As access to artificial intelligence, or AI, continues to spread, state lawmakers are poised to consider ways to set up guardrails around a technology that one senator said has “outpaced government regulation.” Measures filed by Senate and House Republicans target issues such as potential defamation of people using AI in media, use of the technology in political advertising and the creation of a state council that would look at potential legislative reforms.
Rights & Liberties
A Constitutional Scholar Explains Colorado Court’s Trump Ballot Ban
Taken as a whole, the structure of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment leads to the conclusion that Donald Trump is one of those past or present government officials who by violating his oath of allegiance to the constitutional rules has forfeited his right to present and future office.
Ban on Felons Owning Guns Survives as Florida Supreme Court Rejects Challenge
Florida Supreme Court Justices on Monday issued an order rejecting an appeal by William Edenfield, who was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after a 2020 shooting incident in Leon County. Edenfield went to the Supreme Court in August after the 1st District Court of Appeal rejected his Second Amendment arguments.
Anti-LGBTQ Activist Wants Flagler Library System to Stop Paying $173 Membership to American Library Association
The Flagler County library system is hoping to fend off an attempt by a South Florida activist opposed to LGBTQ equality to sever library staff memberships in the American Library Association and its affiliates, though currently that entire cost amounts to $173. It is the latest flare-up of an ongoing push by the far right in schools and libraries to restrict or ban LGBTQ-related materials, themes or associations, particularly in connection with children’s access or programs, though in this case the connection–if there is one–is tenuous.
Federal Judge Will Hear Arguments in Escambia Schools’ Book-Banning Case in January
The case is playing out amid wide-ranging debates in Florida and other states about school officials removing or restricting access to books. The plaintiffs in the Escambia County case contend that the school board’s decisions violated First Amendment and constitutional equal-protection rights. Attorneys for the school board argue the judge should dismiss the case because the board has authority to decide which books to purchase and keep on school shelves.
Florida Court Rules Child Is Mature Enough to Be a Mother, But Not to Have an Abortion
A state appeals court Friday upheld a Calhoun County circuit judge’s ruling that blocked a minor from having an abortion without notification and consent of a parent or guardian. The decision’s implicit reasoning is that the child is nevertheless mature enough to carry the baby to term.
The Immoral Gamble of ‘Shopping’ for Health Insurance
Between high premiums, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, other out-of-pocket costs, and the enduring myth that Americans still get to choose their own doctor, health insurance has become a maze of forced costs and limited options based on impossible choices you shouldn’t have to make. Obamacare has failed. Private insurance is often an overpriced, over-subsidized racket. Medicare alone remains the only viable solution with universal application.
Proposal to Rollback Florida’s Child Labor Laws, Masked as Opportunities for Teens, Clears Its 1st Hurdle
A proposal that would eliminate restrictions on the number of hours that 16- and 17-year-olds could work received its first hearing in the Florida Legislature on Wednesday, where it passed on a party-line vote in the GOP-controlled committee. The measure limits restrictions that now prohibit 16- and 17-year-olds from working more than six consecutive days in any one week or working 4 hours continuously without a break.
The Minefield of College Free Speech Codes
Private colleges and universities have speech codes that allow them to punish certain speech. But in their testimony before Congress about antisemitism on their campuses, college presidents tripped, triggered a furor over their prevarications. and one of them resigned after failing to respond clearly to a simple question.
How DeSantis and GOP Are Undermining Abortion-Right Ballot Initiatives Before the Vote
As abortion-rights initiative pick up victories in referendums, Republicans across the nation, exemplified by Florida’s Ron DeSantis, want to change the terms of the debate by injecting it with misinformation or overriding the referendum process.