First Amendment

Ten Best 4/20 Parties in Miami, April 19 and 20

Ten Best 4/20 Parties in Miami

Praise the pot gods. We have all survived to see another 4/20, the highest, holiest, and happiest of weed holidays. The crop has been harvested. It is lush and green and good. Now if only there were someplace to celebrate with a nice, ceremonial, musical smoke out ... Here are the ten best 4/20 p ... More >>

Federal Judge Bars Journalist From Covering the Haitian Prime Minister

Miami-Dade Begins Enforcing 11 p.m. Curfew for Kids 17 and Younger

Curfew laws targeting minors have been on the books in Miami-Dade for a while, but police actively enforce the ordinance only sporadically. The department announced yesterday that it will enforce the curfew in earnest immediately. Sorry, kids, you've got to be off the streets by 11 p.m. on school ni ... More >>

Pitbull Joins "VEVO 100 Million Certified" Club, Discusses Love for Miami in New Video

Coño, mira que ese Pitbull es tremendo tipo. The Miami-born, 305-based MC recently sat down with VEVO after becoming a 100 Million Certified artist, a distinction reserved exclusively for the website's crème de la crème whose music videos have garnered more than 100 million views like Pit's "Ra ... More >>

Pitbull Beats Lindsey Lohan Lawsuit, Defends First Amendment

When she's not appearing in a Los Angeles County criminal courtroom, Lindsey Lohan can be found filing frivolous lawsuits in the state of New York. And for nearly two years, the most frivolous of suits has been the grievance filed against Miami's Pitbull for his use of "disparaging" and "defamator ... More >>

Florida's New Driving Law Pisses Off All of Canada, May Violate Geneva Convention

Florida's legislature is not famous for passing competent, legally sound bills. (Remember when they tried to forbid doctors from talking to patients about guns and the courts were like, "LOL! First Amendment. No." Good times.)Still, it takes a particularly dumb law to simultaneously piss off all of ... More >>

Georges Kitchen and Loft: Publicity Stunt, Defamatory Remarks, or Customer Conflict?

A website called Georgeskitchenattackedme.com was launched recently by a Miami man who claims he was attacked at Georges Kitchen and Loft by owner Georges-Eric Farge. The site, which currently has three posts, is written by Ricardo Barea, a DJ and self-admitted foodie who also has a restaurant ... More >>

Local Pastor: Ex-North Miami Mayor's "Homosexual Network" Out To Get Me

The gay mafia is after Jack Hakimian. The head of North Miami's Impact Miami church has made a name for himself by fighting a proposed strip club in the neighborhood -- a fight that found him allied with PBS affiliate WPBT. That alliance got WPBT in trouble with North Miami Councilman Scott Galvin, ... More >>

Miami New Times Sold! Looks a Lot Like the Old Miami New Times

A quarter-century ago, my old, good buddy Mike Lacey came to Miami and decided to start a weekly paper. He wanted to move here, but a mugger and a prudent wife convinced him cocaine-fueled Miami wasn't the place to raise a family.Today, Lacey bowed out. Along with his partner -- and another guy I co ... More >>

The Invisible War Reveals a Military That's "Target Rich" for Sexual Predators

Ten Best Miami Bands of All Time

Rick Scott's Ridiculous Legal Challenges Have Already Cost Taxpayers Almost $1 Million

When it comes to pushing new laws, Gov. Rick Scott has developed a predictable routine: 1) Propose clearly unconstitutional and possibly insane new law. 2) Get sued. 3) Inspire heavy Daily Show mockery. 4) Lose over and over again in court.While we all love the Daily Show fodder, steps two and four ... More >>

Rick Scott Appeals "Docs vs. Glocks" Decision

The latest shot has been fired in what may be Gov. Rick Scott's dumbest legal battle yet.Earlier this month a federal judge struck down the so-called "Docs vs. Glocks" law that Scott had signed into law last year. Now Scott has ordered the Florida Department of Health to appeal the decision. Keep in ... More >>

Florida Preacher Sued for Calling Parishioner "Gay," Declaring His Marriage a "Sham"

Darrel Bilbrey came to David Myers for spiritual guidance. The popular First Pentecostal Church pastor took him under his wing, helping Bilbrey earn his minister's license. And when Bilbrey admitted to having impure thoughts, Myers agreed to install an Internet filter on his parishioner's computer a ... More >>

Miami Heat Minority Owner Ranaan Katz Sues Google, Blogger Over Unflattering Photo

Has Ranaan Katz never heard of the Streisand effect?The local real estate mogul and minority owner of the Miami Heat has sued a local blogger and Google to try and get an unflattering picture of himself removed from the Internet. Of course, that means now the picture will be seen by more people than ... More >>

Miami Archbishop Wenski: Obamacare "Running Roughshod Over Religious Freedom"

Archbishop of Miami Thomas Wenski likes to say that he's "political with a capital P," meaning he doesn't tow a particular party line. And in his two years in charge of South Florida Catholics he has, in fact, criticized everyone from Barack Obama to Marco Rubio and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. But as the U ... More >>

Strip Club Company Sues North Bay Village Over Their First Amendment Right to Naked Dancing

Isle of Dreams, a company that hopes to put a strip club in North Bay Village, just wants to pay some girls to shake their tatas, but the city keeps cock-blocking them at every turn. So now the company has filed a lawsuit against North Bay Village, and claims the city is infringing on their First Am ... More >>

Miami-Dade Police Watched Occupy Miami's Facebook Page for Months

Miami-Dade Police Watched Occupy Miami's Facebook Page For Months Around Eviction

The email went out to a group of Miami-Dade cops February 22, just a couple of weeks after they'd busted up Occupy Miami's downtown encampment. The subject line was in ominous military-speak: "Occupy Miami: Situational Awareness." Inside, an MDPD Homeland Security detective named Maritza Aschenbrenn ... More >>

"Backwoods" Country Singer Calls Ashton Kutcher a "Douche"

Not Demi, but Justin. "Backwoods" country singer Justin Moore thinks Ashton Kutcher was out of line by showing up at the American Country Music Awards this past weekend dressed like a rodeo clown, rocking a goofy cowboy hat and even goofier red suit. After Sunday night's ACM Awards, Moore sucke ... More >>

Pitbull v. Lindsay Lohan Lawsuit, Ryan Seacrest to the Rescue

​Inside a New York state civil courtroom, a musical tale of "irreparable harm" continues to unfold as Lindsay Lohan refuses to drop a seemingly bogus lawsuit against Pitbull, Nee-Yo, and Afrojack, the result of her "Give Me Everything" overreaction. In LiLo's eyes, "Hustlers move aside, so I'm t ... More >>

Occupy Miami Ordered To Leave Government Center By Sundown UPDATE

Two days after Oakland police arrested hundreds of protesters in violent clashes, Occupy Miami activists are facing their own impending deadline: Miami-Dade County has ordered them to leave their campsite outside the Stephen P. Clark Government Center by sundown tonight or face arrest for trespassin ... More >>

Stuart Lawley's dot-xxx domain fight

.XXX Sites Are Live Thanks To Stuart Lawley, A South Florida Brit Who Beat the Bush Admin

via ICMRegistry.com​On Tuesday, the new .xxx domain went live on the Web, drawing in more than 100,000 adult sites. The man behind this new .xxx empire is a British millionaire living in South Florida who had to navigate an outraged Christian Right and outlast the Bush Administration to found his ... More >>

North Miami Beach Police Employees Fired Over Santeria Curse On City Manager UPDATE

​North Miami Beach has fired two police department employees after they allegedly were caught in the office trying to cast a Santeria curse on the city manager shortly before mass layoffs were planned. Veteran officer Elizabeth Torres and office manager Yvonne Rodriguez were canned last week over ... More >>

T.I. Thinks Some Gays Are "Not American" and African Americans Are Too Sensitive

​Just 61 days removed from his 11-month stint in a federal prison and halfway house, T.I.'s already starting shit. In an interview with Vibe magazine, the Atlanta-based rapper, actor, and author is quoted as saying that some gays are "not American." He's also defended his statement on TMZ Live b ... More >>

Art Basel Miami Beach Concerned About Possible "Occupy" Protest

​Where will the one percent be this week? Glugging down free champagne and writing checks for million dollar art works during Art Basel Miami Beach, of course. Naturally, rumors of the 99 percenters staging an Occupy Wall Street related protest at the ritzy art fair are swirling, and ABMB is so co ... More >>

Reader mail: M-Path is not a waste of taxpayer money

County Revokes Occupy Miami Permit, Protesters Agree to Move But Not Leave

Is Occupy Miami getting booted from Government Center?​While several anti-Wall Street sit-ins around the country have devolved into violent stand-offs between police and protesters, Occupy Miami has been as peaceful as can be.Now, however, Miami-Dade County is revoking the protesters permit for Go ... More >>

Drake Drops Uncle Luke Diss on "The Motto"

​On October 6, booty bass boss, First Amendment enthusiast, and weekly New Times columnist Luther Campbell (AKA Uncle Luke) issued an ultimatum to Weezy's YMCMB crew and other "freeloading" rappers like them. "I have a message for Lil Wayne, his Cash Money brothers, DJ Khaled, Puff Daddy, and all ... More >>

Ave Maria University: A Catholic project gone wrong

Miami's top ten hardcore punk bands

Punk Ain't Dead! Miami's Top Ten Hardcore Punk Bands

Churchill's, home to all Miami's punks.​One day soon, a flood may come and drown all of Miami in the Biscayne Bay, but for now, the city stinks, God is broke, and the youth are getting restless. The politicians hate the workers and the poor, the pigs take every opportunity to slam your face in the ... More >>

Club Madonna Wins Free Speech Argument, Escapes Fine Over Mattie Bower Poster

Miami Beach Mayor Mattie Bower in a festive moment.​While the nation has been consumed by the debate over whether or not President Obama should release gruesome, post-mortem photos of Osama Bin Laden, we've got our own First Amendment controversy brewing in Miami Beach.Club Madonna, the neon-lit f ... More >>

Even the Neo Cons Are Taking Luther Campbell Seriously

​The folks over at conservative glossy The Weekly Standard think Luther Campbell's run is serious enough to warrant a 7,228-word profile. Writer Matt Labash spent a considerable amount of time shadowing Campbell early in his campaign. Kudos to his editors for allowing him the space to explore the ... More >>

Proposed Bill Would Make It a Felony to Photograph Farms

...and if you dare snap a photo of it, he'll make sure you wind up behind bars for 30 years, E-I-E-I-O!​State Sen. Jim Norman, a Republican from Tampa, is very concerned about a farm's right to privacy, while showing little regard for the First Amendment. He has filed a bill in the Florida Senate ... More >>

2010 was not a good year for African Americans

Where Are WikiLeaks' Media Friends? UPDATED

Julian Assange​UPDATE: WikiLeaks Betrayed by Amazon, Visa, Mastercard---and Worst of All, the MediaWhere are the First Amendment's establishment warriors as government-spooked businesses try to shut down WikiLeaks?Hackers with computers, not hacks with press passes, have been the first line of res ... More >>

A-Hole on Parade

Angelina Jolie and Hillary Clinton Condemn Koran-Burning Church, But Mayor Bloomberg Supports Congregation's Rights

Pastor Terry Jones​Pastor Terry Jones and his small Gainesville church known as the Dove World Outreach Center will continue with their plans to burn copies of the Koran, the holy book of Islam, on the ninth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks despite a growing backlash and warnings ... More >>

Letters from the issue of May 27, 2010

Free Ric O'Barry

A Miami guy stars in a Sundance film and is sued by angry Dominican dolphin geeks.

Coconut Grove Artist Taunts City Code Enforcers

Having part of his brains blown out won't stop this war vet.

Lester Bibbs is Better than Your Court Jester

Joyce Kaufman Hates Immigrants!

Well, not exactly. But she sure doesn’t speak well of them.

They’ve Been Banned

The XXXstasy Biz

Porn in Miami Beach is just another franchise operation

The Amazing Crespo!

Whether agitating on behalf of Florida's film industry or aiming cruel barbs at state officials, ex-con activist Al Crespo is a gadfly with an attitude

Brickell Place's Most Wanted

Convinced Jose Padial's young sons were delinquents extraordinaire, condo management did everything but put up signs in the post office