The petition was the latest move in a legal battle about a state law, initially passed in 1951, that requires candidates who are in the same party as the governor to appear first on the ballot. The law was passed during a time of Democratic dominance of Florida politics.
Rights & Liberties
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.
Bloomberg Seeks to Pay Felons’ Outstanding Fines So They Can Vote. DeSantis Wants Him Investigated.
Attorney General Moody at the request of DeSantis asked the FBI and FDLE to investigate Bloomberg raising at least $16 million for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, contending it could be a violation of state laws against offering incentives to people or groups in exchange for voting in a particular manner.
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.”
How Detectives Used Facebook, Cell Phone Records and Tag Readers in Home-Invasion Armed Robbery Arrest
The story behind the latest arrest is a window into detectives’ methods, illustrating how the use of technology such as license plate readers, search warrants for cell phone records and Facebook accounts, and old-fashioned on-the-ground interviews combined to help connect the dots and build a case against an otherwise elusive suspect.
Save Lives. Fill Out Your Census.
Certain communities — such as rural, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, and LGBTQ folks — are especially likely to be undercounted. Some experts warn this year’s census could be the worst undercount of Black and Latinx people in 30 years.
Federal Court’s 6-4 Ruling Deals Heavy Blow to Felon-Voting Rights, Upholding Florida Restrictions
A divided federal appeals court on Friday upheld the constitutionality of a Florida law requiring felons to complete all financial terms of their sentences — including paying fines, fees, costs and restitution — to be eligible to vote.
Joe Mullins Fires Demeaning Personal Insults at Commissioners in a Meeting, Repeating ‘Dangerous’ Pattern
Flagler County Commissioner Joe Mullins called fellow-Commissioner Greg Hansen a “fat sonofabitch” and Charlie Ericksen a “useless old man” at a meeting Wednesday just months after Ericksen had felt so threatened by Mullins that he called on Sheriff Staly for help.
Heroes
If Flagler County had a Nobel Prize, Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder and Dr. Stephen Bickel, the medical director there, would have won it this year for their management of the coronavirus pandemic, absurd claims against them notwithstanding.