Florida Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Ben Diamond, D-St. Petersburg, filed legislation — SB 694 and HB 481 — today that would create a safety valve, allowing judges to depart from mandatory minimum sentencing for low-level drug crimes.
Immigrant children who have been illegally barred from enrolling in high school in Collier County, Florida, should be allowed to begin classes during the upcoming school year while a federal lawsuit filed on their behalf makes its way through court, according to a motion filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center today.
Last fall, the Florida Senate agreed without objection to strip the Confederate battle flag from its official seal. Today, Florida lawmakers are hearing testimony on a proposal that would go further toward redressing the wounds of slavery: the creation of a Florida Slavery Memorial at the state Capitol.
The SPLC and a broad coalition of advocates and legal scholars today urged Florida’s Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners to uphold a county resolution that has saved millions of tax dollars and improved community relations with police by not requiring officers to detain people for immigration authorities in county jails.
Federal education officials have announced that they will investigate Florida’s Pinellas County Schools for subjecting black students and students with disabilities to disproportionate arrests and restraints such as pepper spray for common misbehavior – an investigation sparked by a civil rights complaint filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
To help bring awareness to the fact that thousands of children are charged and held in the adult criminal justice system, the SPLC partnered with community groups in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to host community action events for Youth Justice Action Month (YJAM) events throughout October.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked a federal court to deny an attempt by Florida’s Collier County Public Schools to dismiss a SPLC lawsuit charging that the school district has illegally barred immigrant children with limited English skills from enrolling in high school.
The SPLC today announced a federal civil rights complaint against Pinellas County Schools (PCS) in Florida for subjecting black students and students with disabilities to disproportionate arrests and restraints such as pepper spray for common misbehavior.
As I combed through the incident reports involving youthful offenders at Florida prisons, the horror stories emerged. On page after page, the words repeated:
Officials with Collier County Public Schools in Florida have effectively barred immigrant children with limited English skills from enrolling in high school and pushed them into an adult English program that offers no opportunity to earn credit toward a high school diploma – a violation of state and federal laws, according to a lawsuit filed by the SPLC today.
