Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Jac VerSteegAugust 23, 2015

Bill Clinton’s drive for political self-preservation is legendary and, I think, one of the most damaging successful impulses in modern U.S. history. If Bill Clinton possessed any sense of shame, he would have resigned from office in August 1998 when, after a half year of lies and denial, he finally admitted having an inappropriate relationship […]

Guest AuthorJuly 19, 2015

The Florida Supreme Court recently invalidated the state’s congressional districts map, finding it had been drawn with unconstitutional intent to favor the majority party and incumbents. This landmark decision is the first to determine whether newly drawn legislative districts comply with the Fair Districts Amendment as passed by voters in 2010 to remove partisan gerrymandering […]

Martin DyckmanJuly 7, 2015

It is amusing, in a wry sort of way, to witness the tantrums and hear the gnashing of teeth in right-wing circles over the several big cases they have just lost at the U.S. Supreme Court. Spare them no sympathy. You might think that losing has become more than they can bear. But in fact, […]

Mark FerruloMay 6, 2015

Last week the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a decision in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar that will impact future judicial campaigns across the country. The court upheld a Florida rule that helps keep courts fair and impartial by prohibiting judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign contributions. This means that the highest court in the land affirmed that […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 8, 2015

If you need to go to court, do you want the judge wondering, as a politician might, why your lawyer didn’t contribute to her campaign? Or didn’t give enough? That’s the crux of a Florida case to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on January 20. Yanell Williams-Yulee, a Tampa lawyer, is appealing a […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 8, 2015

If you need to go to court, do you want the judge wondering, as a politician might, why your lawyer didn’t contribute to her campaign? Or didn’t give enough? That’s the crux of a Florida case to be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on January 20. Yanell Williams-Yulee, a Tampa lawyer, is appealing a […]

Martin DyckmanJuly 9, 2014

Among the flock of on-line petitions I declined to sign last week was one calling for the impeachment of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Much as I and others might wish them gone and forgotten, impeachment is a terrible idea. The merits aside, it […]

Martin DyckmanApril 8, 2014

In one of those eerie coincidences that make a point, Charles H. Keating Jr. died just two days before the U.S. Supreme Court’s radical majority subverted the nation once again in its hideous McCutcheon decision. For those who don’t know or who choose –like the Congress and the court — to forget, Keating personified what’s […]

Tag: Chief Justice john Roberts

Jac Wilder VerSteeg: If Hillary’s got to go, go now

Glenn Burhans Jr.: O civility, where art thou?

Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court more often goes astray

Mark Ferrulo: Ruling on judicial campaigns underscores need for fair, impartial courts

Martin Dyckman: Will U.S. Supreme Court listen to Florida on campaign financing and judicial integrity?

Martin Dyckman: Will U.S. Supreme Court listen to Florida on campaign financing and judicial integrity?

Martin Dyckman: We should limit terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices to 18 years

Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court chief justice says you have to pay to play