Three weeks ago, Florida's general counsel sent a letter to local TV stations ordering them to stop broadcasting a commercial in favor of Proposition 4, which creates a right to abortion. A few days ago a judge told them bluntly to knock it off. It was a plain violation of the First Amendment.
Today we learned more. The general counsel, John Wilson, filed an affadavit saying the letter came straight from the office of Gov. Ron DeSantis and that he resigned a week later rather than send out a second, similar letter.
Wow: The Florida official who sent letters threatening TV stations for airing pro-choice ads has filed a declaration in federal court stating that (1) DeSantis' office directed him to send them, and (2) he resigned rather than sending more. https://t.co/PXsK3td3Jm pic.twitter.com/gkegovFgTw
— Mark Joseph Stern (@mjs_DC) October 21, 2024
This is your freedom-loving Republican Party at work. They have been terrified to learn that even in red states most people are opposed to strict abortion bans, and they will do anything to prevent the will of the people from being heard. The First Amendment, to them, is just a minor roadblock to be bulldozed whenever it's inconvenient.
The Republicans sure do like civil rights violations, huh?
DeSantis burnishing his creds for the next Presidential cycle.
DeSantis is very bad. But you don't seem particularly committed to free speech, either.
You are free to post what ever drivel that travels from your brain to your hands. As far as I know your idiotic posts have never been deleted. So tell us again how Mr. Drum isn't particularly committed to free speech. Oh and to compare a public official with the power and ability to curb free speech to a private blogger is beyond ridiculous.
Kevin downplays free speech threats that originate on the left. For example, he described the CA deepfake bill a nothingburger. The court that struck it down described it as a classic example of free-speech inhibiting legislation.
And you are one of those self-appointed nazi-punchers incapable of appreciated free speech as a general civic principle.
"And you are one of those self-appointed nazi-punchers incapable of appreciated free speech as a general civic principle." This is the kind of comment that makes you look stupid af.
"Kevin downplays free speech threats that originate on the left. For example, he described the CA deepfake bill a nothingburger. The court that struck it down described it as a classic example of free-speech inhibiting legislation." As I recall you were already schooled on that topic.
Heh. 🤭
Ein Reich! Ein Volk! Ein Fuhrer!
I have to wonder whether a progressive victory on abortion in Florida will be enacted.
Wasn’t it just a few years ago the electorate in Florida restored felons’ voting rights only to have the legislature find a way to disallow it?
It's going to be a hard lift. Florida now has a 60% threshold for ballot initiatives, which is higher than the support abortion amendments usually get.
It probably won't pass. It needs 60% and it was polling in the mid-to-low 50's the last I saw.
And the thing with the felon voting rights is often misreported. The referendum was to restore voting right to criminals (other than murderers and rapists) after ALL the court imposed obligations had been met. That would include monetary fines. After it passed, democrats tried to say fines shouldn't be included in the requirement, even though that is what people voted for. The problem is that there is very poor record keeping and no centralized source of data. It's almost impossible to track down what fines are still outstanding for ex-felons.
No, the referendum did not say anything at all about fines, it was about "all terms of their sentence including parole or probation". The legislature passed a bill after the referendum passed to add court imposed fines to the mix. A sort of poll tax. If you're poor, you can't vote. You know, justice.