The bill, in part, would bar social-media companies from removing political candidates from the companies’ platforms. Companies that violate the prohibition could face fines of $100,000 a day for statewide candidates and $10,000 a day for other candidates.
First Amendment
Lawyers’ Group Sues DeSantis Over Protest-Crackdown Bill Two Days After He Signs It Into Law
Civil-rights attorneys are challenging a new set of state laws that establish a crime of “mob intimidation” and enhance penalties for riot-related violence and looting, arguing in a federal lawsuit that the measures unconstitutionally “seek to arrest the peaceful expression of free speech.”
Bill Criminalizing Or Increasing Penalties for Certain Protest Activities Heads to Gov. DeSantis
The sweeping proposal, titled “Combating Public Disorder,” would create a new crime of “mob intimidation,” enhance penalties for riot-related looting and violence and create an affirmative defense for individuals who injure or kill violent protesters.
Citing Aesthetics and Law, Palm Coast Will Not Loosen Signage Ban, Whether for Realtors or Anyone Else
A majority of the Palm Coast Council rebuffed an attempt by Councilman Ed Danko to loosen the ban on Realtors’ open house and other signs in rights of way, saying both the city’s focus on beauty and a Supreme Court ruling on such signs leave no room for a shift away from current rules.
Bill Cracking Down on Protests Heads for Senate Floor Amid Outcries Over Free Speech and Discrimination
With critics warning that the bill would chill free speech and have a disparately negative impact on Black people, a key Senate committee Friday approved a controversial measure that Republicans argue is needed to crack down on violent protests.
Matanzas Student Who Wrote Song Threatening Dean’s Life Pleads to Deal That May Erase the Charge
Joseph Washington, 18, was arrested in January after Matanzas High faculty learned of a song he’d uploaded, threatening Tom Wooleyhan, a dean, by name. He was sentenced to 18 months’ probation on a third-degree felony charge, a plea deal the judge found surprising for its leniency. The charge will be dropped if Washington fulfills its terms over the next 18 months.
Gov. DeSantis Could Use a Civics Lesson on the Florida Constitution
Even as they push a $106 million proposal to improve civics education, our legislators and our governor persist in violating the Constitution by supporting legislation authorizing programs to send nearly $1 billion to private, religious schools in our state.
‘This Is Wrong,’ Attorney Says of Matanzas Student’s Arrest Over Rap Song Threat, Citing 1st Amendment
Matanzas High student Joseph Washington, 18, has yet to be charged almost seven weeks after his arrest on an accusation that he threatened a dean in a rap song posted to SoundCloud. On Monday, his attorney called his whole case “wrong” on First Amendment grounds.
The Golden Rule Is Not Cancel Culture
The Dr. Seuss estate’s decision to pull six books from reprints has nothing to do with cancel culture. That pair of terms has become its own dogmatic dumbbell anyway. Our misplaced nostalgia for books we were so fond of isn’t more important than the golden rule of looking out for our neighbors, to whom the same nostalgia translates as insult or put-down.
Divided Party Line Vote Pushes Florida House Bill Cracking Down on Violent Protests
Critics maintain that the proposals would have a chilling effect on participation in peaceful protests, violate free-speech rights and allow people who plow vehicles into crowded protests to avoid civil penalties if they injure or kill someone.