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.
Rights & Liberties
Anti-Trans Bill Clears Florida House, Barring Transgender Girls from High School and College Sports Teams
The Republican-dominated Florida House on Wednesday passed a bill that would ban transgender females from playing on girls’ and women’s high-school and college sports teams, with Democrats arguing the measure is purely political.
Court Rejects Challenge by Cities and Counties of State Law Banning Stricter Local Gun Regulations
In a win for Republican lawmakers and the National Rifle Association, an appeals court upheld a 2011 state law that threatens tough penalties if city and county officials approve gun-related regulations.
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.
Martin Luther King Jr’s Vision of Democratic Socialism Is Still America’s Best Guide to Realize the Dream
Martin Luther King Jr.’s democratic socialism in the authors’ view is the fusion of King’s prophetic social vision, fully including his radical critiques not only of racism but also of capitalism and militarism, with his revolutionary methods of social change.
Stop Calling It a ‘Border Crisis’
Children are being jailed in deplorable conditions where they are susceptible to heightened and enduring trauma. Meanwhile our border remains largely shuttered to adult survivors fleeing rape and horrific gender-based persecution because the new administration has yet to repeal an illegal policy implemented under the last one.
Ban on Transgender Girls in Sports, Requiring Genital Proof in Disputes, Heads for Florida House Vote
The proposal would make participation in athletics contingent on determining a student’s “biological sex,” including the requirement, in disputes, of proof of a student’s birth genitalia as certified by “a health examination and consent form.”
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.
Measure Forcing Colleges and Universities to Survey Students’ Ideological Viewpoints Set to Pass
The proposal also would prevent colleges and universities from “shielding” students, faculty and staff from any kind of speech. Opponents have argued the provision would allow groups like the Ku Klux Klan to come to campuses.
I Want Civil Rights. They Want to Talk About Sports.
The Equality Act would extend basic civil rights protections to Queer people in housing, employment, education, and other arenas. Support tops 70 percent. Many people assume a federal law like this already exists. But in dozens of states, it’s perfectly legal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Florida Lawmakers Want Their Home Addresses and Phone Numbers Kept Secret
The House and Senate are advancing proposals that would create a public-records exemption for information about lawmakers, including their home addresses and phone numbers, but opponents question how the measures would interact with a requirement that lawmakers live in their districts.
Palm Coast Student Elliott Bertrand Accuses Senate Panel of ‘Prejudice’ Before 6-4 Vote on Transgender Sports Ban
The Florida Senate Health Policy Committee today approved a bill that would scrap existing policy and ban transgender women from participating in competitive high school and college sports absent testosterone testing that might clear them to play. Elliott Bertrand, a student at Flagler Palm Coast High School, was among the many opponents of the bill who addressed the panel in Tallahassee.
Dog Found Agonizing in a Ditch, Possibly Victimized as Bait Dog, Has Died; Answers Sought and Reward Offered
Grace, a 7 or 8-year-old pit bull, was discovered Sunday in a ditch in Espanola in agony and bearing signs of being a bait dog. By Monday morning she had died, but galvanized efforts to find her abusers. A fundraiser before she died raised $8,000 for her care.
Calling Mullins ‘Pied Piper of Hate, Deception and Fraud,’ School Board’s Conklin Rips His Latest Attack on LGBTQ and GOP
Joe Mullins combined attacks on transgender people and local Republicans in an extended screed filled with falsehoods and mischaracterizations as he spoke to a local far-right Republican group, prompting the School Board’s Colleen Conklin to issue a severe condemnation and called him a “narcissistic beast.”
Joe Mullins Falsehoods, Mischaracterizations, Misleading and Baseless Statements: A Fact-Check
Joe Mullins’s problem with facts is not new, pre-dating his election. We fact-checked his latest statements from that March 25 appearance point by point as he discussed Flagler schools’ transgender students, local Republicans allegiances, the massage parlor murders, immigration, why people move to Flagler, guns and other matters.
Florida House Passes Controversial Bill Criminalizing Or Increasing Penalties for Some Acts at Protests
The sweeping bill would, among other things, create a new crime of “mob intimidation” and stiffen penalties for injuring police officers during protests that become violent. Also, it would establish an “affirmative defense” for defendants in civil lawsuits involving deaths, injuries or property damage if the injuries or damages were sustained while plaintiffs were participating “in furtherance of a riot.”
The Worst Attack on Voting Rights Since Jim Crow
Expanded voting by mail, no-excuse absentee voting, curbside voting, and early voting made the ballot box more accessible. But now, Republican lawmakers in 43 states are introducing hundreds of restrictive “voting rights” bills to roll back these measures.
‘Covid Passports’? Not in Florida, Governor Declares, Threatening Sanctions Against Companies That Try It
DeSantis this week suggested he may go after companies if they require customers to show proof that they are vaccinated, saying “it’s more than just a private decision.” The governor was referring to what have been called Covid-19 passports, a phenomenon gathering momentum abroad.
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.
The Fabricated Fear of Transgender Athletes in High School Sports
Randall Bertrand, who led last year’s campaign to add “gender identity” to the Flagler school board’s protections against discrimination, lays out a case against the Legislature’s baseless fear-mongering over transgender participation in high school sports.
Florida GOP Rollback of Voting Rights Triggers Uproar Among County Election Supervisors
GOP legislative leaders are pushing changes to the state’s election process that Democrats are branding as “voter suppression,” county election officials “vehemently” oppose and experts say will “disproportionately” harm Black and Hispanic voters.
In Spite: DeSantis Denies Pardon for World-Acclaimed Voting Rights Leader Desmond Mead
Meade said he is a victim of political infighting between DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat who, as a member of the state Board of Executive Clemency, put forward Meade’s application for a pardon in September and again on Wednesday.
Guantanamo, America’s Enduring Shame
Guantánamo is a crime against humanity and there will never be any justification to rationalize why hundreds of people were held indefinitely, without trial, without due process, without international observers and without ever seeing their families and loved ones.
‘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.
Setting Privacy Rights Aside, Florida Senate Considers Allowing Police Drones Over Crowds of 50 or More
With some lawmakers expressing concerns about privacy rights, the Florida Senate could be poised to consider allowing law-enforcement agencies to use aerial drones to help with traffic management, collecting crime-scene evidence and eyeing large crowds.
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.
Life, Breath, and Death: Michael Eric Dyson’s ‘Long Time Coming’ as Elegy and Call to Action
Michael Eric Dyson’s “Long Time Coming” is for those who are just beginning to see, for those who are seeking to reignite the fire, and for those who are coming, as is said in the Black church, from a mighty long way.
At Belle Terre Park, a Confederate Flag, a Swastika and Other Obscenities Elicit Distress But Little Action
Twin 5 year olds and their mother found a swastika and other obscenities spray-painted on play equipment and concrete at Belle Terre Park Sunday, where teens later brandished and paraded a Confederate flag , daring a reporter to photograph it.
3 Months After Boasting of ‘Smoothest’ Election in 50 States, DeSantis Wants New Electoral Restrictions
DeSantis’ proposal would address the use of drop boxes to collect vote-by-mail ballots, prohibit volunteers from collecting many vote-by-mail ballots, require new signature standards on ballots, and prohibit counties from receiving grants from private organizations for “get out the vote” initiatives.
Addiction Is Not a Crime. The Drug War Is.
To continue with our cruel and sadistic drug war is the daily crime. The only way out is to decriminalize all drugs, treat, repair and, somehow, atone for lawmakers’ and the judicial system’s half-century assault on their own citizens.
Renewing Assault on Transgender Rights, Florida Rep. Sabatini Will Seek to Criminalize Certain Procedures
Florida Rep. Anthony Sabatini announced he will again try to criminalize gender-altering surgery and medical treatments performed on minors who want it, even when their parents approve.
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.
All Undocumented Americans Deserve a Pathway to Citizenship
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) known as the Dream Act survived years of attack from the Trump administration. It temporarily protects undocumented people, most of whom immigrated to the U.S. as young children, from deportation. families deserved this moment of relief.
After the Muslim Ban
Before we let the horrors of the Trump administration fade away like a fever dream, we have to ask ourselves how we got here. Otherwise, it’s going to become a recurring nightmare, argues Domenica Ghanem.
Federal Investigation Finds Staff Brutality and Sexual Abuse of Inmates at Florida Prison. State Demurs.
The federal investigation found “varied and disturbing reports” of sexual abuse, including rape, of female inmates by staff members at the state’s largest women’s correctional facility. State officials had documented and been aware of sexual abuse by sergeants, correctional officers and other staff at Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala since at least 2006.
Appeals Court Orders New Bova Murder Trial: Judge ‘Abused’ Discretion By Denying Him Right to Represent Himself
The Fifth District Court of Appeal today ordered Joseph Bova re-tried for murder, 17 months after a jury found Bova guilty and a judge sentenced him to life in prison. The court ruled that Judge Terence Perkins was wrong to deny Bova his right to fire his attorneys and represent himself, no matter how much of a mess Bova would have made for himself.
Upholding Requirement, Court Compares Mask Mandate to Smoking Bans in Public Places
A state appeals court Wednesday rejected a challenge to a Palm Beach County requirement that people wear face masks in businesses and other public places to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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.
Flagler Grand Jury Issues 4 Indictments for Murder, 2 More in Drug Deaths, 2 in Killing of Deon O’Neal Jenkins
The indictments of Allyson Dawn Bennett, 39, and Javian Neesmith, 21, are Flagler County’s second and third for murder stemming from the death of individuals from drug overdoses–a relatively new, rapidly expanding but also increasingly controversial trend in criminal prosecutions that began with the emergence of the fentanyl epidemic.
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.
A Tale of Two Mobs
The second mob includes the eight Republican senators and 139 House Republicans who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s election, as well as the 17 Republican attorneys general who supported a bogus lawsuit to throw out the election.
Florida Bill Proposes Abortion Ban After 5 Months
Anti-abortion proponents are eager to test Roe v. Wade and other precedents in light of the the more conservative new make-up of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Trump’s Fascism and Republican Responsibility
By the time Trump was spitting sedition and inciting violence Wednesday he’d had five years of encouragement from the same Republican charlatans who would later stand on the floors of the Senate and the House to declare themselves shocked, shocked that the rioters they’d courted had desecrated and bloodied their little sanctum.
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.
Ending Trump’s Lies About Immigrants
“Relative to undocumented immigrants, U.S.-born citizens are over 2 times more likely to be arrested for violent crimes, 2.5 times more likely to be arrested for drug crimes, and over 4 times more likely to be arrested for property crimes,” a study finds.
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.
Fired Analyst Rebekah Jones Sues FDLE Over Search of Her Home
Attorneys for fired Florida Department of Health analyst Rebekah Jones, who has drawn national attention for her battles with the DeSantis administration, argued in the lawsuit that a search warrant to enter her home Dec. 7 “was obtained in bad faith and with no legitimate object or purpose.”
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.