Florida state Sen. Travis Hutson, a Republican representing St. Johns, Flagler, and parts of Volusia Counties, wants to set up two entirely different punishments for people accused of identical crimes. The difference? Whether you’re a U.S. citizen or not when you are arrested. Under Huston’s proposal, anyone committing simple battery or assault in Florida as a U.S. citizen would be charged with a misdemeanor. Commit that identical crime as an undocumented immigrant, and Hutson’s bill would make that crime a felony.

Some Miami politicians sucked this year because they were incompetent. A whole lot of people thought longtime Miami businessman Jeb Bush, history’s least exciting royal prince, would be in line to lead the free world by this time in 2016. Instead, he blew his shot big-time, squandered hundreds of millions of dollars, and cemented his place in history books as one of the clearest cases of white-bread upper-crust mediocrity in American history. Let’s hope some rich jokester capitalist gifted Bush a coal mine this Christmas.

According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law has led to a massive, demonstrable increase in statewide homicides since 2005. JAMA’s November study framed the law as a clear threat to public health: Homicides were actually decreasing, on average, until the law — which lets Floridians kill in self-defense even if they themselves started the fight — took effect.

Did a prominent Democratic donor cut a backroom deal in order to gain control of the Florida Democratic Party? An email New Times obtained raises new questions about the ongoing battle over who gets to lead Florida’s Democratic Party during the Donald Trump years. The email’s author, lobbyist Stephanie Grutman, denies…

Last week, Stephen Bittel, a Miami real-estate magnate and major political donor, made the first play in a House of Cards-esque political drama he hopes ends with his running Florida’s Democratic Party. First, though, he needed to secure a humbler role as a Miami-Dade County state committeeman, which he did in a quiet midnight vote.

Former South Florida Congressman Allen West is meeting with Donald Trump today, for the second time in seven days. To put things mildly, this is less than ideal. West has a demonstrable hatred of Muslims: He was kicked out of the military a decade ago for psychologically torturing an innocent Iraqi cop, spent his two-year congressional career calling Islam a threat to the West, and Saturday retweeted a meme calling for the “extermination” of Muslims.