Stop and Frisk Follies
Stop and frisk is a constitutionally suspect police tactic that entails stopping and searching an individual for weapons arbitrarily. The practice disproportionately targets blacks and Latinos while...
View ArticleFHP’s Crackdown and the Prohibitionist Politics of Drunk Driving: A Dissent
Taking aim at today's deployment of 40 FHP troopers on I-95, Darrell Smith calls the targeting of people who drink--as opposed to drunk drivers--a brown-shirted example of a police state mentality too...
View ArticlePalm Coast’s Pre-2010 Red-Light Camera Fines in Question Following Latest...
The 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach on Friday found Orlando's red-light traffic cameras illegal before they were standardized by a state law in 2010. Palm Coast's set up was similar to...
View ArticleFlorida’s High Court Affirms Guilty Until Proven Innocent Standard in Drug...
In not requiring "knowledge" of the illegality of whatever they were carrying, the law puts Florida at odds with at least 48 other states that require prosecutors to convince a jury that defendants...
View ArticleFlagler Sheriff Tallies DUI Catch as Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Blood-Test...
Flagler County deputies arrested 11 drunk drivers and many others on charges unrelated to DUI. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to decide whether forcing a DUI suspect to submit to a blood...
View ArticleIn Florida Case, U.S. Supremes Strike Down Drug-Sniffing Cop Dogs Outside of...
The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling in Florida v. Jardines is the second out of the state dealing with how search and seizure limits under the U.S. Constitution affect the ability of police to use...
View ArticleShould Cops Have Power to Track You in Real Time Through Cell Phones? Court...
Grappling with privacy rights amid fast-changing technology, the Florida Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a challenge to police using "real-time" cell-phone information to track a suspect in...
View ArticleRebecca Sedwick Suicide: Two Middle School Girls, 12 and 14, Arrested on...
12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick's suicide in Lakeland on Sept. 10 was the latest of a growing list of children taking their own life after being maligned, threatened and taunted online, mostly through a...
View ArticleDeemed “Grossly Offensive,” Satanic Display Is Barred from Florida Capitol’s...
The state Department of Management Services on Wednesday denied an attempt by "Satanists" to put up a display in the Florida Capitol, which currently showcases a Nativity scene, a Festivus pole made of...
View ArticleFederal Order Formalizes Agreement Between Flagler Sheriff and ACLU Ending...
Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre had nothing to do with a sadistic postcard-only mail policy at the Flagler County jail when he was targeted by an ACLU lawsuit charging First Amendment violations. A...
View ArticleFlorida’s “Docs vs. Glocks” Bill Wins Federal Appeals Court Approval in 2-1...
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the state Legislature had the right to pass the NRA-backed law, which includes provisions restricting doctors and other medical providers from asking...
View ArticleKimberle Weeks Calls County’s Campaign Sign Rules “Interference”;...
Flagler County Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks says the county's political-sign rules "may create an unpleasant and dangerous environment" for voters and campaigners at the public library....
View ArticleThe FBI’s Hairy Evidence Sends Floridians to Prison on Unscientific Testimony
At least 42 Floridians have gone to prison on tainted FBI evidence, including one who was executed and as many as nine who remain on death row, after trials in which FBI “experts” gave testimony that...
View ArticleJews Then, Muslims Now: How Imprudent Judgments Desecrate Western Values
To assume that all Muslims think alike because of their religious background, that they have “a mind” rather than individual thoughts, is as big a mistake as to assume to know the minds of Jews,...
View ArticleAgainst Mayor’s Opposition, Palm Coast Council Discovers Public Input at...
For the first time in 17 years the Palm Coast City Council will join other local governments in allowing public participation at council workshops, where most of the decisions are made, not just at...
View ArticleIslam’s Contempt for Self-Criticism: From Salman Rushdie to Kamel Daoud
When the Algerian journalist Kamel Daoud linked rapes in Germany on New Year’s Eve to Muslims' extreme sexual deprivation and “unhealthy relationship with women, their body, and desire,” he was...
View ArticleFlorida Justices: Cops May Not Keep Lawyer From Client Even in Voluntary...
While a murder suspect was being voluntarily interrogated before he confessed, his lawyer appeared at the sheriff's office but cops wouldn't let the lawyer see his client. The post Florida Justices:...
View ArticleProfiling By Computer in Florida: What Algorithmic Injustice Looks Like in...
Courtrooms are using computer programs to predict who will be a future criminal, informing decisions from bail to sentencing. Meant to be fairer than human biases, one such program in Florida is...
View ArticleDeemed “Grossly Offensive,” Satanic Display Is Barred from Florida Capitol’s...
The state Department of Management Services on Wednesday denied an attempt by "Satanists" to put up a display in the Florida Capitol, which currently showcases a Nativity scene, a Festivus pole made of...
View ArticleFederal Order Formalizes Agreement Between Flagler Sheriff and ACLU Ending...
Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre had nothing to do with a sadistic postcard-only mail policy at the Flagler County jail when he was targeted by an ACLU lawsuit charging First Amendment violations. A...
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