Kenny Stancil, Common Dreams Civil rights advocates on Friday condemned the Republican-led Florida Legislature for passing another voter suppression bill that far-right Gov. Ron DeSantis, a likely GOP presidential candidate for 2024, is expected to sign into law. The Florida House passed Senate Bill 4B by a margin of 77-33 …
Read More »Biden Makes Case For Medicaid Expansion In Florida; Protects Social Security
Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Two days after delivering a spirited State of the Union address in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden appeared in Florida on Thursday before an intimate crowd at the University of Tampa, where he pledged to protect Social Security and Medicare and push for Medicaid expansion for …
Read More »Justices Strip ‘fairness and diversity’ From Florida’s Judicial Education Programs
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Florida judges no longer will need to learn how to at least try to ensure “fairness and diversity” while applying the law under a rule change that the Florida Supreme Court has adopted by a nearly unanimous vote. Florida’s Code of Judicial Conduct still requires 30 …
Read More »DeSantis Proposes End To Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives at Florida Universities
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced he will completely defund diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at Florida universities during a press conference Tuesday morning. DeSantis addressed what he called “DEI bureaucracies,” or departments within universities that promote diversity, equality and inclusion, which he said impose a liberal agenda on university students and …
Read More »Florida GOP, Sheriffs, Pursue Permitless Carrying Of Firearms; Dems Call It Reckless, Dangerous
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Legislative Republicans have taken the first step toward allowing any adult Floridian without a criminal record to carry concealed weapons free of any need to take gun-safety classes or register with the state. They wouldn’t be allowed to openly pack handguns, as in the Wild West. …
Read More »Florida’s Black Leaders Furious About Gov. DeSantis’ Rejection Of AP African American Studies Course
Issac Morgan, Florida Phoenix Gov. Ron DeSantis’ rejection of an Advanced Placement pilot course on African American studies elicited a resounding response from a crowd of at least a hundred people gathered in the state Capitol Wednesday, praying and loudly chanting about the importance of protecting Black history taught in …
Read More »Gov. DeSantis Pushes For Repealing Unanimous Death Penalty Requirement For Jurors
Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Monday that he wants the Florida Legislature to change the state law that requires a unanimous jury to impose a death sentence. Speaking at the Florida Sheriffs Association Winter Conference in St. Johns County, the governor noted that mass shooter Nikolas …
Read More »Scholars, Lawmakers Outraged Over DeSantis’ Rejection of AP African-American Curriculum
Academics and Democratic lawmakers reacted angrily last week after the administration of Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis rejected a new high school Advanced Placement African-American studies course—without even seeing its syllabus—claiming it violates the state’s ban on “woke” education and “lacks educational value.” Some Republican Florida officials said they believe …
Read More »VP Harris in Florida: ‘Can we truly be free if a woman cannot make decisions about her life?’
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix In a direct challenge to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to his backyard Sunday to announce that President Joe Biden was signing an executive order designed to guarantee access to abortion rights, including abortion-inducing medications. During a roughly 20-minute address in Tallahassee …
Read More »DeSantis Vows To ‘stand our ground’ Against ‘woke’ In Launching Second Term
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took his oath of office for a second time on Tuesday and delivered a pugnacious speech painting him as a champion of “freedom” and constitutional principles and vowing to vanquish a “woke” federal government, education unions, and “technocratic elites.” Coming off a …
Read More »GOP Florida Lawmaker Behind ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Law Charged with Covid Relief Fraud
The Republican state lawmaker behind legislation that’s pushed some LGBTQ+ teachers in Florida to leave education is facing federal charges for allegedly defrauding a federal program meant to provide aid for small businesses of his during the Covid-19 pandemic. State Rep. Joseph Harding was indicted by a grand jury and …
Read More »Charlie Crist Pummels DeSantis’ ‘culture war’ Policies During Governor’s Race Debate
Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix Democrat Charlie Crist used the occasion of his only scheduled debate with Gov. Ron DeSantis Monday evening to pummel the Republican governor over his restrictions on abortion rights, for ignoring science when writing COVID and transgender policy, for sidestepping 82,000 COVID deaths in Florida, and for …
Read More »ACLU Accuses DeSantis of ‘Grotesque Abuse of Power’ for Voter Arrests
The ACLU of Florida on Wednesday condemned Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis following the publication of police body camera videos showing sympathetic officers arresting confused people—most of them Black—who believed they were eligible to vote for alleged “voter fraud.” “The body camera footage reveals the real, human impact of these anti-voter …
Read More »Val Demings, Marco Rubio Sparred On Stage Over Abortion Rights, Immigration And More
Issac Morgan, Florida Phoenix Incumbent GOP Sen. Marco Rubio sparred on stage Tuesday night with Democratic U.S. House Rep. Val Demings in the only scheduled televised debate before the general election in less than a month. Both candidates for the U.S. Senate in Florida went back and forth on a variety …
Read More »D.C. Attorney General Opens Investigation Into Republican Governors’ Relocating Migrants To The Capital
Marilyn W. Thompson, ProPublica, and Perla Trevizo, The Texas Tribune and ProPublica This article is co-published with ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for ProPublica’s Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox as soon as they are published. District of …
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