Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks DeSantis' ‘Stop-WOKE’ Law

The ruling was heralded as a “major victory for free speech” by the group of businesses who sued the state, but that win could be short lived with the DeSantis administration sure to appeal.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | A federal judge on Thursday blocked Florida from enforcing a key aspect of the state’s new law restricting what Gov. Ron DeSantis calls “woke” workplace trainings about race.

In a 44-page decision, Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker slammed Florida’s “Stop-WOKE” Act, criticizing its policies as “bordering on unintelligible” as he granted a temporary injunction on the grounds the law violates the First Amendment.

The ruling was heralded as a “major victory for free speech” by the group of businesses who sued the state, but that win could be short lived with the DeSantis administration sure to appeal.

DeSantis Announces 20 Arrests Tied To Voter Fraud Charges

This is the first major showing of the state's new election investigation office.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. | Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday announced that the state is in the process of arresting 20 ex-felons — mostly in South Florida — for voter fraud tied to the 2020 election, the first round of what he promises will be a wave of voter fraud arrests.

The investigation was led by the DeSantis-championed Office of Election Crimes and Security, an office created during the 2022 legislative session to focus on election fraud investigations and prosecutions. The first round, announced during a press conference in Broward County, was focused on felons who illegally voted in 2020 by either not properly applying to have their voting rights restored or were ineligible because of the severity of their crimes.

DeSantis said those arrested were convicted of crimes like murder and sexual assault, but provided no details about the defendants. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement later provided the names of the 20 individuals, who are facing third-degree felony charges related to voting violations.

“This is just the first step. There are many more in the pipeline,” DeSantis said. “We are not just going to turn a blind eye to this. The days of that happening in Florida are over.”

DeSantis said that the office is actively investigating people who have voted in two states and undocumented immigrants who he says may have voted illegally in Florida. He provided no specific details about those ongoing investigations.

Voting rights groups, most of whom opposed the creation of the election’s investigation office, pushed back hard against the announcement.

Florida Rising Executive Director Andrea Mercado said the announcement is a sign that his administration is undermining people’s access to voting and noted a DeSantis’ drawn congressional redistricting map erased a North Florida congressional district that has long performed for Black voters.

An Uncompromising Coalition Is Building Support to Nix Atlanta’s “Cop City”

With the police training facility set to decimate Atlanta’s forestland, a coalition of abolitionists and environmentalists are sustaining the struggle.

IT IS A grim moment for climate justice in the U.S. The Supreme Court kneecapped the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions. And the deal struck with coal baron Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., for climate-related programs — a fraction of what was initially proposed — falls far short of what is needed to avert environmental devastation.

It is a disheartening time, too, for the racial justice struggle against policing and prisons. The bipartisan race to the bottom in “law-and-order” governance continues apace, insulting the memory of the 2020 Black liberation uprisings, in which up to 26 million people participated. President Joe Biden, for instance, pledged to aggressively expand law enforcement funding to allow the hiring and training of 100,000 more cops.

In climate and racial justice, reasons for optimism can feel few and far between. And yet there is an unassuming but remarkably resilient struggle that connects the environmentalist and abolitionist movements in Atlanta — and it’s gaining ground.

For over a year, activists have protested to defend a major stretch of Atlanta forest where the government plans to build a vast, $90 million police training compound, dubbed “Cop City.” Plans for the training facility include several shooting ranges, a helicopter landing base, an area for explosives training, and an entire mock city for officers to engage in role-playing activities.

Next to the planned Cop City site, film production studio Shadowbox, formerly named Blackhall Studios, aims to expand its soundstage complex into Intrenchment Creek Park — public lands bequeathed to the company in a controversial and contested land swap with unincorporated DeKalb County.

Poliovirus Found in New York City Wastewater, Not Tap Water

Health officials announced on Aug. 12 that poliovirus, the virus that causes the paralytic disease polio, was identified in sewage from New York City, indicating the virus is circulating there and people who are not fully vaccinated against polio could be at risk.

While the virus was detected in wastewater as part of surveillance, people on social media are falsely saying that it was found in tap water.