* Florida remains just one of two states that allow a less-than-unanimous (8-4) jury verdict for the death penalty. The other state is Alabama, where the jury threshold is 10-2. For further context, Florida—with six executions—was second to Texas (eight) in the nation in 2023. That’s more than half of the country’s total executions this past year. Even more ignobly, Florida “leads” the U.S. in death row exonerees (30).
* “(Florida is) a refuge for freedom and sanity.”–Ron DiSastrous. Yeah, this is what freedom and sanity now look like.
* If we’re banning more books for schools, shouldn’t the governor’s politically self-serving (“The Courage To Be Free”) memoir—seemingly done with the aid of a Chatbot—be included?
* We know about Trump’s so-called Muslim ban. But there was an earlier GOP version—thanks to then-Rep. Ron DeSantis. In 2015, he introduced the Terrorist Refugee Infiltration Prevention Act, which would have blocked entry of refugees from certain countries “if the alien is a national of, has habitually resided in, or is claiming refugee status due to events in any country containing terrorist-controlled territory.”
* The “Flee State of Florida”? So, Sean Hannity has relocated from New York to “the free state of Florida.” Too bad Gov. DiSastrous won’t fly him to Martha’s Vineyard.
* This state’s controversial Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo disagrees unsurprisingly again with the FDA, and has come out against COVID vaccine—specifically, those of Pfizer and Moderna for mRNA. Maybe it’s part of his “freedumb” DNA.
* NaPalm Beach update: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago New Year’s Eve party featured Vanilla Ice. Ted Nugent must have already been booked. Also in attendance: lucky lackeys Roger Stone and Rudy Giuliani. Not in attendance: Stormy and E. Jean.
* According to the Florida Department of Education, more than 20% of students in public schools, including adult education, missed 21 or more school days during the 2021-22 academic year.
* China is Florida’s biggest trading partner—for IMPORTED goods.
* “Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be.”–Jacksonville (Democratic) Mayor Donna Deegan, who ordered the removal of a prominent Confederate monument.
* As of 2022, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Florida still had 77 Confederate memorials.