First Amendment

Everglades Earth First! Environmental Activists Hold Protest Training Tomorrow

At the very moment public hysteria about government snooping has reached a new, fevered pitch, the radical environmentalists of Everglades Earth First! have decided to hold a very public workshop on the art and science of direct action. Non-violent protest that may involve civil disobedience, direct ... More >>

Facebook Page Reveals FAU Advisor Fears Muslim Law, Gay Rights, Has Extreme Right-Wing Views UPDATED

Roxanna Trinka is President/CEO of a company called Baseline Engineering. She's also a Director of the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, an advisor to the school's College of Engineering, and served on Palm Beach County's Criminal Justice Commission. It's a free country. So there's no ... More >>

FAU President and Trustees Keep Saying Ridiculous Things, Blaming Others for Their Ineptness

In a classic example of bolstering the bunker instead of looking in the mirror, FAU's Board of Trustees yesterday blasted those who criticized and publicized the school's recent high-profile public blunders. See also: - FAU President's Collision With Student - FAU Instructor Placed on Leave Rather ... More >>

Leo Joseph, Haiti Observateur Editor, Can Again Publish Haiti Prime Minister's Name, Judge Rules

Following one of the most unusual federal rulings in recent history, which barred a Haitian-American journalist from publishing the Haitian prime minister's name, District Judge Ursula Ungaro lifted her judgment in Miami court yesterday, granting Leo Joseph his First Amendment rights. Which means ... More >>

FAU Investigates Student Protestors. Will the School Conduct Itself Fairly? UPDATED

Administrators at Florida Atlantic University didn't have the gumption to stand up to a propaganda assault from the Christian right and investigate communications instructor Deandre Poole's report of threats from a disgruntled student. They chose instead to hang Poole out to dry in the idiot wind. A ... More >>

In Libel Case, Federal Judge Ursula Ungaro Bars Newspaper From Covering the Haitian Prime Minister

SoFla Teenaged Girl Suspended for Protesting School Bullying

At DeSoto County High School in Arcadia, freedom of speech doesn't extend to silence. Amber Hatch, 15, sued its principal, its dean of student, and the local school board last week in Fort Myers federal court, claiming she was suspended last year after school administrators tried to coerce her from ... More >>

Inside the FAU Protest: Students Occupy President's Office, Win Town Hall Meeting Over GEO Group Stadium Naming Deal

It was hard not to feel sorry for FAU President Mary Jane Saunders on Monday afternoon, confronted in her office with an impromptu occupation by some 40 students protesting the school's decision to grant naming rights for the FAU football stadium to the notorious private prison operator GEO Group.Se ... More >>

Palm Beach Hat Trick: Judges in Chains; School Workers Rally; Dirty Campaign Dust-Up

We tried to get some comment this week from the attorneys representing Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Barry Cohen, a famously outspoken liberal who's facing some of the most transparently bogus ethics charges ever to go before the Florida Supreme Court. No dice. Neither Scott Richardson nor Don ... More >>

Arbor Day Protest in Palm Beach Gardens: Monkeywrenching the Women's Club

The ladies of the Palm Beach Gardens Women's Club are perturbed. They are resentful and suspicious of our county's environmental activists and their anarchist tendencies. Naturally enough.In alliance with the City of Palm Beach Gardens, the club is celebrating Arbor Day today, gathering at 9:30 this ... More >>

"Blow Me," Cooper City Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi Tells Resident During Meeting

Cooper City Commissioner Lisa Mallozzi didn't agree with someone at the commission meeting telling her something she disagreed with, so she gave a terse rebuttal to the person's remarks. And by "terse rebuttal," we mean she told this person to blow her. See also: John Sims, Cooper City Commissione ... More >>

T-Shirt Attack: Can BSO Fire a Guy Who Backs the Wrong Candidate? It Seems Yes

Former BSO Jailer Not Rehired by Sheriff Al Lamberti Due to Politics, Lawsuit Claims

Scott Israel's November win in the Broward County sheriff's race will probably mean a big shakeup at the area's largest law enforcement agency. But it's a labor dispute time-stamped from the sheriff-elect's failed 2008 campaign for Al Lamberti's job that might change daily business at departments ac ... More >>

Pot Activist Robert Platshorn: Feds Tightening Screws

Not content with locking up Palm Beach medical marijuana activist Robert Platshorn for almost 30 years, the federal government has now decided to rob him of his constitutional rights, restricting his ability to travel and enjoy free speech and assembly. They don't like him advocating drug ... More >>

Presidential Debate Protests: Sit-in On Yamato Road, Mass Arrests at the Lynn Debate

It wasn't just Obama and Romney who had something to say last night in Boca Raton. Hundreds of citizens (and some non-citizens) showed up to speak their minds on the election and the issues of the day. Fifteen of those who spoke out went to jail for their troubles. It was all fun and games for the ... More >>

Allen West Calls Obama's Speech to the U.N. "More Apologies"

President Obama made a speech this morning to the General Assembly at the United Nations in which he condemned the anti-U.S. protests in the Middle East and North Africa in the wake of the attacks in Libya and urged world leaders to rally against extremism. But Rep. Allen West, with his Communist ... More >>

New Times Broward Palm Beach Sold; Looks a Lot Like the Old New Times Broward Palm Beach

A quarter century ago, my old, good buddy Mike Lacey came to Miami and decided to start a weekly paper. He wanted to move here, but a mugger and a prudent wife convinced him cocaine-fueled Miami wasn't the place to raise a family.Today, Lacey bowed out. Along with his partner -- and another guy I co ... More >>

Prejudice for Dummies: A Translation of South Florida Chick-fil-A Supporters' Claims

A confession: On Wednesday, some New Times folk wanted to eat Chick-fil-A. Music Editor Liz Tracy and video guy Jake Katel stopped by a store in Pembroke Pines and discovered the hullaballoo around "Chick-fil-A Appreciation Day," in defense of Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathy's statement that America ... More >>

Larry Flynt Coming to Fort Lauderdale Tonight: Book Signing at Hustler Store

Do you looove the First Amendment? Are you a fan of Woody Harrelson movies? Do you want to ask someone why Hustler magazine published a photo of a conservative columnist with a photoshopped penis in her mouth?If so, good news! Porn mogul Larry Flynt is coming to town tonight. Unpack your old Jackie ... More >>

Should We Respect the Ideas in Public Records, No Matter How Silly They Are?

Here's a conundrum. Last week, via the environmentalist group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, we got wind of some notes from a meeting of state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) officials last year that showed some unorthodox -- some might say laughable -- ideas. Our br ... More >>

Allen West Joins Advisory Board of Far-Right, Anti-Islam Law Center

Congressman Allen West, everyone's favorite defender of the Constitution, has joined the citizens advisory board of the Thomas More Law Center, a conservative legal organization that has spent more than a decade trying its best to roll back a rather important section of the Bill of Rights.The Michig ... More >>

Rammstein at BankAtlantic Center April 20

Fort Lauderdale's Anti-Panhandling Scheme Gets Attention From National Lawyers' Guild

There's a no-panhandling zone in downtown Miami, and Fort Lauderdale currently prohibits asking for change along the beach. But the Fort Lauderdale City Commission is considering some tough new regulations that would effectively ban panhandling in the entire downtown area. That's in addition to a pr ... More >>

High-Powered Attorney Bruce Udolf Fails in Attempt to Hide Evidence From Public

​An attorney's attempt to hide documents that might implicate his client on a murder charge ended when a judge ruled from the bench today that the evidence is a public record. Boca Raton defense lawyer Bruce Udolf had argued in court documents that releasing records to New Times about his client, ... More >>

Allen West on Contraception: Mocks Obama's Knowledge of the Constitution, Completely Mangles Constitutional Argument

​Congressman Allen West sent out his weekly newsletter Monday, barraging his constituents with an almost predictable combination of hyperpatriotic mumbo-jumbo and misguided, pseudo-academic posturing about his favorite book in the history of words, the United States Constitution.Once you get past ... More >>

Boca Raton Teenager, ACLU of Florida Suing to Let Kids Donate More Money to Candidates

​With the way campaign-financing laws are going these days, this may not even be surprising -- the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and a 17-year-old girl from Boca Raton are challenging a state law that prohibits minors from giving as much money to state and local political candidates as ... More >>

Broward Commission Rejects One Proposal Requiring Permits for "Expressive Activities"

​The Broward Commission unanimously voted down a draft ordinance proposed by County Administrator Bertha Henry to require people to apply for and obtain permits to engage in "expressive activities" at county facilities -- a mandate that many members of the public see as a stab at the First Ame ... More >>

Broward Commission to Consider Anti-Occupy Policy: "Expressive Activities" Need a Permit

legaljuice.comWell, "everyone" may need a permit.​The Broward Commission loves the First Amendment right of the people to assemble, as long as you get a permit two days in advance, don't bring tents or sound amplification, don't have more than the maximum people allowed, are out by 5 p.m., and don ... More >>

Occupy Palm Beach Moves Into "Permanent" Location, With City's Blessing

The Occupy Palm Beach movement, currently consisting of around a dozen people camping out full-time, has moved into what it's calling a "permanent" occupation site at Banyan Boulevard and Flagler Drive in West Palm, just across from the Palm Harbor Marina.View Larger MapThe spot is a triangular plot ... More >>

First Amendment Right to Blast Music to Be Considered by Florida Supreme Court

inquisitr.comThe Florida Supreme Court will decide whether this is your First Amendment right.​The issue of whether it's the First Amendment right of Florida drivers to blast obnoxious music from their cars way louder than anyone needs to will be heard before the Florida Supreme Court.The court sc ... More >>

Occupy Demonstration Leads to Arrest of Bo Diddley's Son -- In Park Named After His Father

FacebookEllas Anthony McDaniel, the son of Bo Diddley (left), after last night's arrest at Occupy Gainesville.​A 56-year-old man was arrested last night during a demonstration held by Occupy Gainesville in the Bo Diddley Community Plaza, and of all the people to be arrested, it was the son of ... More >>

Florida Drivers Have First Amendment Right to Blast Music, Appeals Court Rules

inquisitr.comUnless this system comes with a big bag of coke, this setup is your constitutional right in Florida.​If you're in Florida blasting obnoxious music from your car way louder than you need to, well, that's your First Amendment right, according to a recent appellate court ruling.In Marion ... More >>

At the Beach With Arnold Abbott, Fort Lauderdale's Homeless-Feeding Advocate

Stefan KamphAbbott serves food to the hungry​When we were reporting last week's cover story on Food Not Bombs, one name came up again and again as the man who had started the slow avalanche of legal decisions that made Fort Lauderdale think long and hard about its efforts to prevent large-scale me ... More >>

Deerfield Beach Housing Authority Rescinds Public Records Change, at Least Temporarily

unofficiallywinslow.blogspot.com​The questionable public records resolution proposed by the Deerfield Beach Housing Authority was rescinded -- at least for now -- at last night's Board of Commissioners meeting, but the commissioners did approve a middle finger via proclamation toward activist Chaz ... More >>

Deerfield Beach Housing Authority Attempting to Pass Possibly Unlawful Public Records Rule

unofficiallywinslow.blogspot.com​In what would seem like an effort to ban the often insulting and/or profanity-laden public records requests of activist Chaz Stevens, the Deerfield Beach Housing Authority voted at its last Board of Commissioners meeting to adopt a resolution outlawing "improper" r ... More >>

State Rep. Rooney Files Bill to Keep Westboro Baptist Bozos at Bay

towleroad.com​State Rep. Pat Rooney isn't too happy about the "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "God Hates Fags" sign-wielding lunatics from the Westboro Baptist "Church" in Kansas parading around funerals extolling their hate under the protection of the First Amendment.For the second straight leg ... More >>

Florida Judge Kills Matching Funds; Money is Considered Free Speech in Political Campaigns

illinoisstate.edu​Just days after the U.S. Supreme Court found Arizona's matching-funds campaign law unconstitutional, a Florida federal court judge halted a similar provision in this state.The issue, unsurprisingly, was brought up in a lawsuit by then-candidate Rick Scott, who said his right ... More >>

Journalists Sue Fort Lauderdale Over Photography Ban, Plan Himmarshee "Lunch-In"

Carlos Miller​Fort Lauderdale has a lawsuit on its hands after letting a movie production company put up bogus no-trespassing signs, which attempted to prohibit photography by citing a random city ordinance.The Hollywood film Rock of Ages is being filmed around the Himmarshee Village area. Several ... More >>

Marco Rubio: Government Officials and Federal Contractors Are Completely Honest

Trust me! I'm with the government!​Marco Rubio usually says what he means. Which is why his fans -- and I count myself among them, even though I disagree with just about every one of his policies -- should be saddened by a small item at the bottom of his latest weekly newsletter, entitled "Marco R ... More >>

Ann Coulter Doesn't Really Want Journalists in Jail, and Other Defenses of her Liberal Side

​Much has been made in the blogosphere of Ann Coulter's off-the-cuff remark at the Conservative Political Action Conference that "there should be more journalists in jail." The obsession is a waste of bandwidth. Coulter was asked an un-serious question, and she gave an appropriately un-serious ans ... More >>

The Tea Party Is the Muslim Brotherhood of America? You Betcha

MSNBC's Chris Matthews made a remark yesterday comparing the Tea Party of America to the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt. "So the Muslim Brotherhood has a parallel role here with the Tea Party," he said. "They're the ones who keep you honest and decide whether you've stayed too long?" That's what  ... More >>

College Student Defends Facebook First Amendment Rights and Settles With Former Principal

via Chris KasurakCartoon of cyberbullying, free speech's evil tug-of-war partner.​Where is the line between cyberbullying and free speech? If one exists, it's wide, gray, and quite cloudy, and Katherine Evans walked it for two years as she sued her former Pembroke Pines Charter High School princip ... More >>

Ann Coulter Watch: "Like a Condom, The First Amendment Can't Always Protect You."

​This week, our favorite local virgin published her most vapid screed yet at Human Events, her "editorial home." Wondering why our nation's top "legal eagles" have yet to make a compelling case for the criminal prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, she draws on her lawyerly training to ... More >>

Precious Moments: Allen West's First Washington Gaffe and Spin Job

Allen West needs to work on his spin.​Allen West is learning the ways of WashingtonOn December 7, Congressman-elect West committed his very first honest-to-goodness Washingtonian gaffe when, in an interview with the African American Conservative Radio Show, he called for the effective dismantling ... More >>

Where Are Wikileaks Media Friends? (Updated)

Credit: Kyle T. Webster​Updated: Click here to read more.Where are the First Amendment's establishment warriors as government-spooked businesses try to shut down Wikileaks?Hackers with computers, not hacks with press passes, have been the first line of resistance. More to come. Michael LaceyExecut ... More >>

Joyce Kaufman Stays In Florida to be "Your Biggest Nightmare"

Flickr: ValentinaLWeisKaufman: Still talking.​"I would have been some quiet little chief-of-staff," Joyce Kaufman told listeners on her WFTL-AM (850) radio show. "It's gonna be your biggest nightmare that I didn't go quietly off to Washington." Ah, yes. The woman who urged "bullets" over ballots w ... More >>

Broward School Board Continues Lawyer Fiasco

The Broward County School Board has a bad case of emeritus. You might think that after the stink caused by the Broward County School Board's plan to give outgoing Ed Marko a $266,000 salary to serve as general counsel emeritus (for the unwashed that's pronounced  ih-MEH-ri-tus, not really like ... More >>

Election Day Notes

Let's start this thing off with a couple of blog votes. On Amendments 5 and 6, it's pretty easy: If you like gerrymandering, vote against them. As for me, it's a yes vote on these two. On the judicial race between John Fry and John Howes for County Court Judge in District 1, I've made a decision. T ... More >>

UPDATED: Did Judge Lazarus Violate Judicial Canons?

The recent ridiculous "Convicted Criminal" mailers targeting Broward County Commission candidate Chip LaMarca is indeed tied directly to Broward Mayor Ken Keechl's campaign. Another egregious Keechl mailer​Turns out that the address of the "Broward Good Government Commi ... More >>

Is Miami: Beach Heat Merely Skinimax? Or Truly Porn?

The Miami: Beach Heat formula calls for flimsy bathing suits and an even flimsier plot.​It's called Miami: Beach Heat. And if you're horny as a bitch in heat, this show's for you. The Showtime series, which is filmed in a Fort Lauderdale studio, might even cross that ever-so-subtle line from Skini ... More >>