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In 1960, Leander Shaw was one of the first African Americans to practice law in Florida. He went on to become the first  African American Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court. Justice Shaw died yesterday after complications from a stroke. And as Mike Vasilinda tells us, Justice Shaw lead efforts to protect a woman’s right to choose and the reform of the death penalty in the state.

In 1989, Justice Leander Shaw authored an opinion upholding the right of a minor to have an abortion. It put him on the anti abortion movement’s radar. Lawyer and activist Ken Connor rallied a crowd to vote against Shaw during an anti abortion demonstration at the Capitol.

“Should Justice Shaw be retained?”

“No”

A year later Shaw’s retention election became the first  openly contested up or down vote on keeping a judge in office.

“When you are asked if the Flordia Supreme Court should be retained, Just say NO!” Conner shouted.

Shaw won with almost 60 percent of the vote. After the election he says he win was a message.

“The message is that you should have an independent judicial system. Single issues should not come into skew the decision making processes.”

In July 1999, Florida executed Alan Tiny Davis. AP reporter Ron Word was a witness.

“There was blood all over his shirt, in the center of his chest, and also blood flowing out the side of his mouth.”

In a later opinion, Shaw, published photos of the bloodied inmate. It resulted in the US Supreme Court halting executions in Florida…which then switched to lethal injections to avoid having the death penalty declared unconstitutional.

Shaw become the first African American Chief Justice of Florida’s high court in 1990.

“As far as I am concerned personally, I don’t feel I carry the weight of minorities on my shoulders, particularily.”

Flags at the Supreme Court are at half staff, where the justice will lie in state in its rotunda  on Monday.

A memorial service will be held a week from today (next Tuesday). Justice Shaw’s final internment will be in Jacksonville.

Florida’s first medical marijuana law has been bogged down by legal challenges and there’s no medicine available almost two years after the law was passed. As Matt Galka tells us, more delays could be coming.

Five companies were awarded the first licenses to grow low-THC medical marijuana in Florida at the end of November.  The ones that lost out had three weeks to challenge the state on it.

When that deadline passed Monday, 13 challenges had been made. Taylor Patrick Biehl with the Florida Medical Marijuana Business Association says the delays were expected.

“There’s no telling how long of a delay this will cause, however, it could be two to three months, it’s certainly going to freeze the process up, but I have the utmost confidence in the Department of Health, I think they’ve done a great job thus far but it’s just a matter of sitting back and watching things unfold,” said Biehl.

Growers who had been awarded one of the five licenses say they’re frustrated. We spoke to Hackney Nursery owner George Hackney in the summer before he had secured the license for the northwest region.  We reached him by phone after the latest challenges were made.

“It’s frustrating, no doubt about it, but it’s part of the process,” he said.

One challenge was made in his region by Alpha Foliage – a company which had already been awarded a license in a different region.

“We’re going to really just continue to focus, though, as we told you before, on getting these naturally based therapeutic products to the patients of Florida as quickly as possible,” said Susan Driscoll, Alpha Foliage’s managing partner.

Legislators will consider expanding Florida’s medical marijuana laws this upcoming legislative session – and that could mean granting more licenses.

Growers of the low-THC medical marijuana are hopeful that the medicine will be available in the summer of 2016.

A Univeristy of Utah Political Scientist whose testimony in the Congressional redistricting case was called “suspect” by the Florida Supreme Court was grilled today in the Senate map case. Dr. Daodong Liu was called by the Senate as their expert. He testified hispanics need at least a 70 percent voting age population in a district to win and insisted blacks need at least 50 percent. On the stand, he floundered under questions from voters coalition attorney David King.

“You suggested here that it’s so important that black voting age population must exceed fifty percent, so in your report here, you don’t list what the black voting population is in the districts.” asked King.

Sot: Dr. Daodong Liu

Univ. of Utah Political Scientist

“No racial group is a majority, so they are a minority” responded Dr. Daodong Liu

“Well, can you tell me what that black voting age population is?”

King asked again.

“It’s less than 50 percent” responded the political scientist.

The district King was asking about elected an African American with only 36 percent black voting age population.

 

Florida lawmakers have already spent 12 million dollars drawing and defending the states congressional and legislative district lines only to have them ruled unconstitutional. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the cost continued to grow today as the maps drawn for state senators go on trial.

State elections supervisors told the judge they would need approved maps no later than March to begin drawing new precinct boundaries in time for next year’s election.

Democrats outnumber Republicans by four hundred thousand registered voters in Florida.

Yet Republicans outnumber Democrats 26 to 14 in the state Senate. David King, the attorney representing a coalition of voters groups suing the legislature says the lopsided numbers are no accident.

“They did agree that they violated the Constitution when they adopted map 9030, the enacted map that they passed back in 2012” King told the judge.

After admitting their maps were draw to favor the GOP, the legislature tried but failed to adopt a new map. Now a judge will decide. The Senate has offered a map which would likely elect 23 Republicans. A voters group has a map that would split the Senate 20/20.

In opening arguments, Raoul Cantera, the Senate’s six hundred ninety five dollar an hour lawyer argued the map doesn’t have to be perfect…just constitutional.

“There’s more than one way to draw a constitutional map” said Cantera as he justified the Senate’s action of drawing a half dozen maps.

But the Attorney for the voters groups says the Senate’s latest map protects the GOP majority by packing some districts with more voters.

“We will present to you, your honor, in this case, to show that these plans do benefit the Republican  party, and that alternative maps perform more fairly” says King.

No matter what map the judge here chooses, the final decision will be with the Supreme Court. The trial is expected to last through Friday.

As the State Senate and attorneys for a coalition of voters groups argued over the validity of new maps for state senate elections, State elections Supervisors had their representative in the courtroom. They worry about having enough time to run next years elections.

Five growers around the state were officially selected to grow Florida’s first form of medical marijuana in late November. As Matt Galka tells us, those dispensers are getting their first look at state rules that will govern their growing of the low-THC cannabis.

The growers that Florida’s office of compassionate use selected to dispense medical marijuana got their first look at state rules Wednesday. Instead of discussion between the growers and the state, there was a lot of silence.

The draft rules ranged from dispensing requirements, to hygiene and odor control, to security.

“Now that we’ve given out the five approved dispensing licenses, moving forward we now have to ensure that they will continue to operate in a safe and law abiding manner,” said Christian Bax, the state’s director for the Office of Compassionate Use.

After looking at the rules, stakeholders in Florida’s capital said there weren’t many surprises. Susan Driscoll is the managing director of Alpha Foliage and also President of Surterra Therapeutics – one of the five companies selected by the state.

“This is very in line with the application, so at Surterra we feel very comfortable that we can provide safe, natural, helpful products to the patients of Florida,” said Driscoll.

Jeff Sharkey and Taylor Patrick Biehl cofounded the Florida Medical Marijuana Business Association and say that the state is still in a three week period where there could be legal challenges, so there could still be a long road ahead.

“That 21 days ends Monday, so we could certainly see some challenges,” said Sharkey.

Growers and the state are still hoping that the medicine could be available by next summer.

The companies selected had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to post a $5 million dollar performance bond. The Department of Health said four of the five companies had posted the money as of Wednesday afternoon.

More than one thousand bills have been filed in advance of Florida’s 2016 legislative session, and there’s still time to throw a few more potential new laws out there. Matt Galka spoke with one of the men who has control of what passes and what doesn’t – Florida’s Senate President – in advance of the lawmaking period.

Senate President Andy Gardiner sat down with reporters Tuesday morning and reflected a little on his more than 20 years in Florida politics.

“If you really want to make God laugh tell God what you have planned for your life. And certainly in 1999 I never thought I would run for the House, be a majority leader in the House, a majority leader in the Senate, and be blessed to be Senate President,” said Sen. Gardiner (R-Orlando).

The Orlando Republican is in his final term as Senate President with plenty of high profile issues on the table. He’ll leave it up to committees to decide about gun bills like one that would eliminate a ban on guns on college campuses.

“My only discussion with members is not one way or the other, but I said if we are going down the road of eliminating exemptions, at least for this building that exemption should also be eliminated,” he said.

Regulating ride sharing apps like Uber are also high on his chamber’s list. He says insurance requirements are focal point.

“Our role should be to encourage that technology, but to make sure that the residents, God forbid something happens, understand what the liability pieces are,” said Sen. Gardiner.

Gardiner was thankful that one of his top priorities is likely to pass. The Senate President has been adamant about reforms aimed at helping people with disabilities.

“I talk about it a lot but, it’s not a victory for Andy Gardiner.  It’s really a victory for the families that, whenever they are told they have a child with a unique ability, it’s a victory for them,” he said.

Gardiner says he expects disagreements in 2016 and that’s “part of the process” but he says it would be a disservice to voters if he or any other legislator simply came to the capitol and simply rubber stamped anything.

Legislators still have until noon on January 12^th to file new bills.

Blackjack and other card games could soon be joined by roulette and craps at the Seminole Tribes casinos in Florida. Governor Rick Scott concluded more than a year of negotiation last night. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, the deal faces some criticism for expanding gambling and issues around dog and horse tracks need to be worked out by lawmakers.

The newly negotiated deal will give the Seminole tribe exclusive rights to black jack for another 20 years and add roulette and craps to the mix of games the tribe can offer.

Governor Rick Scott says of the signing: “This is a historic day.”

Scott says the compact will give the state 3 billion over seven years. The old deal brought the state a billion over 5.

“And I took the time to do a historic compact. It is a good compact for the state. Again, I respect the decision of the legislature.They’ll make the final decision” says Scott.

The current deal excluded two of the Tribe’s seven casinos…those casinos will start offering the banked games once the deal is ratified by lawmakers. Senate President . Andy Gardiner says opinions on the deal will start to roll in. “Really, over the next three or four days as everybody starts reviewing it, you’ll see where the different opinions are. And I’m sure there’ll be a lot of opinions on it” says the Senate President.

Back in October, both the Tribe and the State sued each other in Federal court. those suits will remain in play, just in case lawmakers balk at the deal.

In a statement, Tribe Chairman James Bille also called the deal Historic and says it will create up to 15 thousand jobs.

But No Casino’s Inc says the deal breaks a trust with Floridians.

“We’re obviously disappointed that the compact provides for the expansion of gambling, both on and off of Tribal property” John Sowinski.

Sowinski says cash earned at a casino is not new to the economy. “A dollar spent in a casino is a dollar not spent in a movie theatre and in a restaurant.”

Under the deal, lawmakers could expand slots in South Florida and change how dog tracks operate.

In a letter delivering the deal to lawmakers, the Governor says the compact “represents an unprecedented level of cooperation between the State of Florida and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.”

Calls for gun purchase background checks were up 77 percent on Saturday over a a year ago.As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Sunday calls were nearly double what they were on the first Sunday in December last year.

Nearly 20 thousand background checks have been run on Florida gun purchasers since the Wednesday shooting in California. During the same four day weekend last December, there were only 11 thousand checks run. This indoor shooting range and gun shop saw a steady increase in sales at the end of the week. Brian Richardson is a Marine veteran and Tactical Trainer at the range.

“ We’ve been, A lot of people were very concerned about what happened in San Bernardino and we saw a large number of people come in to take three concealed weapons permit class this weekend” says the Marine vet.

Background checks which normally take ten minutes or less, were running up to two hours.

On an average weekend, this shooting range will have ten to twelve people show up on a Saturday for a concealed weapons class. This past weekend, twice that many showed up.

One Florida Sheriff has even taken to Facebook saying its time to say what needs to be said as he urges people to learn how to use a gun as their first line of defense. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey posted the video late Sunday.

“If you are a person who is legally licensed to carry a firearm, now is the time more than ever to realize that you and you alone may be the first line of defense for you, your family, and others around you in a terrorist or active shooter based scenario” Ivey cautions viewers from the small screen.

The video has been seen more than 50 thousand times since being posted Sunday night. Marion Hammer of the Unified Sportsmen of Florida says the video points out practical solutions. “He says clearly that law enforcement can get their in minutes, but you can lose your life in seconds” says Hammer.

And since Wednesday’s shootings that claimed 14 lives, it has become clear that more people are looking to protect themselves than every before.

The NRA says there is no telling if lives would have been saved if the San Bernardino Christmas party had not been a gun free zone.

For the past few years, Christmas time in Florida’s capitol has been a little divisive when it comes to Holiday displays. As Matt Galka tells us, flare ups in the past have caused one group to cancel their nativity scene at the state house.

Outside of Florida’s Capitol on Monday – a wreath laying ceremony for Veterans. A reminder of service and sacrifice during the holidays, but inside, no signs of the holiday season.

There are no holiday displays in the capitol rotunda yet and only a couple of applications. In years past there’s been a traditional nativity scene, which spawned everything from a Seinfeld inspired “festivus pole” display to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

The Florida Prayer Network says the divisiveness, including a Satanic Temple diorama, is the reason they won’t be putting up their nativity scene this year.

The Satanic Temple display will also not be going up.  When it was put in the rotunda last year, self-proclaimed Catholic Warrior Susan Hemeryck tried to destroy it. This is what she said then:

“When Satan comes into the halls of my town I can’t let that go without a fight, I hope nobody can let that go without a fight.”

She faced charges before they were dropped. When reached by phone, Hemeryck said that not putting up a nativity is giving in to the other groups.

“You don’t back down to bullies. Isis are terrorists, and Hitler was a terrorist, and the Satanists are spiritual terrorists. And it’s never a good idea to back down to bullies,” said Hemeryck.

There are only two applications for displays as of Monday.  The festivus pole – this time with an LGBT twist – and a menorah.

The Florida Cabinet will be presented with Florida Grown Christmas trees Tuesday morning before the cabinet meeting.

For some of us, trying to keep up with quickly changing technology can feel like learning a foreign language. Well as Matt Galka tells us, lawmakers now want to give Florida high schoolers the option of learning computer code for credit.

Computers, tablets, and phones have been the way of the world for a while. Sometimes it’s tough to keep up with all of the changing tech. But one Florida lawmaker wants to give Florida high schoolers a head start.

Broward Democrat and former Yahoo executive Jeremy Ring proposed a plan that would require high schools to offer computer coding classes as a foreign language credit.

“This is cultural, this may be a new culture, but it’s cultural, anyone in this world who has children knows this is cultural, and it’s more cultural than a lot of what we do today,” said Sen. Ring (D-Margate).

Andrew Ladnowski said the course could help people like his son Jeremy, because his son has a speech disorder.

“He can type at 65 words per minute with 98 percent accuracy. When he’s online, he has no disability,” said Ladnowski.

The proposal cleared its first committee but not without some hesitation. Senator Nancy Detert is worried about funding

“I’m concerned that we’re going to take an approach that’s very forward thinking and then it’s going to fail under implementation,” said Sen. Detert (R-Venice).

And teacher Dwight Bullard isn’t sure schools are ready.

“If a school has a computer lab or a series of computer labs that, over the course of the last few months of the school year has to be used for testing, now you’re talking about a class that is soley computer based and not having access to those computers,” said Sen. Bullard (D-Cutler Bay).

Schools would have until 2017 to figure out how to implement the courses if the bill passes.

Bill supporters say coding jobs – like developing websites or smart phone apps, could potentially land someone a highpaying job right out of college. The median salary for a Computer Programmer according to U.S. News and World Report – just over $76,000 dollars.

State lawmakers may soon force local city elections to the fall ballot under legislation approved by a committee in the state capitol this week. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, most cities are fighting the change.

151 Florida cities hold their elections in November…the other 260 vote in the spring.

Now legislation spearheaded by State Representative Matt Caldwell would force all cities to move elections to the fall.

“The fact is cities are the only unit of government that don’t participate in the November ballot right now. Everybody else does” says the Lee County Representative.

The League of Cities is fighting back. Local officials fear they’ll get lost in the shuffle of a November election and get ignored by the local media. David Cruz is the Deputy General Counsel for the Florida League of Cities.

“So then the balancing act is, do you have a well informed voter going into a spring election knowing exactly who is running for mayor and city commission and knowing all the city questions. Or do you have a higher voter turnout in November and not having well informed voters on the city questions” says Cruz.

Voters here in the State Capitol waged an eight year battle to move their elections to fall. It took a petition drive, then a court suit but by the time it was done, 89 percent said yes.

The turnout in that first fall election was more than double the turnout of the election that  changed the date.

Secretary of State Ken Detzner is officially neutral on the change…but.

“We want to bring more opportunity for people to vote and make it easier for them to vote, and I think this legislation would do that. But, there are a lot of local governments that don’t feel that same way, but I feel it’s very worthwhile to have this conversation” says Detzner.

Cities currently pay to use election equipment in the spring. In the fall, it would be virtually free.

The legislation does give cities an option. If every city in a county can agree on the same date, they are free to hold an election whenever they want. Critics say  getting multiple cities in large counties to all agree would be virtually impossible.

Many are still trying to make sense of the attacks in San Bernardino, California Wednesday that killed 14. As Matt Galka tells us, at least some lawmakers say the high profile mass shooting incidents are on their minds when they consider gun legislation here in the state.

A day after a mass shooting in California, Florida lawmakers considered changes to strengthen the state’s Stand Your Ground law – a law that lets Floridians claim self defense during deadly shootings.

“This bill is about restoring constitutional rights to citizens who act in lawful self defense,” said NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer.

Gun legislation is nothing new for Florida.  Multiple bills have already moved through the legislature heading into 2016’s legislative session. But as national outcry has been laser focused on guns in the wake of multiple shootings, bill sponsor Rob Bradley says legislators have to be mindful of the people in this state.

 

“I’ve always taken the position that you don’t legislate based on one case, so while these are awful, tragic events, we are trying to create laws that are just,” said Sen. Bradley (R-Fleming Island).

Democrats say that as long as gun friendly proposals are put out there, more tragedies will occur. House Deomcratic leader Mark Pafford says that he doesn’t see America’s latest mass shooting slowing any gun momentum in the Capitol.

“The people who have been elected to hopefully prevent that type of tragedy continue to do nothing. And sadly there’s going to be Floridian’s blood on people’s hands,” said Rep. Pafford.

Along with the stand your ground changes there are two other high profile pieces of gun legislation in the chamber – a bill that would allow concealed carry on college campuses and a separate bill that would allow open carry of guns throughout Florida.

Concealed carry on college campuses has stalled in previous years but is set for a full vote from the Florida House after legislative session begins in January.

In 2012 Florida became the second state to pass legislation allowing self driving vehicles. In the three years since, technology has leap frogged, and Florida is on the cutting edge of what could new research and development opportunities because, as Mike Vasilinda tells us, we are the second state to pass laws allowing autonomous vehicles.

Engineers nicknamed this car Jack. It’s an Audi A-7 that starts at just under 70 grand. That’s before you load the trunk with computers and equip it with laser sensors from top to bottom. Jack took us for a spin with engineer Thomas Mueller.

“Our goal is to reduce ninety percent of the accidents human being produce. To get rid of that accidents is a tough task” Mueller told us while his gestured with his hands that weren’t on the wheel.

Jack is an autonomous vehicle…not a driverless car.

“People still need to keep an eye on the road. People still need to monitor the system.”

That’s an important distinction.

Q:”This is pretty amazing?”

A:”It is. It is  Amazing.”

And Jack won’t speed says Mueller as he adds you probably wouldn’t want to anyway.

“It’s not about speeding in the end. It’s about driving comfortably. Comfortable. It’s about finding way to to relax in the car.”

Jack is in the state Capitol to thank lawmakers for being among the first to allow cars like Jack on the highway says the Audi engineer.

“they are very open to innovation. They are supporting us in the discussions that we also need for legal framing of that technology.”

Sponsor Jeff Brandes says the states early adoption could soon be an economic boom.

“There’s going to be new jobs that haven’t even been titled yet that are coming to Florida” says the St. Petersburg State Senator.

This concept car is likely to be for some sometime after 2020. Cost remains a big question.

Audi plans to market a car that is less sophisticated than Jack in 2017.

Technology has advanced so far since Jack, the concept car was built, that the trunk load of electronics has already shrunk to a board about the size of an tablet computer.

 

Jack, an Audi A7 Sports car drove from Jacksonville to the State Capitol on Wednesday with a driver behind the wheel, but not in control. the car drove itself. It is equipped with a truck full of computers and more than 20 sensors that read the road and other traffic. State Senator Jeff Brandes originally sponsored legislation that allows autonomous cars on the road.

“Today, you go to the dealer and buy a car. I think tomorrow, you might buy a mile from a tech firm. And the cost of insurance, and the cost of fuel and all those costs will be encapsulated in that mile you purchased from Apple and their car” says Brandes.

Brandes expects Florida to reap high tech jobs because it was one of they first states to begin regulating autonomous cars.

Voters are almost certain to see a ballot initiative legalizing medical marijuana when they go to the pools next November, but as Mike Vasilinda tells us, the same coalition that defeated pot in 2014 is alive and active again.

Medical Marijuana supporters are slightly more than half way to meeting their petition goal to be back on the ballot. The Amendment is getting a free pass at the State Supreme Court, where no one challenged its wording. Calvina Fay from Drug Free American says a challenge just wasn’t feasible.
“To challenge the language that was challenged last year didn’t make sense, and its the same justices” says Fay.

The coalition that fought and kept medical marijuana from being adopted in 2014 is at it again. they’ve already got four billboards like this one in the state Capitol.

The billboards ask: “Would you vote for more marijuana impaired drivers on our roadways?”

Steve Casey, Executive Director of the FL Sheriffs Association says “Innocent Floridians become victims when an impaired driver gets behind the wheel.”

The billboards are for December’s designation as national impaired driving prevention month.  But we asked Calvina Fay if they were the beginning of a campaign to fight medical marijuana.

“We’re not the political campaign, so we are not the people saying vote no. We will continue to do what we have done all along to tell people that marijuana is a dangerous drug” she responded.

Tracie Biggins came to the Capitol to talk about the loss of her ten year old son in a tragic crash fueled by synthetic drugs.

“I’m hoping that by speaking out, I can encourage others to not do it. That’s our goal” she told us.

So, while it is almost certain that voters will see a medical marijuana amendment on next year’s ballot, the impaired driving effort a year before, makes it clear pot won’t be getting a free pass next November.

People United for Medical Marijuana has certified just under 375 thousand signatures.

They need another 308 thousand before February to be on the November ballot. As for the Supreme Court challenge, marijuana opponents were advised to save their money for the political campaign next fall.