Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Martin DyckmanMarch 12, 2015

For 13 years, Florida’s death penalty process has been on thin ice at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Legislature has pretended not to notice even though the state Supreme Court sent an early warning. Now, the ice is cracking. On Monday, the high court agreed to consider whether Florida’s law conflicts with its 2002 opinion […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 12, 2015

For 13 years, Florida’s death penalty process has been on thin ice at the U.S. Supreme Court. The Legislature has pretended not to notice even though the state Supreme Court sent an early warning. Now, the ice is cracking. On Monday, the high court agreed to consider whether Florida’s law conflicts with its 2002 opinion […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 9, 2015

One of the truthful boasts in Gov. Rick Scott’s curiously brief speech to the Legislature last week may not have been good news to all who heard it. “We are at a 43-year low in our crime rate,” he said. In fact, by 2013 crime in Florida had fallen 60 percent from its high point […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 2, 2015

A bit of ancient wisdom in the legal profession holds that if the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. And if both the facts and law are against you? Argue jurisdiction: tell the court that it has no business hearing the case. Secretary of State […]

Martin DyckmanMarch 2, 2015

A bit of ancient wisdom in the legal profession holds that if the facts are against you, argue the law. If the law is against you, argue the facts. And if both the facts and law are against you? Argue jurisdiction: tell the court that it has no business hearing the case. Secretary of State […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 25, 2015

It is widely acknowledged that the fox should not guard the henhouse. It follows that he shouldn’t hire those who do. That’s a potential problem in the Florida Senate’s comprehensive and well-meant prison bill. (SB 7020) Among other things, it creates a Florida Corrections Commission to monitor what goes on in a prison system becoming […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 24, 2015

It is widely acknowledged that the fox should not guard the henhouse. It follows that he shouldn’t hire those who do. That’s a potential problem in the Florida Senate’s comprehensive and well-meant prison bill. (SB 7020) Among other things, it creates a Florida Corrections Commission to monitor what goes on in a prison system becoming […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 15, 2015

The premise underlying Florida’s death penalty is that it will be carried out fairly. To borrow a phrase, that is a bright and shining lie. As the first to re-enact capital punishment after the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in 1972, Florida’s Legislature provided specific criteria for death sentences and required the state Supreme […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 9, 2015

Glenn Terrell, a Florida Supreme Court justice for 41 years, kept a thick file with such titles as “God, the Original Segregationist,” “The Bible Answers the Race Question,” and “God Gave the Law of Segregation (as well as the 10 Commandments) to Moses on Mount Sinai.” Upon voting to keep a black man out of […]

Martin DyckmanFebruary 6, 2015

If it’s too early to anoint a presidential front-runner among the Republicans, the national media are obviously treating Jeb Bush as one. Among the in-depth articles already up and running is a Boston Globe inquiry into his teenage years at the elite Phillips Academy nearly half a century ago. Another is a biting review on […]

Tag: Martin Dyckman

Martin Dyckman: Will U.S. Supreme Court rule Florida’s death penalty unconstitutional?

Martin Dyckman: Will U.S. Supreme Court rule Florida's death penalty unconstitutional?

Martin Dyckman: Drop in crime bad news for Florida's private prison biz

Martin Dyckman: Rick Scott is rich, and the disclosure law is poor

Martin Dyckman: Rick Scott is rich, and the disclosure law is poor

Martin Dyckman: Prisons need monitoring, but so does Rick Scott

Martin Dyckman: Prisons need monitoring, but so does Gov. Rick Scott

Martin Dyckman: Capital punishment in Florida is death by judicial whim

Martin Dyckman: Reject bigotry and evil perpetrated in name of religion

Martin Dyckman: Jeb Bush’s behavior in the Schiavo case is unworthy of a governor — or a president