Multiple courts have recognized that government officials who use their social media accounts for official purposes violate the First Amendment if they block people from those accounts on the basis of their viewpoints. Several elected officials in Flagler County routinely do so.
First Amendment
Why Facebook Created Its Own ‘Supreme Court’ for Judging Content
Facebook’s quasi-independent Oversight Board today upheld the company’s suspension of former President Donald Trump from the platform and Instagram. Six questions and answers on this Oversight Board that made one of the most politically perilous decisions Facebook has ever faced.
What Stolen Election Diehards Owe Holocaust Deniers
Holocaust denialism’s dregs on the fringe don’t get much attention because responsible institutions from publishers to campuses to media organizations kept them in their gutter. Election deniers are owed no less.
Florida Senate Passes DeSantis-Priority Bill That Would Force Political Candidates’ Speech on Social Media Platforms
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.
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.
Republicans in Florida and Elsewhere Respond to Black Lives Matter with Anti-Protest Bills
Republican legislators in Florida and 21 other states are considering tough new penalties for protesters who break laws. As in Florida, some of the bills also would prevent localities from cutting police budgets and give some legal protection to people who injure protesters.
Controversial Bill Requiring ‘Viewpoint Diversity’ Surveys on Florida Campuses Wins Senate Backing
A controversial Senate proposal that would require Florida state colleges and universities to survey students about “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” on campus cleared its first hurdle Tuesday.
Sedition Is Not a 1st Amendment Right, and There’s No Comparison With BLM Marches
Mob participants claim they were only exercising their First Amendment right to protest, and that Black Lives Matter protests and riots didn’t draw the same scrutiny. Both narratives are factual and moral frauds that hide behind liberal rationales to perpetrate reactionary lies and justify the unconscionable.
On WNZF, Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins Calls for Beheading Liberals
A few minutes into his latest weekly infomercial on WNZF radio Saturday morning, Joe Mullins, the Flagler County commissioner, called for the beheading of liberals while decrying responses to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Trump Administration’s Final Push to Make It Easier for Religious Employers to Discriminate
Last-minute policies on religious freedom clear the way for employers to hire on the basis of faith. Some of the changes won’t be easy for Biden to undo.
Local Governments Seek Re-Hearing in Federal Case That Allowed ‘Conversion Therapy’ Targeting LGBTQ Youths
Local Florida ordinances that a federal court found unconstitutional had barred therapists from providing treatment or counseling that is designed to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics of such therapy say it harms minors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender.
Court’s Conservatives Are Right: Pandemic Limits on Houses of Worship Are Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court’s ruling overturning its own recent precedent to forbid attendance limits at houses of worship because of Covid was not an ideological decision so much as a victory for the First Amendment that liberals should be thankful for.
Florida Lawmakers Again Will Consider Requiring Moment of Silence in Schools
An effort to require public-school students to engage in a moment of silence at the start of each school day is back before the state Legislature. Sen. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, refiled legislation (SB 282) on Thursday that would require principals to direct first-period teachers to set aside one to two minutes for “quiet reflection.”
Why Was Flagler’s County Administrator Allowed to Illegally Start a Public Meeting With a Christian Prayer?
A county commissioner read out a long and explicitly Christian prayer prepared by County Administrator Jerry Cameron at Monday’s commission meeting, breaking decades of precedent without prior legal review, public discussion or commissioners’ prior knowledge.
Oral Arguments on Alachua’s Mask Mandate Evoke Hijabs, Nazis, KKK, Crime and, Finally, Public Health
Oral arguments about Alachua County’s mask mandate before a three-judge panel of the First Circuit Court of Appeal Monday was a spectacle of audacious leaps and strange analogies that nevertheless illustrated the sharp and far from resolved divide between mask proponents and anti-maskers, including on the judicial bench.
Court’s Trump Appointees Strike Down Florida Bans on Bigoted ‘Conversion Therapy’ Aimed at LGBTQ Children
Two South Florida ordinances barred therapists from providing treatment or counseling that is designed to change minors’ sexual orientation or gender identity. Critics of such therapy say it harms minors who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. The federal court ruled against the ban on First Amendment grounds.
11th Circuit Upholds Firing of Sandy Hook Massacre Denier and Florida Atlantic University Professor
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday rejected James Tracy’s First Amendment arguments that he was fired in retaliation for views posted on a blog. The panel upheld a jury’s decision on the First Amendment issue and a district judge’s rulings against Tracy on other issues.
The Bigotry Behind Judge Barrett’s Judicial Hijab
We don’t have to imagine what Amy Barrett’s jurisprudence will look like regarding gay rights, abortion, women’s rights, sex discrimination, even human rights and the separation of church and state. Reactionaries can party like it’s Deuteronomy again.
Trump Supporter’s Obscenity-Laced Video Against Democrats in Town Center Draws Sheriff’s and Bi-Partisan Rebuke
Sheriff Rick Staly called for calm in the election season after a Palm Coast man’s video of himself hurling obscenities and provoking Democrats at a Town Center rally circulated on Facebook. Democrats, Republican and Trump Club officials all denounced the video.
DeSantis Election-Keyed Proposal to Criminalize Certain Acts at Protests Sparks Partisan Furor
The proposal comes as Republicans double down on efforts to deliver a second presidential victory to Trump in Florida, a battleground state with 29 prized electoral votes, on Nov. 3.
DeSantis Calls for Criminalizing Numerous Acts By Protesters While Protecting Those Who Hurt Them
DeSantis, a staunch supporter of Trump, calls for new felony crimes when property is damaged or when people are injured as a result of protests while drivers would not be liable for injuries or deaths “caused if fleeing for safety from a mob.”
School Board Chair McDonald Shuts Down Speaker Critical of Her at Public Meeting, Drawing Rebukes
School Board Chair Janet McDonald stopped a student speaker from delivering his comments at Tuesday’s meeting, allowing him later to deliver it only sanitized from mention of her by name. Two board members condemned McDonald’s move and want the public-speaking rules revised.
The Unedited Statement School Board Chair McDonald Censored at a Public Meeting
The original text of Jack Petocz’s statement is presented here unedited. School Board Chair Janet McDonald shut Petocz down the moment he mentioned her name in the context of a statement critical of her offensive tweeting activity.
School Board Chairman Janet McDonald’s Twitter Feed: Misinformation and Derision Abound, Empathy Does Not
Flagler County School Board Chairman Janet McDonald’s twitter feed is a seethe of conspiracy theories, contempt for government, the press, “leftists,” conventional medicine, and plenty of derision and contempt for protest movements.
When DeSantis Shut Reporter Out of Coronavirus Briefing, He Shut Out All Floridians
Gov. Ron DeSantis denying Mary Ellen Klas, a Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times reporter in Tallahassee, access to his coronavirus press conference on Saturday was vindictive, petty — and illegal. It denied access to the Floridians who look to these media outlets for vital information.
Volusia/Flagler Chapter Marks ACLU’s Centennial With “Future Voters Essay Contest” and $500 Prize
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) ‘s Volusia/Flagler chapter is celebrating the ACLU’s 100th birthday with an essay contest open to all students, with a $500 prize and publication of the winning essay in FlaglerLive.
Florida House Speeding Toward Proposal to Allow Stadium-Wide Prayers at High School Games
Amid a long-running legal battle, the Florida House on Friday moved forward with a proposal that could allow schools to offer prayers over public-address systems before events such as high-school championship football games.
Misplaced Inquisitions: Mayor Holland, Coastal Cloud and the Palm Coast Observer
Mayor Milissa Holland and Coastal Cloud Co-owner Tim Hale repeatedly–and unfairly–invoked Palm Coast Observer Editor Brian McMillan’s name in poor light during a 90-minute city council segment devoted entirely to refuting critical allegations about the city’s contract with the company.
Full House and Senate Will Vote on Requiring ‘Moment of Silence’ in Schools
The Senate Rules Committee on Monday signed off on a bill (SB 946) that would direct principals and teachers to give students up to two minutes each day to reflect on anything they want.
Stop Cloaking Bigotry in Veils of ‘Religious Freedom’
A Supreme Court case could open the door to even more legal discrimination in the name of religious freedom. The intolerant should rethink their claim to piety and morals, which contradict their ends.
‘This Will Not Stand’: Flagler Commission Prayer Draws Hint of Lawsuit as County Attorney Adamantly Defends Practice
As Mike Cocchiola, a member of the local ACLU chapter, suggested legal action may follow, County Attorney Al Hadeed “absolutely” defended the Flagler County Commission chairman opening sessions with a prayer. Hadeed overstated the actual legality of the practice, which courts are still contending.
Flagler Politicians, Take Note: Brevard Taxpayers Just Paid $490,000 to Settle Illegal Christian Prayers at Meetings
Just as Flagler County commissioners started proffering prayers at public meetings, as the school board almost did, the Brevard County Commission paid out $490,000 in a settlement for doing so illegally for years.
The School Board’s Proposed Decorum Rules Are a Pretext to Silence Critical Information
The Flagler County School Board is considering speech restrictions at its meetings that include comment cards before a person can speak and prohibiting references to staff, students or anyone in the district.
A Year-End Thank You To Our Readers and Supporters From the FlaglerLive Board of Directors
As you and your family make decisions as to which organizations will receive your charitable donations, please keep in mind that there are those who would like nothing more than to have aggressive news outlets like FlaglerLive disappear entirely.
Trump’s Judaism Order Has Nothing To Do With Fighting Anti-Semitism
The meat of this action is aimed at Israeli boycott movements on college campuses across the U.S. It threatens to withhold federal funding from schools where students organize events linked to the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.
Florida House Revives Controversial College Survey That Would Undermine Intellectual Freedom
During the final hours of the 2019 legislative session, Senate Appropriations Chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, warned senators the so-called intellectual freedom survey would “keep coming up again” and urged the Senate to block it from passing every time.
Amicus Curiae: The 16-Year-Old FPC Girl Was Racist. She Was Stupid. She Was Not Criminal.
In the case of an FPC girl who wrote bigoted threats about her teacher last December, the prosecution is making outlandish claims that it was act of terrorism, stretching the meaning of a 2018 law passed after the Parkland massacre. The law does not apply, as even the prosecution acknowledged the case’s weaknesses.
250 Journalists Imprisoned Globally in 2019, Including Spike of 30 on ‘Fake News’ Allegations
The number of journalists imprisoned for their reporting globally reached at least 250 for the fourth consecutive year, with China and Turkey topping the list of the world’s leading jailers, the Committee to Protect Journalists found.
Flagler Students’ and Faculty’s ‘Football Sunday’ at Palm Coast Church Termed ‘Serious Constitutional Violation’
“Football Sunday” at Palm Coast’s United Methodist Church has annually invited students, coaches and faculty from FPC and Matanzas, among others, in religious services, drawing a rebuke from the Freedom from Religion Foundation on constitutional grounds.
School Board Rules Out Prayers at Meetings, Ending Controversy Started by August ‘Invocation’
School Board members Colleen Conklin and Andy Dance argued against the “circus” and divisiveness that would be invited if the board abandoned its custom of the last four decades and resumed opening meetings with prayers, ending a controversy began in August when Board Chairman Janet McDonald unexpectedly invited a pastor to offer an invocation.
Lawsuit Over Banned Use of Loudspeaker for Christian Prayer Before School’s Game Is Back On
A federal appeals court Wednesday overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit about whether the Florida High School Athletic Association improperly prevented Christian schools from offering a prayer over the stadium loudspeaker before a 2015 state championship football game.
Flagler Is No Citrus: Local Officials Say New York Times Is Safe From ‘Fake News’ Censorship at Library
In the wake of Citrus County commissioners rejecting a public library digital subscription to The New York Times, Flagler County’s library and government officials stressed that nothing like that would be tolerated locally.