Category Archives: Civil Rights
LGBTQ Discrimination in Florida
Can a private business in Florida discriminate against a couple simply because they are gay? That is a question that arose recently when a gay couple were refused a couples massage at a Florida spa by the manager, who emphatically claimed that the refusal was not due to discrimination, but simply because couples massages… Read More »
Advocates Petition Florida Supreme Court to Restore Constitutional Right to Challenge Facial Recognition Systems before Criminal Conviction
Many people do not realize that Florida diverges from other states in allowing people to be convicted based on facial recognition systems that identify you as the perpetrator of a crime without first allowing you to exercise your constitutional right to challenge its accuracy; all due to one Florida appeals court decision. As a… Read More »
Citizenship Question for Voter Registration Sparks State-Based Civil Rights Lawsuits
A huge civil rights issue has emerged at both the federal and state level regarding the citizenship question and review as part of the 2020 census. Some minority organizations now found themselves having to sue their state officials over what they call an “election-related witch hunt” designed to intimidate voters by asking them to… Read More »
When Criminal Cases Are Thrown Out Due To Government Misconduct
One criminal case that was dismissed due to the local sheriff “spying” on the defense’s notes and jurors’ notebooks has received widespread attention and begged the question as to just how frequently law enforcement and prosecution is involved in similar government misconduct around the country. The incident sparked outrage from criminal and civil rights… Read More »
Florida Student Arrested For Refusing To Stand For/Recite the Pledge of Allegiance
News of an 11-year-old Florida student being arrested, taken to a juvenile detention center, and charged with a misdemeanor for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in class has been covered all over news headlines. Not only is the child now facing criminal charges, but his civil rights under the First and Fourteenth… Read More »
Is Florida Stalling the Restoration of Voting Rights To Ex-Felons?
We’ve previously discussed the importance of restoring ex-felons’ voting rights here in Florida. In November, voters overwhelmingly passed a ballot initiative to restore voting rights to felons who have been deprived of these basic civil rights for decades in one of the last states to automatically eliminate that right without the realistic ability of… Read More »
Florida Police Officer Who Framed African Americans Sentenced To Prison
We’ve previously discussed the crimes of ex-Biscayne Park Police Chief Raimundo Atesiano, who was found to have framed innocent black citizens and/or teenagers here in Florida in order to boost his police department’s arrest and conviction statistics. On November 27, Atesiano was sentenced to three years in federal prison for these crimes, which included… Read More »
Administration Files Position Opposing Inclusion of Transgender Rights in Title VII of Civil Rights Act
In late October, the Trump administration took a huge step back in making progress in affording civil rights for everyone by filing a position with the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against the protection of transgender people against sex bias on the job under Title VII of the 1964 civil rights law. The case stems… Read More »
U.S. Appeals Court Points out That Sting Operations Primarily Target Blacks and Latinos
On October 15, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals made it easier for defendants snagged in reverse sting operations to seek evidence indicating that the government engaged in serious civil rights concerns by specifically targeting blacks and Latinos in these operations. In doing so, the court painted a disturbing portrait of law enforcement… Read More »
Florida Is, Once Again, Accused of Felon Disenfranchisement. But Are Things Finally Changing?
Florida is, once again, in the national spotlight for a number of civil rights issues associated with its voting practices. The process requires that anyone who had a felony conviction wait five years before petitioning the state to regain the right to vote, which is then decided on a case-by-case basis by Governor Rick… Read More »
The Shameful Truth: Thousands of Veterans Have Also Lost Their Right to Vote in Florida
We’ve previously discussed Florida’s history of denying millions of ex-felons of the right to vote and the civil rights concerns that raises. Its history has its roots as an outright white-supremacist measure after the Civil War to explicitly prevent African-Americans from voting. The Miami New Times recently addressed this same issue within the context… Read More »
Kavanaugh’s Civil Rights Views Under Scrutiny
Affirmative action is an important civil rights issue that carries a goal of instilling admissions policies geared to provide equal access to education for groups that have historically been underrepresented or excluded—such as minorities and women—in higher educational institutions. While the U.S. Supreme Court has historically upheld university admissions policies that allow for race… Read More »
Florida Teachers Unions Sue over Violation of Constitutional Rights
On July 2nd, a group of Florida teachers and teacher organizations sued over a new union certification law that went into effect, arguing that it deprived them of their collective bargaining rights, as guaranteed in the Florida constitution. According to the teachers, their organizations were unfairly signaled out for these certification measures, while other… Read More »
Florida’s Fight to Restore Ex-Felons’ Civil Rights Moves to 11th Circuit
We have previously discussed how the right to vote is one of the most important fundamental civil rights that we as Americans have had, and how many in Florida have had this right stripped away due to past felony convictions, leading to a new civil rights movement to end Florida’s felon disenfranchisement law. There… Read More »
How Can We Weigh Civil Rights With Religious Rights?
We’ve previously discussed the importance of one particular civil rights case that was recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court: Unfortunately, on June 4th, the Court made a decision that is arguably antithetical to the protection of civil rights when it decided that a cake shop owner who refused to bake a cake for… Read More »
Reports of Police Misconduct & Framing Minors out of Biscayne Park, Florida Police Department
On June 11th, a former Florida police chief and two officers were charged with framing a teenager with four burglaries in order to boost the police department’s arrest statistics. Specifically, the officers—former Chief Raimundo Atesiano and former officers Charlie Dayoub and Raul Fernandez—were charged with “conspiracy to violate civil rights under color of law”… Read More »
Spring 2018 Civil Rights Update: Faith-Based Initiatives in the White House and Anti-Begging Laws Found to Violate Constitutional Rights
Below we discuss some recent, important developments concerning protected civil rights this spring: Trump’s Faith-Based Initiative Raises Civil Rights & Discrimination Concerns On May 3rd, President Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to “protect religious liberty” into law, igniting concerns from civil rights advocates across the country. The order establishes a new office… Read More »
Racial Bias Leads to Arrest at Starbucks and Nationwide Protests
A racial profiling event that occurred at Starbucks has captured news headlines, and even led the chain closing down for two days in order to provide its employees with “racial-bias education.” Specifically, two black men were arrested while waiting at one of the coffee chain’s stores last week, after doing absolutely nothing. The chief… Read More »
Florida Man Arrested & Charged With Crime for Testifying
The Florida man who was arrested and sent to jail for simply speaking his mind at a city council meeting has captured news headlines, particularly as the U.S. Supreme Court hears his case on February 27th. The case will have implications for everyone regarding First Amendment protections of free speech. The case started in… Read More »
Police Seek Private Phone Data for Everyone near a Crime Scene within Last Year
In a move that has alarmed civil rights advocates all over the country, in mid-March, police officers in North Carolina served Google with approximately five search warrants, demanding that the company hand over cell phone data for every single person who “in the vicinity” of various crimes over the last year. Specifically, police were… Read More »
New Bill Sparks Civil Rights Debate on Criminalization of Youth
A new bill introduced in Congress—H.R. 4909, the “Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Act of 2018—has many civil rights advocates concerned. Some have pointed out that it could exacerbate the school-to-prison crisis, further criminalize children, and increase the militarization and over-policing of communities of color, and have already started reaching out… Read More »
What Does It Mean to Say That a Criminal Defendant’s “Due Process Rights” Have Been Violated?
When it comes to criminal trials and appeals, sometimes criminal defense attorneys will find that a due process violation (and/or other trial misconduct) occurred. On February 12th, CNN featured an important piece discussing what due process is and is not in terms of criminal defendants and their rights. Below, we discuss this in more… Read More »
An Unusual Civil Rights Issue We Now Face: Police Officers Making False Arrests to Earn Overtime
On February 19th, the New York Times covered a story involving police officers who stand accused of making false arrests in order to increase their incomes (a practice known as “collars for dollars”). The implications of the federal trial brought against them could have far-reaching impacts on criminal defendants affected by these officers, as… Read More »
Key Voting Rights Law in Jeopardy
The right to vote is one of the most important fundamental civil rights in the United States of America. Sadly, it’s also one with a complicated history: thirty years ago, barely half of all eligible voters had cast a ballot in the presidential election. As a result, the National Voter Registration Act was drafted… Read More »
Problematic Legislation Turning Car Thief Victims into Criminals Introduced In Florida
In December, Florida House Bill 927—making it a crime to leave your keys in your car if that car is then stolen by a minor—made it to the Criminal Justice Subcommittee in the Florida House of Representatives. Below, we discuss major potential criminal defense and civil rights issues associated with the proposed bill, which… Read More »
