Critics of the bill argue efforts to outlaw “sanctuary cities” have more to do with partisanship than with thwarting an existing problem as there are no counties or cities in Florida that act as “sanctuaries” for undocumented immigrants.
Rights & Liberties
GPS Ankle Monitors Give Local Cops Stronger Means of Enforcing No-Contact Orders
Alleged domestic violence and other offenders released from jail to await trial usually must stay away from their victims, but such no-contact orders were harder to enforce until GPS devices have been attached to the offenders.
Ramping Up Surveillance, Sheriff Will Have Access to Live Video and Data From 44 Palm Coast Traffic Intersections
Palm Coast government and the Flagler Sheriff’s Office are teaming up to use a “traffic-optimization” camera network at intersection as a surveillance mechanism as well.
DeSantis Would Eliminate Ban on Smoking Medical Pot, Supporting Senate Bill
But legislative leaders may not be keen on completely doing away with vertical integration, a move that could destabilize a growing and lucrative market in which one marijuana license recently sold for $63 million in cash.
Trump’s Fabulous Wall Fables
We’re in a post-factual presidency where alternative facts are the equivalent of papal bulls. It’s about belief, not reality. For the sake of appearances though, let’s argue the facts about the wall for a moment.
Transgender Ban in Military Is About Bigotry and Distraction, Not Readiness or Cost
Trump is using the ban purely to provoke the left, throw red meat to his base, and distract us all from the real issues in our nation, like the government shutdown.
In Restoration of Felons’ Voting Rights, Meaning of ‘Murder’ Becomes Stumbling Block
A new constitutional amendment grants “automatic” restoration of voting rights to felons who’ve completed their sentence, but it excludes people “convicted of murder or a felony sexual offense.”
With Carlos Muniz as 3rd Pick, DeSantis Touts ‘Newly Constituted’ Supreme Court
The appointment of Muniz, 49, solidifies a conservative majority on the court after years of justices regularly thwarting the Republican-led Legislature and the GOP governor.
MLK’s Dream Of Economic Justice Deferred By Increasing Inequalities
King foreshadowed that if we maintain our exploitative economic and political systems, then we’d get not only racial apartheid, but economic apartheid as well.
Transgender Inmate Spurs Appeal as Florida Prisons Seek to Deny Her Gender Identity
Inmate Reiyn Keohane contends that her rights have been violated at least in part because she has not been allowed to wear women’s undergarments and groom as a woman.
In Novel Argument, Constitutional Amendment Spurs Call for Stay of Execution
The arguments center on part of Amendment 11, which was approved by 62 percent of voters and which changed a more than century-old provision dealing with how revisions in criminal laws should be applied to older crimes.
The Migrant Caravan’s Lessons from South of the Border
In Tijuana, some Mexicans have embraced the Trump line on Central American migrants. But others have welcomed them with open arms.
Putnam Stays Out Fight Over Concealed Weapons Permits as His Office Goes to a Democrat
After the concealed-weapons permitting processed revealed serious flaws under Adam Putnam, attempts are afoot to move the process to state police, out of the agriculture commissioner’s purview.
Supervisors of Election Seek Answer on Amendment Restoring Felons’ Right to Vote
Florida officials don’t have a plan for how to carry out a constitutional amendment that restores the right to vote to more than a million Floridians convicted of felonies.
Florida Supreme Court Will have No
Black Justice For First Time in 36 Years
None of the nine candidates from whom Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis will select three justices is black, although six of the original 59 applicants were African-Americans.
I’m Making It My Business To Stand Up For Immigrants
A new immigrant wealth test is a cruel maneuver to diminish instead of making the country stronger. We shouldn’t take food and health from people and denies them citizenship because they aren’t rich.
Emails May Be ‘Disgusting,’ But Judge Dismisses Part of NRA Lobbyist Hammer’s Lawsuit
A federal judge said Hammer was not threatened and the ugly emails she received are protected by the First Amendment. She received emails she objected to from three other men.
Judge Rules Palm Coast Has No Choice But To Execute Dangerous Dog Cooper, Ending Notorious Case
A circuit judge ruled that Palm Coast animal control was right to condemn Cooper, a dangerous dog, to death, and the Palm Coast City Council was right to stay out of it. The dog will soon be killed.
Flagler Schools Will Reluctantly Adopt Religious Freedom Policy Imposed By State
The Flagler County school district is following state law in adopting a new but vague policy protecting religious expression, though some school board members say it’s an unnecessary imposition.
Amendments: Felons Will Get Voting Rights, Dogs Won’t Race Anymore, Homestead Expansion Fails
More than 64 percent of Florida voters had cast ballots for Amendment 4, which is designed to restore voting rights to an estimated 1.4 million felons who have completed their sentences.
Being Trans in America Was Already Scary. Now It’s Terrifying.
On any given afternoon, the author is regularly and publicly catcalled, mocked, laughed at, and treated as an object of social disgust. Donald Trump is about to deny her right to exist.
Yes, Your Car Can Be A Weapon, Florida Supreme Court Rules, Altering ’95 Definition
The Supreme Court made the somewhat-unusual move of backing away from a 1995 decision, which said a weapon must be “commonly understood to be an instrument for combat.”
Restoring Felons’ Right to Vote:
Why I’m Voting Yes on Amendment 4
In 46 other states, the right is restored either immediately or on completion of probation. Florida stands out for harshness, accounting for a quarter of America’s disenfranchised.
Showdown Over Local Control as State Aims to Stop Miami Beach From Raising Minimum Wage
Attorney General Pam Bondi claims a state law bars Miami Beach from gradually increasing its minimum wage to $13.31 an hour in 2021. The case also has drawn attention from local governments, which have sided with Miami Beach.
Journalists Say Trump’s Caravan Claims Are ‘Evidence-Free.’ It’s a Lot Worse Than That.
Journalists have a duty to give context, not just to report on whether a sound bite contains truth on a sliding scale. Otherwise, it’s journalistic malpractice.
One Email From Serial Litigant Shuts Down Flagler Beach’s Video Access to Public Meetings
Eddie Sierra, a deaf south Floridian, is filing lawsuit after lawsuit against local governments across Florida if they stream government meetings without close-captioning them for the deaf.
Trump’s Responsibility
Trump can’t have it both ways. He can’t revel in his powers of denigration and incitement then take cover behind a bogus sense of outrage and his usual deflections when the incitement and denigration arm fuses and kill people.
“Interference In the County’s Elections”? Not So Fast: How 2 Illegal Political Signs Seeded a Phony Controversy
A pair of political campaign signs planted and then unearthed from in front of a Publix and a SunTrust bank branch in the Hammock kicked off two police investigations, but the controversy is largely made up by a candidate with a history of such tactics.
Even As Voter Registration Soars, Bogus Fraud Claims and Real Voter Suppression Live On
Experts are predicting record-high midterm voter turnout. But millions of U.S. citizens are being systematically inhibited — either blatantly or covertly — from casting votes this November.
Judge Clears Way For Local Governments to Challenge State Ban on Stricter Gun Restrictions
Some 30 local Florida governments are challenging a state law that forbids cities and counties from passing stricter gun regulations than the state allows.
Elizabeth Warren’s Identity Problem
Trump’s racism is obvious. He’s using the name Pocahontas as a racial slur. But Elizabeth Warren stepped into a controversial issue without much sensitivity for the people who are most affected by it.
‘Marsy’s Law’ Protections for Crime Victims Sound Great, but Could Cause Problems
Giving crime victims constitutional rights equal to those of defendants sets up a clash over the accused person’s Sixth Amendment right to due process and the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Amendment 4: With 1.4 Million Florida Felons Banned from Voting, Voters Will Decide On Restoring Right
Amendment 4 would automatically restore the right to vote for felons who have completed their sentences, paid restitution and fulfilled probation. Murderers and sex offenders would be excluded.
Palm Coast Government Will Fly 3 Drones For Civil Uses, Excluding Code Enforcement And Private Property
Palm Coast government will use drones in IT, planning, PR. utilities, construction and with its fire department, but officials stress that private property is excluded, as is surveillance of any sort.
After Granting Stay, Supreme Court Clears Way for Execution of Murderer Jose Antonio Jimenez
Jimenez had cited a February execution of Death Row inmate Eric Branch, who reportedly screamed and made body movements as he was being executed, among reasons not to proceed.
Saint Kavanaugh
Whether Kavanaugh was confirmed or not is irrelevant: whoever’s next might be less personally sleazy, more temperamentally amoebic, but judicially? Same shill, different name.
Judge Moore-Stens Denies Gag Order on Sheriff, Dissolving Mound of Motions In Eric Cooley Case
Telling the attorney seeking a gag order on Sheriff Rick Staly that he was on a “fishing expedition,” County Judge Melissa Moore-Stens this afternoon denied the motion, ending an unusual sideshow in the battery case against Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley.
Open Court Proceedings Require NRA-Backed Gun Litigants To Be Named, Florida Argues
Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office is asking a federal appeals court to reject arguments that two 19-year-olds should be able to remain anonymous in a challenge to a new state gun law.
Why Women Don’t Report Sexual Assault
That urge to discredit accusers of sexual assault like Christine Blasey Ford is exactly why it takes so long for some to come forward in the first place.
Attorney Calls For Gag Order on Sheriff Staly in Eric Cooley Case, Claiming Prejudicial Words
Palm Coast Attorney Josh Davis wants a court to muzzle Sheriff Rick Staly in the case of alleged domestic violence involving Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley. The sheriff is having none of it.
Judge Orders Spanish-Language Sample Ballots in Flagler and 31 Other Counties
Making clear that only time restraints limited his decision, a federal judge ordered that sample ballots in Spanish be provided but stopped short of ordering actual Spanish-language ballots in Flagler and 31 other counties.
Flagler Jail Sends ‘Inmate Work Crew’ Around Town, and Gets Paid GED Instructor
A black-and-white-striped Flagler County jail work crew will start duties around the community, and the jail is getting a GED instructor for nearly 30 hours a week.
Low, $500 Bond For Sex Offender’s Re-Arrest Raises Sheriff’s Eyebrows–and Unravels
Bleak Case Through Court Maze
Tavares Calloway was 21 when he was charged with the statutory rape of a 15-year-old girl. Probation violations landed him in prison for 3 years. He’s been rearrested again on a violation weeks after his release.
Judge Boots Victim’s Rights’ Proposal Known as “Marsy’s Law” Off the Ballot, Citing Deceit
A judge found fault with what was left out of the ballot title and summary, and that the proposal would not explain to voters how it would affect the rights of people accused of crimes.
Without Fear Or Favor. Or Whining.
Defending the press against Donald Trump’s “enemy of the people” attacks may have its place, but reporters’ best bet is to shut up and do their job well: it’s the most eloquent response.
Judge Will Decide Whether to Remove Victim’s Rights Proposal From November Ballot
Lawyers opposing the measure known as Marsy’s Law say it restricts the constitutional rights of those accused of crimes while misleading voters about its intent.
Calling Florida Prison Officials Ignorant and Bigoted, Judge Orders Accommodations For Transgender Inmate
A federal judge ordered Florida prisons to continue providing hormone treatments to Reiyn Keohane, who identifies as female since age 8. She started serving a 15-year sentence for attempted murder in 2014.
Supreme Court Clears Release of Parkland Massacre Videos School Board Sought to Block
The order sides with a coalition of news organizations and ordered the release of footage from the afternoon of Feb. 14, when 17 people were killed at the school.
Immigrant Youth Shelters: “If You’re a Predator, It’s a Gold Mine”
An investigation of police reports and call logs from more than two-thirds of the shelters housing immigrant children provides a snapshot of what has largely been kept from the public as well as members of Congress.
In Restoration of Florida Felons’ Voting Rights, Lawyers Make Novel 1st Amendment Argument
Lawyers for the plaintiffs maintain that Florida’s discretionary process violates the First Amendment, despite a dearth of cases anywhere in the country supporting that argument.