First Amendment

In the past few days, Palmetto Bay, like many communities around the country, has been consumed by the wave of ferocious indignation directed at people who declared their lack of remorse about Kirk’s death or merely took issue with things he had said or believed.

FIRE, a prominent free speech advocacy group, is criticizing the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel and several Florida teachers for their comments on the assassination of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk.

When a junior at an Orange County public high school in Florida visited the school library to check out a copy of “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac, it wasn’t in its Dewey decimal system-assigned location. It turns out the title had been removed from the library’s shelves because of a complaint, and in compliance with Florida House Bill 1069, it had been removed from the library indefinitely.

A First Amendment expert says the Village violated the state’s open meetings law, a government transparency provision it has violated before, costing taxpayers more than $35,000.

The judge ruled the law is unconstitutional as it infringes on the First Amendment rights of students.

The vote this week comes after a controversial advocate challenged the district by invoking Satan on banners to hang in schools. He sued the district after it denied his request, citing it is viewpoint discrimination and a violation of religious freedom.

Florida's new law takes effect at the beginning of the year and critics are already calling the law unconstitutional.

Protesters at Crossbridge Church have created disturbances that affected neighborting St. Agnes Roman Catholic Church. The leader has been charged with criminal offenses.

A federal judge has blocked education officials from enforcing a law requiring a transgender Hillsborough County teacher to use pronouns that align with her sex assigned at birth, saying the law violated her First Amendment rights.

The Florida House passed a bill in January banning kids under 16 from making social media accounts. Supporters say the measure would protect children from harm on social media platforms, while opponents say it would infringe on First Amendment rights.

Arguing the law is "entirely incompatible with the First Amendment," two industry groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a ruling that blocked key parts of a 2021 Florida law placing restrictions on large social-media companies.

Gov. Ron DeSantis directed universities to "deactivate" chapters of the group "Students for Justice in Palestine." The ACLU says he can't do that.