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Will Florida’s Attorney General continue to fight same sex marriage? As Matt Galka tells us, with a date set for gay marriage licenses to be handed out, that question remains unanswered.

If Florida’s Attorney General has an opinion on gay marriage licenses being handed out January 6^th, she’s not saying yet.

“We’re reviewing the ruling,” said Pam Bondi after the cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Bondi has fought to keep the ban in place because she says she needs to honor the state’s constitution. We pressed her on her answer following Tuesday’s meeting. She told us two more times they were reviewing the ruling.

A federal ruling that would overturn the ban statewide was handed down in August but a stay was placed on it until January.  Bondi had asked for an extension on the stay which wasn’t granted.

County clerks are trying to figure out if they can even hand the licenses out. Clerks of court were told over the summer that only clerks in counties that have had the ban overturned would be allowed to grant licenses. That was before a statewide ruling was made.

The American Civil Liberties Union helped file the federal lawsuit that threw out the gay marriage ban.

“They can’t enforce a law that’s unconstitutional,” said Baylor Johnson with ACLU.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Florida Association of Court Clerks told us “they just want to make sure they’re following the law.” Barring a last minute change, same sex couples can start getting their marriage licenses on January 6^th.

The state’s deal to allow black jack, poker and other card games with the Seminole Tribe runs out in July. Efforts to renew the deal may be stymied by new leaders in the state Legislature.

The Seminole Tribe pays the state 12 and a half million dollars a month plus a percentage of the profits. The tribe hit its billion dollar guarantee last month…nearly eight months early.

But trouble could be on the horizon. The deal for card games runs out in July. Now, Andy Gardiner, the new Senate President is raising questions about the deals future.

“It’s important for everyone to understand that if the state decides to go in a different direction than that compact would allow, then we gonna let the members figure that out.”

Any new deal must be approved by the US Department of Interior.  Barry Richard, the tribes lawyer thinks jeopardizing the deal is bad business., “The only question this year is whether the provision for the card games, like blackjack will be extended. It just doesn’t make any sense not to extend it. It’s creating a lot of money for both the state and the tribe.”

Rick Scott floated a renewal deal last May that didn’t materialize. For now, the Governor’s not tipping his hand.

“I’m going to take the right amount of time to make sure I get the right transaction for the state of Florida” says Scott. We asked if he thinks the state will get a better deal thhan what it has now?

“I’m going to take the right amount of time to do the best job for the state” responded Scott.

While the card compact runs out in July, the slots deal is good for thirty years.

But all of the money from the Seminole Tribe would go away if the state authorizes big time resort casinos being pushed for South Florida.

Getting a better deal from the Tribe could prove elusive. The state would have to grant greater exclusivity, which has value, or expanded locations to new tribal lands, otherwise the same deal for greater payments to the state would likely not pass Federal muster.

Last year, state officials allowed Florida Prayer Network to display a nativity scene in the Capitol Rotunda. Soon thereafter, other groups began demanding space, and so far this year t5 displays have been approved. The first two are up now. They include a Pastafarian Holiday display from the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster , and a display from the Freedom from Religion Foundation, calling the season the Winter Solstice with a banner proclaiming that freedom of religion also means freedom from religion. The Nativity scene will be back as will a display from the Satanic Temple that was declared “grossly offensive last year.” ACLU spokesman Baylor Johnson says “If the state declares anything a public forum – it no longer gets to pick and choose what speech is allowed in that forum.”

Is the license plate on the back of your car a form of free speech, and if so…who controls it? The U-S Supreme Court is set to decide the question, and there are Florida ties to the case going back to a 2009 effort to create a Confederate license plate.

Florida has more than a hundred speciality plates. A Son’s of the Confederacy plate is not one of them. But it could have been. In 2009, organizers collected thousands of signatures and put up a sixty thousand dollar deposit, both requirements of the law. But lawmakers never gave the plate idea  a hearing. Bob Hurst was the organizations Lt. Commander at the time.

“I mean, you earn money off them. At the time we had probably 25 or 30 thousand people who indicated to us they would buy our plates before we even issued them” says Hurst.

It was African American lawmakers who killed the confederate plate. But now the plate  could be back. The U-S Supreme Court has agreed to hear Texas’s refusal to allow the plate, framing it as a free speech issue.

A Confederate flag flew over the state Capitol here in Tallahassee until 2001. A Confederate soldier still graces the state seal in the Capitol Rotunda.”

At Florida A&M University we got mixed reaction. Student Taylor Jones wasn’t happy. “I probably would feel very uncomfortable with that. I wouldn’t really agree with it. I mean, it’s up to the state. I hope that it doesn’t happen at all;”

But Actuarial Science student Stratton Thompson took it in stride “I guess it would be an example of freedom of speech.”

The Choose Life license plate is also on the high courts agenda…because Pro Choice forces were denied a Respect Choice plate.

The ACLU has been instrumental in suits in other states. Baylor Johnson of ACLU Florida issued a statement today, saying “States have a choice when it comes to license plates: either produce only plates that express no position, or allow all messages to be represented, so that those who disagree with or find offensive certain plates can demand their own.” The U-S Supreme Court will hear arguments in late March.

Around 1 million people in the state are left out when it comes to healthcare coverage. As Matt Galka tells us, there are plenty of backers pushing a new effort that would tap in to federal money.

Medicaid expansion has failed to take off in Florida since it first became available in 2012.  Republican lawmakers have opposed federal money and have tried to distance themselves from the President’s Affordable Care Act. 2015 could be a different story.

A Healthy Florida Works is trying to provide an alternative that sways conservatives.  The plan would tap into the 5 billion dollars a year of federal money currently available which could help cover 1 million Floridians.

The compromise is that it would require monthly premiums to be paid as well as mandate recipients search for work or job training. Multiple business groups are backing it. Damien Filer with Progress Florida says the bottom line is people without coverage need it .

“I think there are a lot of different ways that we can get there, the important thing is that we’re taking a first step and this is a very meaningful one, so I think this is very encouraging that this is happening,” said Filer.

Even though there’s plenty of momentum behind the program, lawmakers here just last month didn’t sound as optimistic. New Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli seemed to indicate his chamber wouldn’t change their ways.

“We believe, we stand firm, where we believe we are right now and that’s without expansion,” he said.

But there’s still plenty of time to change minds between now and March…when 2015’s legislative session will start.

27 states have accepted expansion money from the government.  Only four other states have done so with a separate plan form the Affordable Care Act and Florida could become the fifth.

Did dispatchers in Florida’s capital handle Florida State’s shooting in the most efficient way? As Matt Galka tells us, that shooting and another one two days later has people asking questions about safety.

9-1-1 calls from November 20th painted a frightening picture for students inside Strozier library.

A gunman was shot and killed in the early morning hours outside of the library after he injured three people.  Campus and city police were able to respond promptly.  But some students called 9-1-1 panicing and had to wait almost 30 seconds before being transferred to FSU PD. Dispatch Agency director Tim Lee said the policies could be changed.

“I believe that there’s efficiencies that need to be looked at and reviewed.  If we become complacement in the fact that we are looking for enhancements, then we shouldn’t be in the position we’re in,” said Lee.

City and county officials agreed that there would be discussions about changes to the way the system works with FSU.

Two days after the Florida State shooting, a Leon County deputy was ambushed and killed when responding to a house fire.  A report was then commissioned.

Deputy Chris Smith was killed by a man known to have made a threat to shoot any law enforcement that came to his house just two weeks earlier. Human error may have cost him his life.  Three tenured dispatchers were laid off because of the incident.

Will Florida join a majority of states in the country and recognize gay marriage? As Matt Galka tells us, it looks like that answer will be yes starting in January.

Voters approved a gay marriage ban in 2008. A constitutional amendment was approved that defined traditional marriage being between a man and a woman. That could be coming to an end next month. A federal appeals court declined to extend a stay on the ban.

Jim VanRiper and Equality Florida have been fighting for the ban to be overturned for years. The ruling says a stay on the ban will be lifted at the end of the day on January 5^th.

“It’s been a long time coming and we’re excited to see this day drop,” he said.

The original federal ruling overturning the ban came down in August. A stay was put on to allow an appeal.   The State’s Attorney General could still factor into the decision

Officials from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office said they are reviewing the ruling.  Bondi had asked for an extension of the stay.

“Well I guess nothing is definite until it’s done, but it would take the Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court implementing a stay of their own, and that’s highly unlikely. It hasn’t happened in similar situations,’ said VanRiper.

Licenses could start to be granted on January 6^th, the same day as Governor Rick Scott’s inauguration. If the marriage licenses are handed out next month, Florida will become the 36^th state plus Washington, D.C. to allow same-sex marriage.

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston’s university hearing stemming from a 2 year old sexual assault incident – which he was never charged for – neded more than one day to get sorted out. As Matt Galka tells us, witnesses were in and out of the hearing all day.

Jameis Winston and his advisers arrived shortly before 9 a.m. on Wednesday for the second day of the Heisman winning quarterbacks conduct code hearing.

“This thing is over now…we just may need more time,” said Winston’s attorney David Cornwell.

Cornwell said that the accuser’s adviser, John Clune, had violated confidentiality orders when he met with the media following Tuesday’s session.  Clune didn’t comment when he and his client arrived.

Several witnesses were called including a state attorney’s office investigator who interviewed the accuser last year.

Jason Newlin investigated the sexual battery allegations in December of 2013 and submitted his report to State Attorney Willie Meggs.  He showed up with his case file – but admitted no one in his office was familiar with student conduct code hearings.

“I have no idea what questions are going to be asked, I really don’t. When we talked to Mr. Meggs, that was part of the discussion,” said Newlin.

Other witnesses included a Florida State police officer who responded to the accuser’s apartment in 2012.  Winston’s teammates Chris Casher and Ronald Darby also were summoned on day one.

The hearing wrapped up around 4:30 p.m. Both sides seemed confident when they exited.  Cornwell insisted there was nothing said in the two day hearing that would cause Winston to be guilty.  Clune said they wanted to see Winston expelled.

No matter what the hearing finds, the ultimate decision will be in the hands of Florida State University President John Thrasher. He can accept or reject any decision that is made.

An 81 year old Sarasota woman finished a 400 mile walk from her home to the state Capitol today. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, she is part of a growing movement that believes money is the root of all evil when it comes to politics.

Rhana Bazzini began her walk began 52 days and 430 miles ago.

“I can’t believe I’ve actually done this, and I’m actually walking up to the Capitol. There is a very surreal element to it” the activist told us as she approached the State Capitol.

She arrived with a hundred or so supporters., Along the way, Rhana Bazzini met with lawmakers and picked up a following. Her goal: Get the money out of politics. “People from the tea party to the Occupy Movement support the idea of getting money out of politics.  They don’t always agree on how to do it” she says.

This is a national movement.

David Cobb is a Move to Amend Founder. He told the crowd “The have perverted our constitutional right to self governance.” The remark brought a loud cheer.

Move to Amend wants a 28th amendment to the US constitution. It would prohibit corporate political contributions.

“We now call it corruption reforms” says Lawrence Lissig, a Harvard Professor. He did a a poll that shows 96 percent hate the money in politics, but 91 percent believe nothing can be done.  “They’re already convinced. They already believe the government is corrupted, and all we have to do is show them there is a way to fix it.”

Rhana Bazzini acknowledges it’s an uphill battle. “Yea, of course it’s going to be hard. It probably won’t happen in my lifetime. I’m 81. They tell me I’m going to live to a hundred. That would be very nice. Maybe if I live to a hundred, it will come to pass.”

The next stop for this movement…New Hampshire in January where they hope to get on the radar of Presidential candidates.

The movement began with a dozen people in a living room. It now has more than three hundred thousand members across the country.Supers: Tallahassee

Ideas for fixing the problem range from giving tax credits to small political donors to passing out 50 dollar vouchers to be given to your candidate of choice.

The future of Florida State’s Heisman Winning Quarterback Jameis Winston could be in jeopardy. Matt Galka has been following Winston’s conduct code hearing, and tells us both sides had strong words before it began.

Jameis Winston arrived at his twice delayed student code of conduct hearing just before noon on Tuesday.  The quarterback was accused of sexual assault stemming from an incident two years ago. He was never charged.  Winston’s adviser had strong words for the accuser before the hearing.

“We intend to end this process today. Unfortunately, in these types of cases, the only way to confront a lie, is with the truth,” said attorney David Cornwell.

The accuser and her adviser, Baine Kerr, arrived shortly after Winston and declined to comment on camera.  But Kerr sent out a statement beforehand. Part of it read “Neither Jameis Winston nor his lawyer can stop what is coming.”

The hearing was held in an off campus engineering building. They’re typically held in the Dean of Students office. Not much about the high profile case has been typical.  Tim Jansen, who represented Winston while he was being investigated last year and has been involved in multiple conduct code hearings, says having a Supreme Court Justice decide the case is unusual.

“Normally you have a faculty panel, anytime there’s a sexual battery charge it’s already predetermined that the conduct code hearing will be a faculty panel. That’s comprised of three faculty members and two students,” said Jansen.

The hearing will continue until at least Wednesday. When day one ended, John Clune, one of the accuser’s advisers, said his side felt good.

“For our client it’s a very empowering day, a very important day, you have the Heisman trophy on trial for rape today, so I think that seeing where things have come over the past 10 months was kind of an emotional moment for her, as well as having to recount some of the things that happened to her was difficult but empowering at the same time,” said Clune.

Winston will most likely play in FloridaState’s ACC Championship game this Saturday against Georgia Tech, but a potential punishment could effect his status if Florida State were to make it to the College Football Playoffs in January.

A family on its way to Disney World for a News Years Eve vacation three years ago is tangled up in a complicated Stand Your Ground case in which no one was hurt. Now, the Florida Supreme Court must decide if someone who showed a weapon to protect themselves must stand trial for aggravated assault.

Christmas 2011. An Indiana family is on its’s way to Disney World. A car almost runs them off the road. They honk their horn. A frantic 911 call from Jared Breatherick  follows. “And he stopped in the middle of the road and will not move his vehicle, and he’s got a gun.”

The driver of the second car, Derek Dunning returns to his car, and makes his own 911 call. “He has a gun pointed to me at the back of my car. I’m in the middle of the road. He said if I moved, he would shoot.”

Dunning is a twice convicted felon. He is not arrested.  Instead, police charge Jared Breatherick,. the son of the Indiana driver with aggravated assault. He asserts stand your ground.The trial court refused to recognize a stand your ground claim and said let it go to a jury. An appeals court agreed and now this court must decide.

Lawyer Eric Friday, who represents Breatherick wants the Supreme Court to say this was indeed a stand your ground case. “The Legislature says a person who uses force in one of the three self defense statutes is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action. They didn’t say can apply for immunity. They didn’t say maybe immunity, they didn’t say seek immunity” Friday told the justices.”

Assistant Attorney General Kristan Davenport says let a jury decide. “Just because he lost when he had the burden of proof in front of a judge doesn’t mean he’s going to lose in front of a jury.”

And no matter which way the Supreme Court rules, it’s bound to affect dozens of stand your ground cases

Defense attorneys say judges are reluctant to allow stand your ground claims without a jury weighing in on the subject. The Breatherick family says that decision has put their family through three years of uncertainty.

A former Supreme Court Justice and 500 more lawyers are asking the Florida Supreme Court to raise Florida Bar dues by a hundred dollars a year. The money would be used to fund legal aid for the poor, which has fallen from 44 million to just 6 million since the recession. The decrease is due to falling interest earnings on money held for clients. Former Justice Raoul Cantera said afterward without court intervention, more people will be living on the streets.

“We’ll have further cuts in funding for legal services. There will be fewer lawyers to represent people who can’t afford a lawyer who deserve social security benefits, that deserve staying in their houses and apartments, who deserve veterans benefits but aren’t getting them, creating more homelessness. And then they’re going to be a charge on the public” says the former Justice.

The fee hike is being opposed by the Florida Bar. Attorney Barry Richard says taking care of the poor shouldn’t be up to just lawyers who donated thousands of hours and millions of dollars already. Richard says society must answer a fundamental question.

“Whether as a society were going to start saying we’re going to have little segments of society that are responsible to take care of the needy. Farmers take care of food for the needy, Doctors provide free medical care, or whether we’re going to step up pas a society and do what we should do, which is every citizens who can afford it provides the money through taxation” says Richard.

The state’s high court was sympathetic and urged both sides to compromise. Last week, the Chief Justice created a Commission to study legal access for all. A ruling from the court is expected early next year.

A trip to the doctor’s office could be as easy as a walk to your computer if legislators take up digital medicine.  As Matt Galka tells us, the push for “telehealth” is on.

Crowded emergency rooms would be a thing of the past if some powerful Florida policy groups get their wish. A telehealth push is happening ahead of 2015’s legislative session.  Florida TaxWatch says the digital medicine can save lives and dollars.

“If we reduce ER wait times by just a fraction, we’re talking billions,” said Robert Weissert with TaxWatch.

The group says besides the bottom line, the technology could be paying off in human capital as well.

“If someone avoids the emergency department, it’s not just that we didn’t pay money for the emergency care, it’s that they didn’t have to go to the emergency department. Which means they have a better quality of living, which means they’re healthier and they’re being more productive,” said Weissert.

The Florida Chamber is also on board.  They say telemedicine can help in the battle between a growing number of patients and shrinking number of doctors.

“In Florida by 2030 we’re going to have 6 million more people in the state. We have an aging physician workforce as well as a growing gap of healthcare professionals, and we think that telemedicine can help bridge that gap,” said David Christian, the Chamber’s V.P. of Governmental Affairs.

Supporters say that a face to face video conference between a doctor and a patient would be great. But one road block has always been who would be giving out the advice.

A number of issues will need to be ironed out to put a law into place.  The Florida Medical Association maintains anyone practicing telemedicine should be licensed in Florida. Telehealth bills were proposed in this past year’s legislative session but both died in the final days after the House and Senate couldn’t agree on the issue.

Today is Cyber Monday, the Black Friday of internet shopping.  Deals abound to get you to part with your hard earned cash, but if you purchased something on line, you may be breaking the law if you don’t voluntarily pay the tax.

On line shoppers are being inundated with deals. Half off here, 40 percent there. All total, more than 2 and a half billion dollars is expected to be spent on line for Cyber Monday.

The impact is even being felt at Joe’s Bike shop in the shadow of the state capitol

Owner Joe  Mezzina says a customer brought a bike in for some additional equipment.

“Just now, somebody came in and brought a bike to us. He bought it on line, which is 80 to 90 dollars that did not come to me” says Mezzina.

Most Big Box retailers collect taxes on internet purchases because they have stores in the state. But the bike dealer who took business from Joe doesn’t collect the sales tax, and Rob Weissert from Florida taxwatch says the state is losing big time.  “It can cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars, but more importantly, it can cost the state jobs and investment.”

When you purchase something on the internet instead of a store like this one, You’re supposed to fill this form out and remit the tax. But few people do. Fewer than 5 thousand forms were filed last year. Most people don’t even know the tax is due. We talked with Dannielle Rivet and  Cassie Murray eating a picnic lunch. They both shop online regularly..

“Q:”Have you ever filled out one of these?”

“No, no”

“That’s called a DR15MO. And under state law you are required to pay sales tax. Did you know that?”

“No, no”

Earlier this year Amazon began collecting sales taxes on Florida purchases. That’s because it opened two distribution centers in the state. The tax collected for the first year is expected to hit close to a hundred million dollars.

Black Friday is typically one of the busiest days of the year for gun sales in Florida, and this year was no different.

The state conducted 8,310 background checks on gun purchasers on Black Friday. The total is the third highest on record. Friday was eclipsed by two days back to back in December 2012 following the Sandy Hook tragedy.

During the month of November, Florida conducted more than 72,000 background check for gun purchasers.