Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Joe HendersonMay 29, 2018

Between school days and ballgames, I figure I have stood for the National Anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance at least several thousand times. High school football and basketball games. College games. Pro games. Multiple Super Bowl and World Series games. Oh say, can you see? At games where a Canadian team was involved, I […]

Danny McAuliffeMarch 11, 2018

The state’s leadership is drawing praise for removing “free-speech zones” from college campuses. Gov. Rick Scott on Sunday will sign a sweeping higher education bill (SB 4) into law that includes language preventing state colleges and universities from restricting free speech to certain areas on campuses. Generation Opportunity, a center-right political advocacy organization, commended Scott […]

Jim RosicaFebruary 6, 2018

The Senate version of the “Campus Free Expression Act” cleared its first panel on a party-line vote Tuesday over the opposition of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union chapter. The ACLU of Florida says the bill (SB 1234) “would make Florida public colleges and universities legally liable for disruptions caused by student protesters.” Democrats on the […]

Jim RosicaDecember 5, 2017

An “educational display of the astronomy causing the winter solstice” is the first holiday display to gain approval this year for the Florida Capitol rotunda. A “triptych poster,” sponsored by the First Coast Freethought Society of Jacksonville, is approved for display Dec. 15-22. Nina Ashley, spokeswoman for the Department of Management Services, the state’s real […]

Guest AuthorAugust 4, 2017

Make no mistake. Our country is divided. There is anger. It is palpable. No one side is fully to blame. The anger exists on all sides. Sadly, the most divisive areas of American life today are now in politics and religion. But it doesn’t stop there. We now live in an age where we can […]

William PatrickMarch 16, 2017

It’s Sunshine Week in the Sunshine State, and not just because it’s Spring Break. Since 2005, open government and freedom of information advocates have designated March 13-19 as a time to celebrate public transparency and raise awareness about the critical importance of access to government records. Sunshine Week is timed to coincide with the birthday […]

Florence SnyderMarch 14, 2017

Just in time for Sunshine Week, Tampa Bay Times environmental reporter Craig Pittman reminds us how focused, how ruthless, how relentless Gov. Rick Scott’s flacks are in their taxpayer-financed efforts to keep information out of the hands of taxpayers. Florida’s Ministries of Disinformation have been around since the Chiles administration, but “paranoia about the press” […]

Florence SnyderFebruary 27, 2017

Friends of the First Amendment have their hands full with the War in the White House Pressroom. That may explain why Miami-Dade School Superintendent Alberto (Rico Suave) Carvalho thought his attempted hostile takeover of the highly respected and ferociously independent WLRN newsroom might pass unnoticed. Thankfully, fans of the free press have taken notice, and […]

William PatrickFebruary 2, 2017

Five years ago, the Florida Department of Agriculture turned its regulatory power on a small third-generation dairy farm in the Panhandle’s Calhoun County, population 14,462. The Ocheesee Creamery, as it’s known, was caught being a little too honest. Mary Lou Wesselhoeft, owner, was selling all-natural pasteurized skim milk — whole milk with the cream skimmed […]

Joe HendersonJanuary 30, 2017

It might be easy to dismiss the harsh comments by U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa regarding President Donald Trump’s controversial executive order that called for “extreme vetting” of potential refugees from seven Muslim nations. As Mitch Perry reported Sunday on SaintPetersBlog, Castor said, “President Trump’s executive order targeting and banning legal permanent residents and […]

Tag: First Amendment

Joe Henderson: Is all this noise really America? Actually, it is

Generation Opportunity lauds move to eliminate ‘free-speech zones’

ACLU objects but ‘free expression’ bill clears Senate committee

T’is the season: First Capitol holiday display approved

Francisco Gonzalez: #ComingTogether, the movement to make America united again

Sunshine Week: First Amendment Foundation goes to bat for Florida’s right to know

Florence Snyder: Ain’t no Sunshine where Scott’s gone

The Grimm truth about Alberto Carvalho’s assault on WLRN

Small dairy farmer seeks First Amendment protection from state regulators

Kathy Castor is right calling ‘extreme vetting’ order immoral, un-American