This historic decision achieved by an astonishing 6-3 vote in a conservative court, written and delivered by Trump appointee Justice Neil Gorsuch, codifies that LGBTQ individuals deserve human and civil rights.
Rights & Liberties
Federal Court Rejects Attempt to Stop Removal of Confederate Monument in Lakeland
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that opponents did not have legal standing to challenge the monument’s move, saying they did not allege “a concrete, particularized injury.”
Florida’s ‘Dreamers’ Hail Supreme Court Decision Barring Immediate Deportation
The U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 majority found that Trump failed to adequately justify the decision to shut down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA, but the door remains open for him to do so.
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.
Landmark Ruling Spurs Calls for LGBTQ Protections in Florida, Where No Law Bans Discrimination
Florida is one of more than two dozen states that do not have laws banning discrimination based on gender, and Republican legislative leaders during the past several years have thwarted efforts to pass such measures.
Stunning Victory for Transgender and Gay Rights as Supreme Court Makes Protections Explicit
The decision will have far-reaching consequences regarding LGBTQ rights beyond employment, as it now explicitly lays out a prohibition against discrimination that cannot apply in employment situations without also applying in housing, education, the military and elsewhere.
In Georgia, Voter-Suppression Becomes Systematic
What Georgia did Tuesday was criminal, a racist crime against our democracy, and it’s time to criminalize voter suppression once and for all, argues Thom Hartman.
Florida’s Police Union Wants Cops’ Identity Kept Secret Under Victims’ Rights Law
Keeping secret the identity of a police officer who shot a black crime suspect might seem anathema during a national time of reckoning about police brutality and racial disparity. But that’s what a Florida police union is seeking.
DeSantis Seeks Fast-Track Appeal to Stop Hundreds of Thousands of Felons from Voting
Lawyers for Gov. Ron DeSantis have made a rare move of asking a full appellate court to consider a challenge to a voting-rights ruling that would pave the way for hundreds of thousands of felons to cast ballots in the November elections.