Florida Supreme Court

Miami, Now's Your Chance To Yell At Banana Republican In Person About Gun Control

Back in February, Banana Republican tackled the thorniest, hot-button political issue of the moment: banning assault rifles. Even though I took an objective approach to the subject, a majority of comments in response to the cover story were full of invective and sabre rattling from gun enthusiasts f ... More >>

U.S. Century Bank Heads Got Rich Off Insider Deals, Lawsuit Alleges

Little Lotus In Downtown Miami Says Its Under Siege From Vindictive Landlord

Sari Maharani had barely opened the doors to her downtown Miami restaurant Little Lotus when she says her landlord was already trying to find a way to kick her out without just cause. Now the former paralegal of Indonsesian descent is locked in an epic legal fight with Abram Aminov, a millionaire Ru ... More >>

John Errol Ferguson Will Be Executed Despite The Fact That He's Completely Insane

No one denies that John Errol Ferguson is insane. Ferguson's been having psychotic visions for more than four decades, and for years has firmly believed that he's the "Prince of God" who will ascend directly to the right hand of God when he dies. The last judge to consider his case conceded that he' ... More >>

Florida Senate: Ping Pong Balls Lack Gravitational Integrity

​A Senate Committee in Tallahassee played redistricting bingo late yesterday. The idea: Shout so loud the Florida Supreme Court might actually accept its new plan. B-I-N-G-O. They used one of those wire rollers with a handle and a bunch of ping pong balls.Senators who drew white balls got four-yea ... More >>

Ex-students say Jet University flight school was bogus

Jet University, Shuttered Pilot School, Was a Sham Ex-Students Allege

​At the start of the slick ad, an excited announcer intones, "Are you ready to get serious about becoming a professional airline pilot?" The promises are amazing: In less than nine months at Jet University, the announcer says, even students with zero flight experience will land jobs as pilots. Eve ... More >>

Florida Supreme Court Rejects Senate Redistricting, Special Session Required

In an epic political fail for Senate Republicans, the Florida Supreme Court ruled this morning that recent redistricting efforts amount to illegal gerrymandering."We conclude that the challengers have demonstrated that the Senate plan... violates the constitutional requirements," Justice Barbara Par ... More >>

Florida Cop Dresses as Electric Company Worker to Snoop For Pot Without Warrant

​Florida cops, it seems, will do just about anything to find that marijuana plant growing in your closet. The U.S. Supreme Court will soon decide whether Miami police violated the Constitution by routinely sniffing around suspected grow houses with drug-smelling dogs without first getting a search ... More >>

Miami locals' New Year's resolutions

PurebredBreeders.com Accused By Humane Society Of Selling Sick Dogs From Puppy Mills

via Purebredbreeders.com​From its South Florida headquarters, Purebredbreeders.com matches up thousands of pet lovers around the country every week with purebred puppies through a "network of responsible and professional dog breeders" that sell "happy and healthy" canines, according to the company ... More >>

Hialeah doctor allegedly held a baby hostage

Hialeah Hospital Doc Sued for Allegedly Holding Adopted Baby Hostage

photo by ernstl via Wikimedia CommonsIt sounds like a tale adoptive parents tell around a campfire to scare each other sleepless: A doctor, distraught over his failed marriage and custody fight, holds a baby hostage until the would-be new parents promise to return the kid to its birth mother.Yet tha ... More >>

Royal Caribbean doesn't care about employees raped at sea, a lawyer says

Royal Caribbean Doesn't Care When Foreign Employees Are Raped At Sea, Lawyer Says

photo by Citking via Wikimedia Commons​On October 10, 2010, off the coast of Israel, a 40-year-old South African woman working on a Celebrity cruise ship blacked out while having a drink with a male co-worker in his cabin. She awoke hours later to find the man, a Costa Rican, raping her.The sexual ... More >>

North Bay Village Mayor Corina Esquijarosa Sued For $3,859

​As the recall against her gains steam, North Bay Village Mayor Corina Esquijarosa continues to have personal financial problems. This past July 18, Capital One Bank filed a lawsuit against her in Miami-Dade Circuit Court alleging she owes a $3,859 unpaid credit card bill. The complaint gives more ... More >>

Miami Beach vigilante biker gets driver charged with felony assault

Coral Gables: Hide your filthy, low-class pickup

Four Things Cheaper Than Parking Your Truck in Coral Gables

via YouTube user SalmonCookieCoral Gables Code Enforcement Officer Andrew Clute during a deposition that is somehow both silly and boring.​Some communities debate over police levels, school funding and the mayor's race -- you know, real issues.Coral Gables burdens itself with pickup trucks.Startin ... More >>

Nikki Beach Sued By Woman Claiming She Was Drugged and Raped By Turks and Caicos Premier

Turks and Caicos​Start with a premier so corrupt that the United Kingdom actually shut down his idyllic island's government. Add a sexy beach resort trying to move into new territory. Top it off with a glass of spiked wine, a beautiful woman, and allegations of sexual assault. You've got either th ... More >>

Good News, Grow House Owners: Drug Sniffing Dogs Can't Smell Your Front Door Anymore

​Economic reports are clear that South Florida's third largest industry -- after fabricating massive housing bubbles and churning out "I'm In Miami Bitch" t-shirts -- is marijuana grow houses. One in every three homes in Kendall, in fact, is actually an empty shell full of sophisticated pot-farmin ... More >>

State Agency Will Not Appeal Ruling That Struck Down Gay Adoption Ban

​It's not clear whether or not Don't Ask, Don't Tell is dead for good yet, but it seems the final clump of dirt has been shoveled on the grave of another bigoted, anti-homosexual government policy. The Florida Department of Children and Families has announced that they won't appeal a decision that ... More >>

Mamas vs. Papas, Part 2: Judge Grants Gay Dad Parental Rights

​It started with good intentions. Two sets of gay parents -- all close friends -- would make and raise a baby together. Ray Janssen, a fit war vet, would artificially inseminate Katherine Alicea, an ambitious real estate agent. Katherine's partner would be a second mother and Ray's partner a sec ... More >>

News Roundup: Heat Melts Magic

Turns out the Epic Hotel has not been completely cleared as the cause of Legionnaires' disease. [Herald]However, the disease might also be linked to the Liberty of the Seas cruise ship. [SFBJ]The Supreme Court of Florida has decided it's no longer legal to put shackles on kids in court. [JustNews]An ... More >>

Republicans Want Fair Districts Initiatives Off Ballot

via FDF​On first glance it seems a little strange that despite the fact Florida is a classic swing-state that currently actually has more registered Democrats than Republicans, that the GOP controls both houses of the state legislative by large majorities and sends more Republicans to the House in ... More >>

Supreme Court Approves Crist's Call for Corruption Grand Jury

The Florida Supreme Court today approved Gov. Charlie Crist's request for a grand jury to investigate and deal with corruption in local politics, two days after his initial request was rejected. "The Statewide Grand Jury will add to the great work already being done by Florida's 20 State Attorn ... More >>

Pro-Life Groups Kick Off Push for Florida "Personhood Amendment"

​Last November, pro-life groups put a ballot measure before Colorado voters asking them if "personhood" should be extended to the moment of conception. Even in a politically heated and polarized year, voters rejected the amendment by 73 percent. But that hasn't stopped Personhood USA and the Ameri ... More >>

Letters from the Issue of July 9, 2009

"I am sad to report I lost a few brain cells while reading your article."

Piece of Mind

Jackson's mental health unit fails Miami.

Florida Convict Isn't Joking This Time

 When death row inmate Michael Lambrix applied to be a Florida Supreme Court Justice in January, the nominating committee had a good laugh. "It's tongue-in-cheek," said Chair Robert Hackleman - and it probably was. (Lambrix wrote: "My biggest qualification...is that I'm the only applicant tha ... More >>

Bill Perry III at the Center of Questionable Deals

A battle among gentry means somebody got screwed.

Former Miami Judge Ain't No Writer

As a lawyer, Barbara Levenson leaped head first into some controversial free speech battles. In 1987, when she was chairwoman of the American Civil Liberties Union's legal panel, she protested the placing of a 100-foot-tall cross at Tamiami Park during Pope John Paul II's visit to Miami. Two years ... More >>

Could Crist's Love of Diversity Leave The Supreme Court Balanced?

Charlie Crist is in the unprecedented position of chosing his third supreme court justice in his first term, with a fourth pick coming up in March. Four picks for a Republican Governor would, of course, swing the balance of power on a bench that conservatives have derided for years as one of the mos ... More >>

State Plans To Appeal Gay Adoption Ruling

This isn't much of a shock, but the Florida Attorney General's office says it is planning to appeal last months ruling by a Miami judge that overturned Florida's gay adoption ban. Technically, I believe, they could have just let it be, but that never seemed likely. On one hand, yes, the ruling could ... More >>

Wait, So Registered Child Abusers Had More Adoption Rights Than Gays?

Riptide was going to write you up a nice "The Florida Supreme Court for Dummies" post, but in its research found itself caught up in tangents. Our interest was spurred in part by yesterday's overturning of the gay adoption ban by a Miami judge (as well as by future Crist appointments). The issue wil ... More >>

Gay Adoption Ban Overturned

It seems that as one battle is lost in the fight for civil rights/the culture war/the "gay and secular fascist" takeover of America, another one is won. Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy Lederman ruled earlier this morning there is "no rational basis" for banning homosexuals from adopting ch ... More >>

Jack Thompson, 2 Live Crew's Greatest Nemesis, Disbarred

Florida Supreme Court Takes Three Amendments Off the Ballot

New Florida Justice Makes Dem Blood Boil

Jack Thompson Faces Permanent Disbarment

Jack Thompson Don't Know Jack

Why will the right-wing crusader likely lose his license? Swastikas are just the start.

Count All Votes -- Except Those for Nader

The Reform Party's presidential candidate makes some people crazy

In the Rough

A half-century before the Tiger Woods era, black Miamians fought a losing battle to hit the links

Alternative Spin

The Roads Less Developed

Residents of this Miami neighborhood don't care how neat the kids' museum will be

Go Directly to Court

In a high-stakes showdown, Miami hopes to put some muscle on its enfeebled Nuisance Abatement Board

Dear Chief Justice: Throw the Book at Him

Owe, Owe, Owe Your Boat

The Miami Rowing Club finds itself up a creek of red ink

Stop! Thief! C-R-U-N-C-H!

The good old days of high-speed police chases (and the resulting mayhem) are about to end

There Ought to Be a Law