Tag Archives: State: Florida

AP: The 28-year-old son of a Florida fertility doctor has been charged by federal authorities with tricking his girlfriend into taking a pill used to induce labor and cause an abortion, killing the fetus she was carrying.

LifeSiteNews: Angele, a single mother in her thirties with two children, thought that abortion was the answer to her circumstances. At almost 23 weeks gestation, she entered the EPOC Clinic in Orlando, Florida. Little did she realize that the next day she would give birth to a live, perfectly healthy boy whom she named Rowan. Cradling Rowan’s moving body, her screams for help were ignored by abortion clinic workers while her son took his last breath.

Orlando Sentinel: The Lake County School Board now faces a legal battle with the American Civil Liberties Union over a 14-year-old’s attempt to start a gay-straight club at Carver Middle School in Leesburg. The ACLU Wednesday filed a lawsuit in federal court on behalf of eighth-grader Bayli Silberstein who’s been blocked for months from starting a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School in Leesburg.

Religion Clause Blog: The Freedom From Religion Foundation announced yesterday that the Central Florida Freethought Community will be making materials on Atheism available to students in eleven Orange County, Florida high schools tomorrow.

Washington Post: For the second straight year, significant parent opposition to “parent trigger” legislation in Florida has led to defeat in the legislature despite powerful supporters, including former governor Jeb Bush.

ActionNewsJax.com: A retired minister is outraged after a local county board added “In God We Trust” to its seal.

The Volokh Conspiracy reports on the ruling in Hatcher v. Desoto County School Dist. Bd. of Ed. (M.D. Fla. Apr. 5, 2013).

Miami Herald: Charter schools will receive $91 million for their construction and maintenance needs, state lawmakers agreed late Sunday.

Miami Herald: Friday’s morning House Session opened as it usually does. A religious leader invited by a House member offers a prayer for guidance to the lawmakers. And as usually happens, the reverend, invited on Friday by Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, concluded “we ask these things in the name, and through the merits of Jesus Christ, thy son and savior, amen.” But that final invocation of Jesus Christ is a growing concern for Jewish members, according to Rep. Jim Waldman, D-Coconut Creek.

Liberty Counsel: The City Council of North Miami ignored the threatening, inaccurate letter from the Freedom From Religion Foundation in favor of Mission Miami and local pastors, after a letter from Liberty Counsel.

Forbes: Michigan’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder, was among the many GOP state executives who made national headlines this winter by endorsing Obamacare’s expansion of Medicaid, America’s government-run health insurance program for the poor. But what isn’t making headlines is that Michigan’s legislature, like its counterparts in Florida, Ohio, and Arizona, is not going along.

First Coast News: The school board wanted control over what was said and feared a lawsuit if a prayer took place. In fact, a letter sent by the Freedom From Religion Foundation said they would be asking for a lawsuit. A former Navy chaplain in Colorado has weighed in, offering scholarship money to the first student to say the Lord’s Prayer, or pray in the name of Jesus at a graduation ceremony.

Orlando Sentinel: Since November, Bayli Silberstein, an openly bisexual 14-year-old, has lobbied for a Gay-Straight Alliance at Carver Middle School in Leesburg but has been thwarted by school officials.

Miami Herald: Controversial bills that would prohibit the use of Islamic law being applied in state courts, make the death of an unborn child a separate crime from an offense committed against the mother, and ban abortions based on an unborn child’s gender or race passed the Florida House Thursday.

Christian Post: The Florida House of Representatives Thursday passed a bill, 71-44, that would make it a crime for abortion providers to knowingly provide an abortion to a customer seeking to abort their fetus because of his or her race or gender. Some Democratic lawmakers walked out of the House chambers in protest as the bill was debated. The bill, H.B. 845 . . .

Eagle Forum (includes audio): If you don’t yet realize that Christianity is under attack in America, here is more evidence that might wake you up. Rollins College in central Florida has ruled that Christian student clubs that require their officers to be Christian are in violation of the college’s “non-discrimination policy.” . . .

Tampa Bay Times: Gilio filed a federal lawsuit, alleging the school district violated her son’s rights to freedom of speech and religion. She was assisted by the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona group that seeks to find legal ways to protect religious liberty.

Miami Herald: Temporarily setting aside debate over the legality of abortion, the Florida House unanimously passed a measure Wednesday that would require doctors to provide emergency care if a failed abortion somehow produces an infant who is born alive. HB 1129 . . .

Orlando Sentinel: But a little-noticed tweak in a sweeping education bill expected to become law muddles which grades are protected by a federal law prohibiting discrimination against school clubs. The American Civil Liberties Union says that Lake County schools are obligated to allow the Gay-Straight Alliance club to form because the middle school has other non-academic clubs.

Eugene Volokh at the Volokh Conspiracy: A Florida bill would ban “knowingly transmit[ting] or post[ing]” to any web site, a “photograph or video that depicts nudity of another person” coupled with “personal identification information” of that other person, “for the purpose of harassing the depicted person or causing others to harass the depicted person.” “Harass” is defined as “to engage in conduct directed at a specific person that is intended to cause substantial emotional distress to such person and serves no legitimate purpose.”

The St. Augustine Record: St. Johns County won’t be the Florida school district testing allowing prayer back into high school graduation ceremonies.

LifeNews: Planned Parenthood’s recent opposition to Florida legislation seeking to protect abortion survivors sent shock waves around the country. But this wasn’t the first time Planned Parenthood had opposed such legislation.

ACLU: When the U.N. Human Rights Committee reviews U.S. compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) this October, the review will tackle many of the human rights violations plaguing Florida. Last week the committee released its list of issues, which will form the basis for the U.S. review, and demanded answers to questions regarding U.S. laws and policies in areas such as juvenile solitary confinement, felon disfranchisement, and discriminatory enforcement of criminal law

LifeSiteNews: A federal court dismissed the case, on Good Friday, of Ave Maria University’s on the grounds that the federal regulations in question are not in final form. “One thing is clear, Ave Maria is not going to comply with the federal contraception mandate,” university President Jim Towey said in a statement.

Miami Herald: Florida lawmakers are poised to pass an abortion-related bill this year that would require doctors who provide abortions to offer emergency medical care in the unlikely event a baby is born alive.

Aaron Blake at Washington Post: Priebus: Media is covering up Planned Parenthood’s support for infanticide

Miami Herald: The abortion debate reignited Wednesday in a divided Florida House committee that approved a bill seeking to ban sex- and race-selective abortions.

LifeNews: Health and Human Services’ Office of Adolescence Health is giving Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando $2,388,950 in grant funding for its “Teens Rise!” project.

The Florida Family Policy Council sent this letter to the Senate Children and Families Committee in connection with its consideration of domestic partnerships/

Herald Tribune: In a landmark vote that may signal a shift in legislative attitudes, a Senate committee on Monday narrowly endorsed the creation of a statewide domestic partnership registry that could extend some legal protections to same-sex couples. “We have made history in the Florida Senate,” Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, said, as the Senate Children, Families and Elder Affairs Committee voted 5-4 for the registry bill (SB 196).

LifeNews: The Florida affiliate of the Planned Parenthood abortion business has released a new statement defending the remarks its lobbyist made that drew national condemnation for essentially endorsing abortion.

Weekly Standard (includes video): Florida legislators considering a bill to require abortionists to provide medical care to an infant who survives an abortion were shocked during a committee hearing this week when a Planned Parenthood official endorsed a right to post-birth abortion.

LifeNews: The Planned Parenthood abortion business in Florida is opposing a bill in the state legislature that would provide medical care and legal protection for babies who are born alive after failed abortions.

The Miami Herald: Bills seeking to ban sex- and race-selective abortions and to require that babies surviving botched abortions receive medical care cleared House subcommittees on Wednesday as the hot-button issue resurfaced during a legislative session that’s been largely bereft of battles over social issues. The legislation (HB845) . . .

Mediaite: According to Rotela, Dr. Deandre Poole, professor of the Intercultural Communications course, asked students to write ‘Jesus’ in bold letters on a sheet of paper, place it on the floor, stand up, and stomp on it.

Engage Family Minute: Rollins College is coming under fire for being the latest center for “higher education” to tell InterVarsity student group that it has to leave campus. The “crime”? InterVarsity requires that all leaders in their group share their faith and agree to their doctrinal beliefs.

TampaBay.com: High school students should know the difference between right and wrong, a St. Pete man told the Pinellas County school board at a town hall meeting Tuesday night. But elementary school students might not, and they could benefit from prayer in school, he said. Would the Pinellas school board consider it?

Human Events: Reuters reports a hitch in Governor Rick Scott’s plans to expand Medicaid coverage, as directed by the ObamaCare plan he once vowed to oppose . . .

Education News: Rollins College in central Florida has decided that Christian student clubs that require Christian leaders are in violation of the school’s “non-discrimination policy.” Rollins has decided that all Christian student groups who refuse to allow non-Christian leaders will cease to receive university funds.

Lambda Legal: Last April, Amber Hatcher made plans to observe National Day of Silence, a student-led day of action sponsored by Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network’s (GLSEN) in which thousands of students across the country remain silent to call attention to the silencing effect of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment in schools. She asked for permission from her principal, Mrs. Shannon Fusco, nearly a month before the event and provided information from GLSEN and Lambda Legal that explained the observance and students’ legal right to participate. When Principal Fusco threatened Amber with “ramifications” if she participated . . .

Engage Family Minute: You can wear just about anything you want to school these days. You can even be a boy and dress in girls clothing, or vice versa. But if you dare to wear a shirt promoting abstinence, you will be asked to change it. The video below shares the story of one girl in Florida that had this experience. Click here for original article.

Tampa Bay Times: “While other factors such as growing unemployment played a role, there is a strong case that redefining marriage is mostly responsible for the decline,” Sheedy said. We wanted to examine his theory.

Liberty Counsel: After nearly six years of effort, culminating in a yearlong battle with Charlotte County’s zoning board, Lutheran Church of the Cross will now be able to build a 60-foot monument cross on its 11-acre property.

NorthEscambia.com: Those behind displaying a nativity scene that once belonged to the Town of Century until it came under attack by an atheist group’s attorney as being illegal, are the February recipients of the Century Chamber of Commerce’s Community Pride Award.

Orlando Sentinel: Proposed rules comes after student application to form Gay-Straight Alliance was denied

News-Press.com: Following a challenge from the Freedom From Religion Foundation to the city’s practice of holding invocations before City Council meetings, Cape Coral’s city attorney has issued an update on case law in which she indicates the city amended its routine years ago to fall within the law.

FlaglerLive.com: The ACLU of Florida intervened today on behalf of a Lake County middle-school student leader seeking to establish a gay-straight alliance (GSA) at Carver Middle School in Leesburg. The eighth grader spearheading the effort, Bayli Silberstein, says the club is needed to combat bullying at her school, but has faced administrative resistance in trying to establish it.

Patheos: This is a guest post by Daniel Koster. Daniel is the President of the Wekiva Atheist and Secular Alliance at Wekiva High School in Florida. . . . We found out late Monday night that the School Board had given a group permission to hand out Bibles at our schools. The news reported it and David Williamson, leader of the Central Florida Freethought Community, alerted several local leaders in a message headed “URGENT.”

Sun Sentinel: The memo cites the Corporate Resource Council estimates that the coverage will increase costs by 5 percent. This Arizona-based council shares the same physical address with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which describes itself as “thousands of Christian attorneys and like-minded organizations to protect religious liberty, the sanctity of life, and marriage and family in America and around the world.”

Fox4Now: Freedom From Religion Foundation fought to prevent the Ten Commandments from being displayed at city hall. This time, it’s taking issue with what they call Christian-themed prayer at council meetings.

Education News: An Indiana state senator has introduced a bill that would give the state’s public schools the option to require recitation of the Lord’s Prayer at the beginning of each school day.

Salon: In a court motion, the defense claims that the state law against bestiality deprives 32-year-old Carlos Romero of his “personal liberty and autonomy when it comes to private intimate activities.” But it’s actually not quite as crazy a move as it might seem.

David Hacker at the Speak Up Movement Blog: We have a lot to be thankful for this year at Alliance Defending Freedom as our clients prevailed time and again in cases across the country. Here’s a recap of the top university victories in 2012 . . .

Miami Herald: Respondents opposed same sex marriage by a 10 point margin back in May, but in the poll released Thursday they were nearly evenly divided, with 43 percent in favor of allowing gay marriage and 45 percent opposed. Voters younger than 29, however, overwhelmingly support the idea, by a 66-23 percent margin.

Miami Herald: In other business, commissioners will take up a measure regarding the governing board of Jackson Health System and decide on their federal and state priorities for 2013.

Religion Clause Blog: The Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission on Wednesday filed a Notice of Formal Charges (full text) against Leon County Judge Judith Hawkins for using her judicial position to sell religious books and materials through her for-profit business, Gaza Road Ministries.

LifeNews: An abortion clinic in Florida has botched the insertion of an IUD and was forced to rush a woman to the hospital after she faced medical complications from the failure.

Click Orlando: Baby Jesus and a wooden donkey were stolen from the nativity scene of a Central Florida city, prompting officials to offer a cash reward for their return.

Greg Baylor at Speak Up Movement University Blog: The Florida Department of Education recently ended its discriminatory exclusion of a Christian college from one of its tuition assistance programs.

Religion Clause Blog: In Florida yesterday, the Miami-Dade County Commission voted 8-3 to re-institute prayer before the opening of the Commission’s formal meetings.

Naple News: In a case that offers a glimpse of the complexity of Florida’s parental-notification of abortion law, a divided appeals court this week overruled a Polk County judge and said a 17-year-old girl could receive an abortion without her mother being told. | In re Petition of Jane Doe

Inside Higher Ed: Florida officials have agreed to declare Florida Christian College’s students eligible for a state student aid program, settling a lawsuit by the college, The News Service of Florida reported

WKMG Local 6 (Click Orlando): The Department of Health is surveying 4,100 women between 18 and 24 years old, giving participants a CVS gift card.

Religion Clause Blog: Alliance Defending Freedom issued a Nov. 15 press release reporting on the settlement, and also made available the full text of the Mediation Settlement Agreement.

Politico: Florida Rep. Allen West — the tea party pugilist and face of the class of House Republicans that stormed to power two years ago — conceded Tuesday to 29-year-old construction executive Patrick Murphy in one of the nation’s highest-profile congressional races.

CBS: Election officials missed a deadline Sunday to report results of a two-day recount in GOP Rep. Allen West’s race to remain in Congress, apparently sealing unofficial results giving the win to Democrat Patrick Murphy.

Washington Times: The Republican Party of Florida is backing Rep. Allen West’s call for a recount of all early votes in St. Lucie County, saying it would be “unconscionable” not to answer lingering questions about the results — which show Mr. West trailing Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy.

Florida education officials have agreed to a settlement that will allow students at Kissimmee’s Florida Christian College to participate in a state grant program open to students at other religious and non-religious schools.

BuzzFeed: The White House announced on Wednesday that President Obama has nominated Judge William Thomas, an out gay man, to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Thomas would be the first out LGBT black man to serve as a lifetime-tenured federal judge.

WorldNetDaily: U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Fla., calls a mysterious 4,000-vote swing late on Election Night “unconscionable” as he continues his fight to challenge his razor-thin apparent loss to Democrat Patrick Murphy.

FedSoc Blog: On Monday, November 5, SLF, on behalf of another Florida citizen and taxpayer, filed an original action in the Florida Supreme Court asking the Court to issue a writ of quo warranto regarding the actions of Secretary of State Ken Detzner in determining the Justices “qualified” to be placed on the ballot. The argument is not one of conduct, but instead contends that none of the three justices lawfully qualified for the retention election and that the secretary of state failed to properly carry out his constitutional and administrative duties in the matter.

National Review: Florida congressman Allen West trails his Democratic challenger Patrick Murphy by .8 percent and, though Murphy has declared victory, West isn’t conceding. West is behind by a margin greater than the .5 percent required to trigger a recount, but he is demanding one nonetheless, citing vote-counting irregularities.

Religion Clause Blog: Florida voters yesterday (official results) defeated Amendment 8, the proposed Religious Freedom Amendment, that would have repealed the state’s Blaine Amendment– the state constitution’s ban on public funds going to religious institutions.

Seattle Post Intelligencer (AP): ustices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince each led about 67 percent to 33 percent with about 80 percent of the precincts reporting.

Religion Clause Blog: While the Presidential contest obviously looms largest at the polls tomorrow, those interested in church-state and religious liberty issues are watching a number of down-ballot issues and contests . . .