A Leon County circuit judge has dismissed a lawsuit by five Democratic lawmakers seeking unannounced access to the state’s “Alligator Alcatraz” immigrant detention center. Judge Jonathan Sjostrom ruled that state laws granting legislators access to prisons and jails do not apply because the Everglades facility is not a correctional institution under the Department of Corrections. The ruling supports the DeSantis administration’s argument that individual lawmakers lack the oversight authority held by legislative committees.
Rights & Liberties
California Is Banning Masks for Federal Agents. Here’s Why It Could Lose in Court.
A series of immigration raids across California in 2025 had one thing in common: Most of the federal agents detaining people wore masks over their faces. This month, the state of California and its largest county will ban law enforcement officers from covering their faces, with a few exceptions, putting local and state police at odds with masked immigration agents.
New Post Office Rule Puts Mail-In Ballot Postmarks In Doubt
The U.S. Postal Service has adopted a new rule that could create doubt about whether some ballots mailed by voters by Election Day will receive postmarks in time to be counted. A USPS rule that took effect on Dec. 24 says mail might not receive a postmark on the same day the agency takes possession of it. The postal service says it isn’t changing its existing postmark practices and is merely clarifying its policy, but some election officials have looked to postmarks as a guarantee that mail ballots were cast before polls closed.
Jury Trials, a Critical Part of Democracy, Are Disappearing
in a change with profound implications, juries now decide only a tiny fraction of criminal and civil cases in the U.S. The decline over time has been dramatic, triggering warnings from scholars since at least the 1920s. In 1962, when federal judicial statistics became reliable enough to track the trend, juries decided about 6% of civil cases; today that share is less then 1%.
Supreme Court Rules DUI Breath Tests Legal Regardless of Jurisdiction
The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a decision that suppressed breath-test results in a drunken driving case because the test was administered outside the city of Maitland, where the motorist was stopped.
Byron Donalds: No to Police Drones on Speeders or for Surveillance
Gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds says he intends to limit the use of drones by Florida law enforcement. The Republican Congressman posted on the topic after an article by The Wall Street Journal, titled “A police drone might be behind your next ticket,” covered the expanded use of drones by law enforcement nationwide over the objection of privacy rights groups. “Not in my Florida!” Donalds wrote on X. “I oppose red light cameras, and as Governor, I’ll ground these drones.”
From ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ to Book Bans: Florida’s 10 Biggest Looming Legal Issues of 2026
Florida enters 2026 facing high-stakes legal battles over “Alligator Alcatraz” detention center conditions, school book removals, and firearm age limits. Courts are also weighing the constitutionality of state-level immigration crimes, social media restrictions for minors, and bans on gender-affirming care. Additionally, the Florida Supreme Court is reviewing utility rate hikes and marijuana legalization efforts, while federal judges decide if the state overstepped its authority regarding wetlands permitting and platform censorship.
What have immigrants ever done for America?
Our fearless governor has vowed to rid us of annoying people with strange accents and peculiar habits, especially in Florida’s institutions of higher education. Ron DeSantis demands the state Board of Governors “pull the plug” on those H-1B visas that allow practically any Tomás, Didier, or Haoran with a fancy degree and a slew of top-drawer publications to get a gig in our colleges.
Thank You, Palm Coast and Flagler County
It’s been a difficult year for the country and for the freedom to report about it yet FlaglerLive’s fundraiser this Christmas season once again exceeded its goal in this red county, which humbles me and fills me with hope about the community we are–despite and still, to borrow the words of Robert Graves.
Bill Would Add Ideological Viewpoint Protection in Florida Schools
The “Florida Student and School Personnel First Amendment and Religious Liberties Act,” introduced by Sen. Clay Yarborough and Rep. David Borrero, would add First Amendment “political and ideological” viewpoint protections against discrimination or “academic penalty” to current religious viewpoint and expression language in Florida Statute.
Donald’s Donalds, ICE, SB180, Ending Taxes, Flashing Guns, Sleazing Hope: Florida’s Political Top Ten List of 2025
Choosing the top political stories in an “off year” when no statewide elections took place is challenging — although jockeying for the 2026 elections is well under way. Property taxes and gun rights, meanwhile, have emerged as issues likely to dominate the 2026 legislative session, which kicks off in a little more than two weeks.
Trump Ends Veterans’ Access to Abortion
The U.S. Department of Justice has instructed the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to stop providing any abortion care or abortion counseling, even in cases of rape or incest, reversing a 2022 policy meant to preserve access for members of the military no matter where they might be deployed.
21 Red States Ask Appeals Court to Uphold Florida’s Sweeping School Library Book Bans
Republican attorneys general from 21 states are trying to help sway a federal appeals court to uphold a 2023 Florida law that led to books being removed from school libraries.
Sen. Tom Leek Files Artificial Intelligence ‘Bill of Rights,’ Calling for Transparency and Controls
Leek’s bill, which is filed for the legislative session that will start Jan. 13, addresses a variety of issues, such as establishing a “right” for parents to control children’s interactions with artificial intelligence; saying people have a right to know when they’re communicating with a human or an AI system; and setting rules about the unauthorized use of people’s names, images or likenesses. The measure also says people have a right to know whether political advertisements were created in whole or in part with the use of artificial intelligence.
The Phony War on Christians
Right-wingers’ obsession with what they see as secular assaults on Jesus and the fiesta of capitalism with which we mark his birth are no longer confined to December. The craziness has metastasized, blown past December into the rest of the year, expanding faster than plans for the White House ballroom. It’s not just for Christmas anymore: According to MAGA politicians and their hangers-on, there’s now a full-blown War on Christians, writes Diane Roberts.
Calling CAIR Terrorists While AIPAC Buys Genocidal American Policy
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s executive order designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) a terrorist organization is a legally toothless stunt. While ignoring the immense influence of the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC, which funds lavish trips for politicians to ensure support for war in Gaza, DeSantis targets a civil rights group with meager resources. The order relies on conspiracy theories and racism, endangering Muslims simply to fuel the governor’s culture war.
Frank Walls, 58, Is 19th Inmate Killed By State This Year as Justices Reject Challenges to Death Penalty Law
Frank Walls was killed by lethal injection Thursday at Florida State Prison for the murders of Edward Alger and Ann Peterson on July 22, 1987 in Okaloosa County. Earlier Thursday, the Florida Supreme Court rejected two challenges to a 2023 law that allows judges to impose death sentences without unanimous jury recommendations. Florida and Alabama are the only states among the 27 that still allow the death penalty where non-unanimous juries may recommend the killing of an inmate.
Longtime Homicide Prosecutor Mark Johnson Appointed to Putnam Judgeship, ‘Bittersweet’ Loss to State Attorney’s Office
After 17 years as a prosecutor in the Seventh Judicial Circuit, Mark Johnson has been appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis as a County Judge for Putnam County. Known for his cerebral style and successful partnership with fellow prosecutor Jason Lewis on high-profile homicide cases, Johnson’s departure is a significant loss for State Attorney R.J. Larizza’s office. Johnson will preside over misdemeanors and civil disputes in Putnam, with his investiture expected next year.
CAIR-Florida, the Muslim Civil Rights Organization, Sues DeSantis Over Defamatory ‘Terrorist’ Designation
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil-rights organization, has filed a federal lawsuit challenging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order issued last week designating the group as a “terrorist organization.” CAIR is asking the court to block the executive order and declare it unconstitutional.
He Called Us ‘Garbage.’ Here is the Somali Community I Know.
President Donald Trump called me and my 221,000 fellow Somali Americans “garbage.” The secretary of defense, who is Minnesota born, eagerly and immediately endorsed the “garbage” remark and Trump’s conclusion that we are unwanted in this country and should be sent away. The secretary of state, the vice president and the rest of the cabinet cheered and banged on the table and applauded this hateful and profoundly ignorant assault on my community.
Doctors Clash with Florida Officials Over Plan to Repeal Meningitis and Chickenpox Vaccine Mandates for Schools
Florida health officials are advancing a proposal to eliminate school entry requirements for vaccines protecting against hepatitis B, chickenpox, and meningitis. While mandates for polio and MMR vaccines remain, officials signaled intent to eventually repeal those laws as well. At a contentious workshop, pediatricians warned the move invites fatal outbreaks and endangers herd immunity, while state officials and supporters defended the rollback as a victory for parental rights and informed consent.
Facing Capital Charges for Raping Stepchild, Henriqson Wants ‘Intact Hymen’ Defense and Secret Recording Admitted
Kristopher Henriqson, representing himself against capital child rape charges, has filed motions requesting a gynecological exam of the victim and a change of venue. Henriqson claims the victim bears no physical signs of assaults and seeks to introduce a secret recording of the girl discussing lying—evidence the state argues is inadmissible wiretapping. Prosecutors also cite privacy laws against the medical exam. A hearing is set for Monday before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols.
Council on American-Islamic Relations Will Sue DeSantis Over ‘Defamatory’ Designation as ‘Terrorist’ Organization
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Tuesday it will go to court to challenge an executive order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis that designated the group as a “terrorist” organization.
Florida Will Help Homeland Security Obtain Your Driver’s License Records
Florida and three other Republican states have agreed to help the Trump administration gain access to state driver’s license data through a nationwide law enforcement computer network as part of the administration’s hunt for alleged noncitizen voters. The Trump administration said as recently as October that federal officials wanted to obtain driver’s license records through the network.
Unless You’re a Developer, a Lobbyist, or a Fetus, Your Florida Lawmakers Don’t Care for You
Ever get the feeling the Florida Legislature hates you? It does. Unless you’re a developer, a lobbyist, or a fetus. Members are filing hell-born bills for the 2026 session, many apparently designed to torment you, rob your children of their futures, and reduce this state to an ICE-filled, disease ridden, constantly flooding, unaffordable autocracy.
Birthright Citizenship Is Hanging By a Phrase
The Supreme Court on Dec. 5, 2025, agreed to review the long-simmering controversy over birthright citizenship. It will likely hand down a ruling next summer. When the justices weigh the arguments, they will focus on the meaning of the first sentence of the 14th Amendment, known as the citizenship clause. Both sides agree that to be granted birthright citizenship under the Constitution, a child must be born inside U.S. borders and the parents must be “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States. However, each side will give a very different interpretation of what the second requirement means.
How the Government, and ICE, Are Tracking Your Location
If you use a mobile phone with location services turned on, it is likely that data about where you live and work, where you shop for groceries, where you go to church and see your doctor, and where you traveled to over the holidays is up for sale. And U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is one of the customers.
The Phoenix Declaration’s Serenade of Dog Whistles
The Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix” doctrine, recently adopted by Florida, is a Christian nationalist manifesto designed to eradicate educational dissent. It prioritizes “parental omnipotence” over children’s intellectual freedom. By diverting public funds to private vouchers and sanitizing history, the doctrine cements a decades-long conservative war against public education and enforces a “pinched, angry” monoculture that suppresses critical thinking in favor of dogmatic, exclusionary patriotism.
Court Invalidates City Ordinance Banning Anti-Abortion Activists from Clinic’s Driveway
Anti-abortion activists have the right to hand leaflets to women in the driveway of a Clearwater abortion clinic, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday. In a 2-to-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit tossed a trial judge’s decision preventing the Florida Preborn Rescue organization from entering within five feet of the Bread and Roses Women’s Health Center’s driveway. The clinic’s “buffer zone” was a 38-foot stretch of public sidewalk, 28 feet of which cross the clinic’s driveway.
Citing ‘Age of Darkness and Deceit,’ DeSantis Moves to Curb AI Growth and Data Centers
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday proposed an artificial intelligence “bill of rights” to stymie unfettered AI growth, crack down on sexual AI chatbots, and restrict AI data centers in Florida. Hinted at for months, these legislative proposals come in sharp contrast to pro-tech push marking President Donald Trump’s second term in office. Trump — allied with technology titans like Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg — toyed with an executive order to thwart state-level AI regulations earlier this month.
DeSantis Makes Dubious Claims About Florida Being ‘Forced’ To Redistrict
Democrats and voting rights advocates this week voiced vehement opposition to Gov. Ron DeSantis’ call to redistrict Florida’s congressional map in a special session next year, calling it an “illegal” gerrymander in violation of the Florida Constitution. Not surprisingly, DeSantis disagrees.
Defying Trump Threat of Court Martial, Senator Stands by Call for Military to Refuse Illegal Orders
Arizona Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly said Monday the threat of a court-martial for a video he and other senators released telling military members not to follow illegal orders is an effort to silence the president’s political opponents. Kelly, a retired Navy captain, was one of six Democratic lawmakers with backgrounds in the military or intelligence agencies who appeared in the video that was posted on social media in mid-November. President Donald Trump alleged the lawmakers had committed “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”
How DeSantis Demolished Florida’s New College
New College of Florida is on its intellectual deathbed. Once an authority-challenging, free-thinking institution for students passionate about learning, a place where difference was celebrated and creativity encouraged. Now, it is becoming a third-rate jock school with over-paid administrators and under-achieving freshmen, a casualty of Ron DeSantis’ culture wars.
Political Violence: When the 1st and 2nd Amendment Duel
The assassination in September 2025 of conservative activist Charlie Kirk has heightened attention on the relationship between political rhetoric and political violence. But while gun proliferation complicates the problem by making political violence much easier to carry out, suppressing political rhetoric, even through social norms rather than law, undermines the discussion, debate and constructive disagreement essential for a healthy democracy.
DeSantis Signs 19th Death Warrant of the Year, for 1987 Double-Murderer Frank Walls, 58
In what could be Florida’s record 19th execution this year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a death warrant for an inmate convicted in the 1987 murders of two people in a home in Okaloosa County. Frank Walls, 58, is scheduled to be executed Dec. 18 in the murders of Edward Alger and Ann Peterson. The warrant came as the state prepares to execute Richard Barry Randolph on Thursday and is slated to execute Mark Allen Geralds on Dec. 9.
Ban on Loudspeaker Prayers at School Games Survives as U.S. Supreme Court Declines Appeal
The U.S. Supreme Court will not take up a long-litigated case about the Florida High School Athletic Association’s refusal to let two private religious schools pray over the PA system before a 2015 game. On Monday, the top court denied Cambridge Christian School’s appeal, more than a year after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit sided with the association.
For 4th Year, Florida Republicans Try to Ban Pride and Political Flags from Public Buildings
Florida Republicans are trying for the fourth year in a row to ban political flags atop government buildings, including Pride, MAGA, or Black Lives Matter banners.
Federal Judge Denies Reinstatement of FWC Biologist Fired Over Charlie Kirk Post
U.S. District Judge Mark Walker’s ruling Thursday came in a lawsuit filed by biologist Brittney Brown, who worked for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, alleging that her Sept. 15 firing — five days after Kirk was shot during an appearance at a Utah university — violated her First Amendment rights. Brown sought a preliminary injunction to require the commission to reinstate her. While Walker’s order sided with state officials in denying a preliminary injunction, he also indicated that a decision about reinstating the fired employee could change if more information is provided to bolster Brown’s arguments.
The U.S. Citizenship Test Shouldn’t Be Like Trivia Night at Tortugas
The new citizenship test “for aspiring Americans” is out. It is supposedly longer and harder than its predecessor. In fact, it’s not a civics test. It’s certainly not a citizenship test. It’s the sort of questions Jay Scherr baritones between nachos at his weekly trivia night at Tortugas, and it is riddled with errors while projecting an unrecognizably chauvinist America.
State Kills Bryan Jennings, 66, For Kidnapping, Rape and Murder of Rebecca Kunash, 6, in 1979
More than 46 years after he kidnapped, raped and murdered a 6-year-old girl in Brevard County, Bryan Frederick Jennings was put to death by lethal injection Thursday evening at Florida State Prison. Jennings was convicted of murdering Rebecca Kunash on May 11, 1979, in Merritt Island. A 1986 sentencing order said Jennings in the early morning hours went to the window of the child’s bedroom and saw her asleep.
Age-Verification Laws Are Threatening Free Speech
In Florida and around the world, large swathes of the open web are being replaced by walled gardens. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of Texas’s age restriction law. Twenty-one other states have similar laws in place, and more have been proposed. Australia restricts young people’s access not just to specific websites, but to all social media, and it will soon extend this to search engines.
Florida Board Approves Hard-Right Heritage Foundation’s Sweepingly Ideological Education Manifesto
Florida education leaders on Thursday approved a set of principles that would teach a conservative-backed vision of the United States. The State Board of Education, which also approved social-studies changes intended to highlight ideological evils of communism, signed off on Florida becoming the first state to adopt the Heritage Foundation’s “Phoenix Declaration: An American Vision for Education.”
How Ron DeSantis Made Florida #1 in State-Sponsored Killing
Florida has executed 15 prisoners in 2025 – the most ever in a single year since 1976, when a brief national moratorium on the death penalty was lifted. Two of the five remaining executions scheduled for 2025 are set to happen in Florida. Texas and Alabama are tied for a distant second, with five executions each.
Kansas County Will pay $3 Million Settlement for Raiding Newspaper’s Offices
The county involved in a small-town Kansas newspaper raid in 2023 will pay a cumulative $3 million to three journalists and a city councilor. In two of the four agreements, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office also crafted a statement admitting regret. The agreements coincide with consent judgments expected to be submitted in their federal cases against the county.
Federal Judge Skeptical of Florida Agency’s Case for Firing Biologist Over Charlie Kirk Sarcasm
Attorneys for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said the agency fired biologist Brittney Brown to “prevent foreseeable disruption” after Brown reposted a sarcastic social media post about Charlie Kirk’s endorsement of occasional mass shootings if it’s the price of protecting the Second Amendment. U.S. District Judge Mark Walker was skeptical of the state’s defense: “Just because something’s inappropriate or controversial, how is it not covered by the First Amendment?” Walker asked.
‘Ed Boy,’ Target of Murderers in a Trial 9 Months Ago, Is Now a Defendant Facing Up to 30 Years Over a Shove
Edward Gerard Sampson, better known as Ed Boy, shoved a woman and was charged with aggravated battery, a charge that would normally result in a minor penalty, possibly some jail time or probation. But the woman was pregnant, and Sampson is a habitual offender who was released from prison in May. Those factors combined now mean that if the jury convicts him at his trial this week, Sampson could spend the next 30 years in prison for that shove.
Same-Sex Marriage Survives as Supreme Court Declines to Reconsider
The Supreme Court on Monday morning turned down a request from Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky, to reconsider its 2015 decision recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.
TDS
In France, a former president just got imprisoned for taking money from an Arab despot. Donald Trump just accepted a $400 million gift from another Arab despot in the shape of a 747. He has raided nearly $1 billion out of the country’s missile defense modernization budget so he can retrofit the plane in gold and gaud. If the secret project is completed before Trump is scheduled to leave office, which is doubtful, the plane will fly at most for a few weeks, then get parked as a re-gift to the Trump library in Miami, on land stolen from the public trust and handed over to Trump at no cost, Qatari style.
Chaining Record, DeSantis Signs Another Death Warrant: Mark Geralds, Who Murdered Tressa Pettibone in 1989
Expanding a modern-era record for executions in a year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a death warrant for a man convicted of murdering a Bay County woman in 1989. Mark Allen Geralds is scheduled to be executed Dec. 9 for the murder of Tressa Lynn Pettibone, a 33-year-old Panama City Beach mother who was beaten and stabbed to death in her home. Pettibone’s body was discovered on the kitchen floor by her 8-year-old son, Bart, when he returned from school on Feb. 1, 1989, according to court records. Tressa Lynn Pettibone was stabbed three times in her neck.
Bill Would Require Professors to Sign Oath
State college and university administrators and instructors would have to take an oath to the nation and Florida, under a proposal filed Friday by Sen. Clay Yarborough, R-Jacksonville. The measure (SB 430) also calls for public school administrators and instructional personnel, including prekindergarten instructors, to perform a similar oath.