displays of the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
Internet Groups File Constitutional Challenge to Renner-Led Social Media Law Restricting Access
In a long-anticipated move, two internet-industry groups Monday filed a constitutional challenge to a new Florida law aimed at keeping children off social-media platforms. The Computer & Communications Industry Association and NetChoice, whose members include tech giants such as Google and Meta Platforms, said in a federal lawsuit that the law violates First Amendment rights and that parents should make decisions about children’s social-media use.
Speech Codes at Flagler School Board and Palm Coast Council Are Now Illegal, Thanks to Moms for Liberty
A decision by the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, controlling law in Flagler County, invalidates local governments’ speech codes that prohibit public speakers from addressing individual members of elected boards, or citing employees by name, or quoting from school library books, no matter how racy, or speaking offensively, which is considered a point of view. But rules against disruption and obscenity remain. The question is: will local governments correct their rules accordingly?