In its first legal challenge, a Lake Worth attorney has filed in @flcourts for quo warranto/mandamus/all writs relief after what he calls the @GovRonDeSantis administration's "unlawful electioneering" against the state's proposed abortion amendment.
cloudup.com/cWzfxFKSDXQ Attorney Adam Richardson, claiming citizen & taxpayer standing, says in his filing DeSantis, @AGAshleyMoody and @AHCA_FL chief @JasonWeidaFL are "unlawfully us(ing) their offices and agencies to interfere with the election for Amendment 4."

In an appearance about a half hour ago at Orlando-Sanford International Airport, @GovRonDeSantis said a plane carrying Floridians was "wheels up" from Haiti, and expected to land in Central Fla. "We are willing to dedicate the resources. ... We understand that there's people that are really in danger right now that are our fellow Floridians, and so I think this is the appropriate thing for us to do to mobilize these resources," he said.

This just in: @GovRonDeSantis has signed the executive orders for the special elections for House Districts 35 and 118.
cloudup.com/caxEdOma32d For HD 35, the primary is Nov. 7 and the general is Jan. 16.
For HD 118, the primary is Oct. 3 and the general is Dec. 5.
The legislative session starts Jan. 9.

The Indian River State College Foundation today announced it had "received an unsolicited developer proposal...to renovate existing facilities and develop new facilities" on the college's Fort Pierce campus. -more- "The scope of the proposed renovation and development includes mixed-use infrastructure elements which include but is not limited to, a convention center, academic space, parking facilities, a hotel, a museum, restaurant space, and student housing." -more-

The arrest reports for @LeaderBookFL and @NikkiFried have been posted by the Leon County Clerk of Courts.
cloudup.com/iTJJa1bt_iF
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1/ @LeaderBookFL @NikkiFried The reports show that police drew a connection between the City Hall abortion ban protesters and those in Georgia opposing, sometimes violently, A police/fire training center under construction near Atlanta.
2/

State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues (@isayray) & FL College System Kathy Hebda have "respectfully declined" an invitation to meet with @AAUP over "politically and racially motivated attacks on higher education in Florida."
1/ @isayray @AAUP AAUP had said it was setting up a "special committee (to) consider how legislative interference into the affairs of the State University System of Florida and the Florida College System has threatened
academic freedom and shared governance in those systems’ institutions."
2/

Jenn Meale Poggie, well known to the Capitol press corps for her comms work for then-Ag Comm'r Adam Putnam and then-AG Pam Bondi, now runs her own firm. She's starting her own PR campaign against mandatory reporting by HS students of their menstrual cycles. #FlaPol
1/ She launched the "Privacy. Period!" campaign today to persuade @FHSAA from adopting "four questions about teenaged girls' menstrual cycles to provide to athletic departments in order to compete in sports."
2/

An outfit called The Kids Guide is offering a "free gift bundle" ($1 for s&h) to "help your kids learn how @RonDeSantisFL became the rising star of the Republican party." #FlaPol
thekidsguide.com/rondesantis-al… @RonDeSantisFL To be clear, there are also guides for Donald Trump and Joe Biden, among others. There is also a Kids Guide to the Reagan Revolution.

.@GovRonDeSantis proposed budget includes $10M recurring, $5M in nonrecurring funds to @NewCollegeofFL for "operational enhancements as determined by the President and Board of Trustees." $5M "shall be used to provide scholarships." @GovRonDeSantis @NewCollegeofFL Some other random tidbits: Budget proposes almost $38.7M for medical marijuana regulation, all from trust funds.

In a memo sent earlier this month, the office of @GovRonDeSantis has asked the presidents of all the state's public universities to provide information on any services they provide "to persons suffering from gender dysphoria."
#FlaPol @GovRonDeSantis The memo was sent by Chris Spencer, DeSantis' director of budget and policy. "The universities are to ensure responses do not contain personally identifiable information or protected health information and are provided in an aggregated and de-identified format."

Former @HealthyFla employee Rebekah Jones, in a 2300+ word Substack post, says "the state" today dropped the computer crime case against her stemming from the 2020 raid on her Tallahassee home that made national headlines.
rebekahjones.substack.com/p/state-of-flo… @HealthyFla A notice of "nolle prosequi" as it's called, however, is not in the online court docket. State Attorney Jack Campbell has not yet responded to a message seeking confirmation. An email to her attorney bounced back, saying he was no longer with his firm.

Florida state Rep. @josephbharding has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of Wire Fraud, Money Laundering and Making False Statements, according to the US Attorney's Office for Northern District of Florida.
justice.gov/usao-ndfl/pr/f… @josephbharding Harding, a Williston Republican, came to the fore in the last regular legislative session for carrying the House version of the Parental Rights in Education Act, which critics dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Last night, @flcourts released an order that - unsurprisingly - keeps in place a procedural move that allows the state's new ban on abortions after 15 weeks to remain in effect while a lawsuit over it is still pending. @flcourts As you can see from the previous image, that order was "vacated" by a subsequent order - seemingly 7 hours later, according to times on emails announcing each order. The reason? The first order "was issued in error by the clerk’s office."

Quick thread: In this photo by @jeffschweers, accompanying his coverage of @NikkiFried calling out @RonDeSantisFL's comments on the Mar-a-Lago raid, I noticed that what looks like temporary fencing now extends well beyond the mansion. ⤵️ @jeffschweers @NikkiFried @RonDeSantisFL Turns out it's been there since 2020, right after a COVID related protest outside the mansion, the one where the guy handcuffed himself to the inside of a barrel.
⤵️tallahassee.com/story/news/202…

In a new memo, state Education Commissioner Manny Diaz says federal guidance including sexual orientation and sexual identity as a basis for sex discrimination is not "binding" in Florida. ⤵️
#FlaPol Diaz also tells superintendents and school districts they're not req'd, among other things, "to allow biological males who identify as female to compete on female sports teams." ⤵️

The following have applied to be the next justice of the Florida Supreme Court:
1Jeffrey Albinson
2Edward Artau
3Steve Berlin
4Hunter Carroll
5Eric Eisnaugle II
6Stephen Everett
7Renatha Francis
-more- 8Denise Harle
9Jeffrey Kuntz
10Robert Long, Jr.
11Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe
12Tarlika Nunez Navarro
13Ariana Fajardo Orshan
14Cymonie Rowe
15Meredith Sasso
16Adam Tanenbaum
17Thomas Winokur
###

👇 (Just in case you didn’t know, Mr. Lamb works in the governor’s office)

https://twitter.com/kylamb8/status/1440348284141248513

https://twitter.com/kylamb8/status/1440350466081058817

In 1969, in a pre-Miranda case, the US Supreme Court ruled it was OK for police to lie to suspects during questioning, or use "deceptive interrogation tactics," as they're called.
Now, a Florida lawmakers wants to make that illegal when the suspect is a minor.
1/ Rep. Travaris McCurdy, an Orlando Democrat, today filed HB 109, which if passed would "create presumption that confession of minor during custodial interrogation is inadmissible...if law enforcement knowingly engaged in deception."
myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Docum…
2/

Attorneys for @GovRonDeSantis and Ed. Comm'r @richardcorcoran filed their notice of appeal this evening, triggering an automatic stay of the order by Judge Cooper in the Florida mask mandate case. #FlaPol
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1/ @GovRonDeSantis @richardcorcoran The state's school district superintendents were informed of the appeal later this evening by Public Schools Chancellor Jacob Oliva, who told them the state will therefore "resume enforcement" of ban on mask mandates w/o parental opt-opts.
2/

Circuit Judge John Cooper has issued a 25-page order in the Florida mask mandate case, including a partial transcript of his oral ruling from the bench last week. #FlaPol
cloudup.com/c8uuG7qX67H Excerpt:

With a written ruling expected by day's end, @AGAshleyMoody is out with a formal opinion letter: As to in-school mask mandates, Florida school districts must follow "applicable statutes and reg's ... till the judiciary declares them invalid." #FlaPol
documentcloud.org/documents/2105… @AGAshleyMoody More: Circuit Judge John Cooper in fact is expected to issue a written ruling today after ruling from the bench last week that @GovRonDeSantis couldn't ban mask mandates in schools under existing law ("Parents' Bill of Rights").
usatoday.com/story/news/pol…