Tag: florida

Florida Officials Miss Counting 54,000+ Signatures for Cannabis Legalization Petition

Florida election officials appear to have short-changed an adult-use cannabis legalization campaign by more than 54,000 valid signatures.

Local election officials from roughly half of Florida’s 67 counties validated more signatures for Smart & Safe Florida’s initiative petition than what state officials gave those counties credit for, according to a Cannabis Business Times analysis of Florida’s county supervisors of elections’ websites.

The state-versus-county discrepancies for valid signature tallies come after Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd’s office announced Feb. 1 that Smart & Safe Florida’s proposed constitutional amendment to allow those 21 and older to access cannabis failed to meet the signature requirements for placement on the 2026 General Election ballot.

According to the Florida Division of Elections’ website, Smart & Safe Florida filed 783,592 valid signatures ahead of the Feb. 1 deadline, coming 96,470 signatures short of the 880,062 needed to qualify for the ballot.

However, with the extra 54,000-plus signatures reported by local election officials and another 70,646 disqualified signatures being contested in court, Smart & Safe Florida could overcome that shortfall (more on the lawsuit below).

Smart & Safe Florida organizers challenged the state’s valid signature tally on Feb. 1, with a campaign spokesperson telling Florida Politics that the Division of Elections’ website doesn’t match what the 67 county supervisors of elections verified at the local level.

“We believe the declaration by the secretary of state is premature, as the final and complete county-by-county totals for validated petitions are not yet reported,” the spokesperson said. “We submitted over 1.4 million signatures and believe when they are all counted, we will have more than enough to make the ballot.”

The 67 county supervisors of elections’ websites now show that local officials validated more than 833,000 signatures and deemed roughly 900,000 invalid, meaning they reviewed more than 1.7 million signatures from Smart & Safe Florida.

At the time of Byrd’s Feb. 1 declaration that the campaign failed, some county supervisors of elections had yet to post signature tallies from their final week’s reporting periods.

Under Florida Statute Section 100.371(15), Byrd is responsible for “the purely ministerial duty of calculating the total number of verified signatures,” based on valid counts from the 67 supervisors of elections, Leon County Judge Jonathan E. Sjostrom ruled last month.

This prompted CBT’s 67-county analysis.

Nearly 48,000 of the 54,000 valid signatures from county websites that were not reflected in the state’s tally came from five counties: Broward, Seminole, Pinellas, Polk and Alachua.

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Florida Lawmakers Approve Bill To Punish Medical Marijuana Patients For Having Open Containers Of Cannabis In Cars

Citing statistics showing that impaired drivers contribute to more than 30 percent of fatalities on Florida roads, Jacksonville Republican Rep. Dean Black introduced legislation Thursday that would ban medical marijuana patients from possessing open containers of cannabis.

The prohibition would apply if they were driving or a passenger in a vehicle, with the penalty being the loss of their medical marijuana card after committing a third such violation.

The bill (HB 1003) would work the same way Florida law does now in banning driving with open containers of alcohol, Rep. Black told members of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee Thursday.

“We are trying to make sure that we establish—like we did with alcohol—a taboo. It’s wrong. It has to stop,” he said.

Black cited an Ohio study published last fall showing that, over six years, 40% of drivers who died in motor vehicle collisions had tested positive for THC in their system—and said he had plenty of anecdotal evidence that this is also happening in Florida.

“I was in Tallahassee and watched two people who were in front of me at a light on Monroe Street, and they were passing a bong between the windows of their car,” he said, eliciting laughs from some lawmakers. “It’s ridiculous. It’s killing people.”

Among the concerns opponents expressed is that the bill says that a county or municipality “may” adopt an ordinance that imposes more stringent restrictions than simply the removal of one’s medical marijuana card.

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Florida plans to become first state to eliminate all childhood vaccine mandates

Florida plans to become the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates, a longtime cornerstone of public health policy for keeping schoolchildren and adults safe from infectious diseases.

State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who announced the decision Wednesday, cast current requirements in schools and elsewhere as “immoral” intrusions on people’s rights that hamper parents’ ability to make health decisions for their children.

“People have a right to make their own decisions, informed decisions,” Ladapo, who has frequently clashed with the medical establishment, said at a news conference in Valrico. “They don’t have the right to tell you what to put in your body. Take it away from them.”

Florida’s move, a significant departure from decades of public policy and research that has shown vaccines to be safe and the most effective way to stop the spread of communicable diseases, especially among schoolchildren, is a notable embrace of the Trump administration’s agenda led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime anti-vaccine activist.

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Hillsborough Sheriff: Teen linked to extremist group threatened mass shooting, held child pornography

An investigation into a 14-year-old boy planning to conduct a mass shooting revealed his connection to a separate child pornography investigation, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said they received a tip that the teenager had access to weapons and was planning a mass shooting at a church near his Wimauma home.

During a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Chad Chronister explained the teen discussed his plan for the shooting in an online chatroom designated for “violent extremists.” He described it as a neo-Nazi, satanic group called “Temple of Love.”

“This case is a dangerous intersection between individuals that engage in online activity and the real-life threat that it poses,” he said.

Through investigative means, detectives discovered the 14-year-old was possibly connected to an active HCSO child pornography investigation. 

After conducting a search warrant at his home, officials reported finding multiple firearms, ammunition and electronic devices with child sexual abuse material on them. 

The sheriff said the child pornographic material found was 14 pieces of “extremely graphic” images of people inflicting violence on infants and toddlers.

“Images too graphic to discuss because it would keep you up at night,” he said.

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A City Fined Her Over $100,000 for Parking on Her Own Grass. The Florida Supreme Court Won’t Hear Her Case.

What price should someone pay for three minor code violations?

For Sandy Martinez of Lantana, Florida, the answer is: over $165,000, plus interest, a sum so high that selling her house would be insufficient to pay off the debt, according to her complaint filed against the city in 2021. The Florida Supreme Court effectively closed the door on the case in December when it declined her appeal and left in place a decision that ruled the fines were not “excessive.” But Martinez’s little-known story is a microcosm of the broader debate over what, exactly, transgresses the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on fines that are unconstitutionally severe, especially as local governments are known to rely on such penalties to raise revenue.

Whether there is a disconnect between common sense and the law is open to interpretation. The bulk of her debt—over $100,000—comes from a parking job.

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Miami Democrat Mayor Eileen Higgins Vows to Obstruct ICE and Limit Cooperation With Federal Immigration Enforcement

Miami Mayor Eileen Higgins, the city’s first Democrat mayor in nearly three decades, openly declared her intention to hamstring cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and severely limit local enforcement of federal immigration laws, a move that will turn Miami into a sanctuary city by stealth.

Higgins, who defeated Trump-endorsed candidate Emilio Gonzalez, is wasting no time pushing a dangerous, open-borders agenda.

Speaking on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” on CBS News Sunday, Higgins acknowledged that Miami is currently complying with Florida’s state-mandated cooperation with ICE, but made clear she intends to furl out that cooperation to the bare minimum.

Margaret Brennan:
Mayor Higgins, nearly 7% of Florida is undocumented, according to you. In Miami, the police cooperate with ICE. But you, during your campaign, were very critical of that decision to cooperate. Can you change the policy without the governor being on board?

Mayor Eileen Higgins:
The governor issued a requirement that local municipalities cooperate with ICE, and many municipalities, including the City of Miami, before I became mayor, signed that agreement. It is very difficult to unwind. It would take a vote of our city commission to do so.

So obviously, as mayor, I intend to comply with the law. And so what we have done in our 1,500-person police department is we have trained three individuals—should ICE call—who are able to answer that call and work with them. Obviously, we’re going to comply with the law, but we are not going to help beyond that.

Because in my community, in South Florida, we are the most affected. ICE and its tactics have been in my community for over a year. They have been causing great fear and terror among our residents. I cannot go anywhere without meeting someone—my brother, my uncle, my sister—“Alligator Alcatraz.” No sabemos dónde está. We don’t know where they have been taken. And that has been going on for months.

It is inhumane. It is cruel. I’m a Catholic. We can barely grapple with the lack of humanity around all this. And then what we have—very differently from any other community in Miami-Dade County, which we are part of—is that approximately 15% of our population has TPS.

So you’re talking Temporary Protected Status. You’re talking about between 250,000 and 300,000 individuals who have slowly but surely, as they’ve lost status, become overnight “illegals” in the eyes of the federal government.

And this enforcement in our Nicaraguan community, our Hondureño community, our Venezuelan community, has driven many people into hiding. Children are not going to school, and obviously ICE is deporting them.

Tuesday night, we face a very dire situation. Our Haitian community loses its access to TPS at midnight. Twenty percent of TPS recipients with Haitian status are in health care. On Wednesday, we are talking about nursing homes, home health care aides, hospitals, nurses, physician assistants—all of them are going to be out of a job when they wake up on Wednesday morning.

Margaret Brennan:
Because their legal pathway and status are going to be revoked, and suddenly they become…

Mayor Eileen Higgins:
—unnecessarily. Haiti is not safe. Venezuela is not safe. TPS should be extended immediately for Venezuelans. It was erased with a stroke of a pen. It could be put in place with a stroke of a pen.

TPS for Haitian immigrants should absolutely, positively be extended. Our economy is at stake, and our humanity is at stake.

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Wicked Florida Nurse Announces He Will Refuse to Treat MAGA Republicans, Claims It’s His “Ethical Oath”- Florida AG James Uthmeier Responds

A male nurse in Florida will likely lose his job after posting that he will refuse to treat supporters of President Trump.

On Sunday, an anesthesiologist named Erik Martindale sparked a social media uproar after posting on his Facebook account that he would let MAGA supporters suffer and refuse to perform any anesthesia on MAGA clients.

In other words, he is saying he will refuse to do his job because he does not like their politics.

Martindale claimed he had every right to do so because he owns all of his businesses and it’s his “ethical oath.”

“I will not perform anesthesia for any surgeries or procedures for MAGA,” Martindale wrote in the now-deleted Facebook post. “It is my right, it is my ethical oath, and I stand behind my education.”

“I own all of my businesses, and I can refuse anyone!”

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Florida Lawmakers Approve Bill To Ban Public Marijuana Smoking Ahead Of Possible Legalization Vote On The Ballot

A Florida Senate panel has advanced legislation to ban smoking or vaping marijuana in public places, a development that comes as an industry-funded campaign is seeking to place a recreational cannabis legalization initiative on the November ballot.

The Senate Regulated Industries Committee on Tuesday approved the bill, which defines a public place as “a place to which the public has access, including, but not limited to, streets; sidewalks; highways; public parks; public beaches; and the common areas, both inside and outside, of schools, hospitals, government buildings, apartment buildings, office buildings, lodging establishments, restaurants, transportation facilities, and retail shops.”

The measure from Sen. Joe Gruters (R), who is also chairman of the Republican National Committee, would specify that marijuana cannot be smoked or vaped in customs smoking rooms at airports.

Sen. Ana Maria Rodriguez (R) presented the bill, SB 986, on Gruters’s behalf at the committee hearing.

“There is currently no prohibition on smoking marijuana in public places if adult use is approved by the voters,” she said, according to Florida Politics. “By banning public smoking of marijuana, we are protecting community health and quality of life, as well as protecting certain outdoor spaces from marijuana smoke such as beaches and parks.”

Rep. Alex Andrade (R) is sponsoring a similar bill to ban public cannabis smoking in the House of Representatives.

The proposals are among a growing list of cannabis legislation that lawmakers are introducing for consideration next year.

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Miami Beach police chief defends detectives’ visit to activist over Facebook post about mayor

Miami Beach Police Chief Wayne Jones issued a statement Friday explaining why detectives visited the home of a local political activist earlier this week following a social media comment about Mayor Steven Meiner.

“Given the real, ongoing national and international concerns surrounding antisemitic attacks and recent rhetoric that has led to violence against political figures,” Jones wrote that he “directed two of his detectives to initiate a brief, voluntary conversation regarding certain inflammatory, potentially inciteful false remarks made by a resident to ensure there was no immediate threat to the elected official or the broader community that might emerge as a result of the post.”

He went on to write that “the interaction was handled professionally and at no time did the mayor or any other official direct me to take action.”

The statement comes after Raquel Pacheco, a Miami Beach political activist and veteran who previously ran for city commission and a Democratic state Senate candidate, said Miami Beach detectives arrived at her home.

“He said, ‘We are here to talk to you about a Facebook comment’ and I said – ‘What? Is this really happening?” Pacheco told Local 10 News.

Pacheco had commented on a Facebook post by Meiner, who is Jewish, in which he described Miami Beach as “a safe haven for everyone,” contrasting it with New York City, which he said was “intentionally removing protections” for and “promoting boycotts” of Israeli and Jewish businesses.

Pacheco responded to the post by writing, “The guy who consistently calls for the death of all Palestinians, tried to shut down a theater for showing a movie that hurt his feelings, and REFUSES to stand up for the LGBTQ community in any way (even leaves the room when they vote on related matters) wants you to know that you’re all welcome here,” followed by three clown emojis.

She recorded the brief exchange with the detective who spoke with her about the post. In the video, Pacheco is heard asking, “Am I being charged with a crime?” and “So you are here to investigate a statement I allegedly made on Facebook?”

She later added, “This is freedom of speech. This is America, right?”

Pacheco said she believes the visit was politically motivated rather than a matter of public safety.

In the video, the detective is heard saying, “What we are just trying to prevent is somebody else getting agitated or agreeing with the statement, we are not saying if it’s true or not.”

“So that, to me, is a clear indication that people are not allowed to agree with anyone but the mayor and that is not how America works,” Pacheco said. “I don’t agree with him and I am going to continue to voice that.”

The encounter comes amid a national conversation about censorship and free speech, including recent debates sparked by the brief suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live.”

While the First Amendment does not apply to private companies, it does protect Americans from government interference in speech.

In the video, the detective advised Pacheco to “refrain from posting things like that,” telling her that her comment about Meiner’s views on Palestinians “can probably incite somebody to do something radical.”

Pacheco, who said she was simply “calling out” what she described as Meiner’s “hypocrisy,” said her comments do not meet that standard.

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Florida’s “App Store Accountability Act” Would Deputize Big Tech to Verify User IDs for App Access

In Florida, Senator Alexis Calatayud has introduced a proposal that could quietly reshape how millions of Americans experience the digital world.

The App Store Accountability Act (SB 1722), presented as a safeguard for children, would require every app marketplace to identify users by age category, verify that data through “commercially available methods,” and secure recurring parental consent whenever an app’s policies change.

The legislation is ambitious. If enacted, it would take effect in July 2027, with enforcement beginning the following year.

Each violation could carry penalties of up to $7,500, along with injunctions and attorney fees.

On its surface, this is a regulatory measure aimed at strengthening parental oversight and protecting minors from online harms. Yet it hits up against a larger philosophical and rights struggle.

For much of modern political thought, the relationship between authority and liberty has revolved around who decides what constitutes protection. Florida’s proposal situates that question in the hands of private corporations. The bill effectively deputizes Big Tech app store operators, such as Apple and Google, as arbiters of digital identity, compelling them to verify user ages and manage parental permissions across every platform.

Millions of Floridians could be required to submit identifying details or official documents simply to access or update apps. This process, while justified as a measure of security, reintroduces the age-old tension between the protective role of the state and the autonomy of the citizen.

By making identity verification the gateway to digital access, the law risks creating an infrastructure in which surveillance becomes a condition of participation. It is a move from voluntary oversight to systemic authentication, merging the roles of government and corporation in a single mechanism of control.

The proposal may collide with long-established constitutional principles. One of the objections lies in the concept of prior restraint. By conditioning minors’ ability to download or continue using apps on verified Big Tech platforms, the bill requires permission before access, effectively placing all expressive content behind a regulatory gate.

Apps today are not mere entertainment; they are conduits of news, art, religion, and political discourse. Restricting that access risks transforming a parental safeguard into a systemic filter for speech.

The burden falls most heavily on minors, whose First Amendment protections are often ignored in public debate.

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