Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Mitch PerryJuly 20, 2016

Coming out to the stage by declaring her love for her native state, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi addressed the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night, where she said a Donald Trump presidency would return the country to the rule of law that has been absent under the past eight years of the Barack Obama […]

Guest AuthorJune 27, 2016

Why did Justice Stephen Breyer, not the longer-serving Justice Anthony Kennedy, write the “Whole Woman’s Health” opinion, which threw out Texas’ undue burdens on abortion access? The Supreme Court follows a seniority-based rule for assigning writing duties for its opinions. In a case where the Court is divided, the most senior justice holding the majority […]

Mitch PerryFebruary 15, 2016

GOP Senate hopeful Todd Wilcox understands the need to analyze the politics of a change in the U.S. Supreme Court, but he says that he wishes there could have been a little more time to mourn the passing of Justice Antonin Scalia, who died Saturday in Texas at 79. “This was a core conservative with a […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 20, 2016

Felicia Brown‘s body was left at a Palm Beach County waste management site. The decomposing corpses of her two children, ages 6 and 10, were found inside luggage floating in a canal. Clem Beauchamp, her ex-boyfriend, will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing them. He pleaded guilty this month in a […]

Mitch PerryJanuary 12, 2016

(UPDATED) The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down Florida’s controversial system that allows judges, and not juries, to decide whether or not convicted criminals deserve the death penalty. The high court ruled 8-1 against the current system, with only Justice Samuel Alito dissenting. The court sided with Timothy Lee Hurst, who was convicted of the […]

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, […]

Associated PressJune 30, 2015

Oklahoma and Florida moved quickly to resume lethal injections after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of midazolam, a sedative that has been used in several problematic executions. Attorneys general in both states asked courts Monday to allow executions to proceed, just hours after the high court voted 5-4 in a case from Oklahoma […]

Bob SparksApril 28, 2014

Last week, a federal judge issued a ruling serving as a perfect illustration of how the judicial system should work. The case left one side glad and the other side sad, but the reasoning behind the opinion demonstrates why thoughtful jurists deserve our respect. On April 22, District Judge Mark Walker dismissed part of a […]

Tag: Stephen Breyer

Pam Bondi cheers on ‘Lock her up’ chant to Hillary Clinton in RNC speech

Michele Grant: Why did Stephen Breyer, not Anthony Kennedy, write the opinion in the Texas abortion ruling?

Florida’s GOP U.S. Senate candidates fear liberal Supreme Court

Martin Dyckman: Death penalty riddled with too many inconsistencies

U.S. Supreme Court rules Florida death penalty system is unconstitutional

Martin Dyckman: Supreme Court more often goes astray

Florida, Oklahoma move quickly to resume lethal injections

Bob Sparks: On occasion, judges can surprise both sides