What happened on Tuesday at the Palm Coast City Council is indefensible and dangerous. But it’s nothing new. We’ve simply not been paying attention to a perilous degradation of public discourse and behavior. We are slowly becoming a crueler community debased by primitive instincts, because no one in charge, or too few people in charge, are standing up and saying enough.
Rights & Liberties
Federal Judge Dismisses Suit by 5 Inmates Claiming Constant Bright Lights at Flagler Jail are ‘Human Torture’
Inmates filed suit over bright lights being on 24 hours a day at the Flagler County jail. A federal judge dismissed the suit on a technicality–the jail is not an entity that could be sued–but the jail administration had previously sought to address the issue with eye masks and is exploring other possibilities.
Anti-Transgender Bills Are Latest Version of Conservatives’ Longtime Strategy to Rally Their Base
Mischaracterizing LGBTQ-supportive policies as harmful to young people are a staple strategy conservatives use to galvanize their base. A record number of anti-transgender policy reforms were introduced this year in state legislatures across the country.
Texas Attorney General Forced to Unblock 9 After Lawsuit Claimed he Violated First Amendment Rights
Multiple courts have recognized that government officials who use their social media accounts for official purposes violate the First Amendment if they block people from those accounts on the basis of their viewpoints. Several elected officials in Flagler County routinely do so.
Why Facebook Created Its Own ‘Supreme Court’ for Judging Content
Facebook’s quasi-independent Oversight Board today upheld the company’s suspension of former President Donald Trump from the platform and Instagram. Six questions and answers on this Oversight Board that made one of the most politically perilous decisions Facebook has ever faced.
What Stolen Election Diehards Owe Holocaust Deniers
Holocaust denialism’s dregs on the fringe don’t get much attention because responsible institutions from publishers to campuses to media organizations kept them in their gutter. Election deniers are owed no less.
What We Can Learn From Canada’s Clarity on Pot
The inherent contradictions of American cannabis laws is undermining consumers and businesses unfairly and at times absurdly. Federal law must change, as it has fallen behind states’ efforts on marijuana in several ways.
To Business Groups’ Delight, Bill Granting Consumers More Data Privacy Dies
Business lobbyists claimed victory Friday after the demise of a bill that would have given consumers more control over personal data collected by companies.
QAnon Hasn’t Gone Away: It’s Alive and Swarming In Local Republican Politics Across the Country
Perhaps the greatest success of the conspiracy is its ability to create a shared alternate reality, a reality that can dismiss everything from a decisive election to a deadly pandemic. The QAnon universe lives on – now largely through involvement in local, not national, Republican politics.
Bill Clears Way for Guns on School Campuses Co-Located With Churches and Other Religious Institutions
Schools co-located with churches, synagogues and other religious institutions may soon see firearms on school campuses – despite the gun-free school laws Florida created in 2018.