Abortion-rights activists score wins at state level

In the 2024 U.S. election. abortion-rights ballot measures passed in seven of ten states, including five won by Trump/Vance.

Abortion protest, New York, May 2022. Photo by Legoktm. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Pro-Choice Abortion Initiatives Pass in Seven Out of Ten States | Reason | Elizabeth Nolan Brown:

November 6, 2024 - "Measures meant to protect abortion access were approved by voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York.... Until yesterday, the pro-choice position [has] prevailed in every state where abortion-related measures were on the ballot, including in red states such as Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio. That ... pattern is broken somewhat by results in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota.... 

• In Florida, 57 percent of voters supported Amendment 4, an Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion ... but it falls short of the 60 percent approval threshold required for constitutional amendments in Florida.
• In Nebraska, 48.7 percent of voters approved the state's Right to Abortion measure, (Initiative 439), which would have amended the constitution to declare that 'all persons shall have a fundamental right to abortion until fetal viability'.... [A] competing measure — Initiative 434 — passed 55.3 percent to 44.7 percent.... Initiative 434 ... allows for first trimester abortions but prohibits second and third trimester abortion unless 'necessitated by a medical emergency or when the pregnancy results from sexual assault or incest'....
• [I]n South Dakota — where it's currently criminal to perform an abortion or prescribe abortion medication unless a pregnant woman's life is at risk ... [v]oters rejected Amendment G — a citizen-led initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the state's constitution— by almost 20 percentage points (with 87 percent of votes counted)..... 
• In Arizona, voters approved Proposition 139, a measure that enshrines a 'fundamental right' to abortion until fetal viability in the state's constitution. Abortion is currently legal in Arizona only until 15 weeks pregnancy. Voters rejected this status quo, with about 62 percent voting for Proposition 139 with 60 percent of votes tallied.
• In Missouri, where abortion is currently illegal except in medical emergencies, voters approved Amendment 3, a constitutional amendment declaring that 'the Government shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom, which is the right to make and carry out decisions about all matters relating to reproductive health care, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions'.... 
• In Maryland, where abortion is currently legal until fetal viability, voters overwhelmingly approved Question 1, also known as the Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment. The tally was about 74 percent for and just 26 percent with three-quarters of votes counted. Initiated by state lawmakers, ... the amendment says 'the State may not, directly or indirectly, deny, burden, or abridge the right [to an abortion] unless justified by a compelling State interest achieved by the least restrictive means.'
• In Montana, where abortion is currently legal until fetal viability, voters approved The Right to Abortion Initiative, also known as CI-128. The measure will amend the state constitution to say 'there is a right to make and carry out decisions about one's own pregnancy, including the right to abortion,' and 'this right shall not be denied or burdened unless justified by a compelling government interest achieved by the least restrictive means'....
• In Nevada, where abortion is now legal until 24 weeks pregnancy, voters approved Question 6.... The measure states that the right to an abortion 'shall not be denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest that is achieved by the least restrictive means.' With 84 percent of Nevada votes counted, it was up 63.3 percent to 36.7 percent. However, it must pass again in 2026 to be enacted.
• In Colorado, where abortion is currently legal throughout pregnancy, voters passed Amendment 79.... The measure repeals a 1984 amendment prohibiting the use of public funds for abortion and creates a new constitutional amendment stating that 'the right to abortion is hereby recognized. Government shall not deny, impede, or discriminate against the exercise of that right, including prohibiting health insurance coverage for abortion'....

"Trump won Florida, Missouri, and Montana and ... Arizona and Nevada ... yet a majority of voters in these states, too, opted to support legal abortion."

Read more: https://reason.com/2024/11/06/pro-choice-abortion-initiatives-pass-in-seven-out-of-ten-states/

Texas gov't bans sex-change drugs for minors

Texas becomes largest state to ban transgender care for minors | Reuters - Daniel Trotta:

June 2 - "Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Friday signed a bill that bans transgender healthcare including puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors, making Texas the largest of the 20 states to have outlawed gender-affirming care. Republican lawmakers across the country have promoted similar bills, saying they mistrust the consensus among major medical associations that endorse gender-affirming care as needed and even life-saving for trans youth....

"Texas, the second most-populous U.S. state, has an estimated 29,800 transgender youth aged 13 to 17, according to the Williams Institute of UCLA.

"The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have pledged to fight the law in court, as they have similar legislation in other states....

"The Texas law creates exceptions for minors who began treatment before June 1 or for those who attended 12 or more sessions of mental health counseling or psychotherapy for at least six months. But those patients 'shall wean off the prescription drug over a period of time,' the law says.

"Backers of such laws say government must intervene against the wishes of parents and doctors because they fear it will cause irreparable harm and say children are incapable of acceding to such decisions.

"Groups including the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics oppose the legislation.

"Republicans introduced more than 500 bills affecting LGBTQ people in 2023, with more than 50 passing, according to the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBTQ rights group. Those numbers are up from 315 bills introduced and 29 passed in 2022."

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/texas-becomes-largest-state-ban-transgender-care-minors-2023-06-03/

[Florida:] Department advises against gender transition surgery, puberty blockers for transgender youth | News4JAX | April 20, 2022:

Anti-lockdown governor scores big win in Florida

Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida known nationally for his opposition to Covid lockdowns and mandates, was re-elected this month with a 19-point margin of victory.

DeSantis Delivers in Huge Win for the Anti-Lockdown Cause | Brownstone Institute - Michael Senger:

November 11, 2022 - "'A huge re-election victory vindicates his pandemic policies,' writes the Wall Street Journal. 'With runaway win, DeSantis’s political career becomes supercharged,' writes the New York Times. 'Ron DeSantis is the new Republican Party leader,' declares Fox News. 'Florida’s governor turned his coronavirus policies into a parable of American freedom,' observes the Atlantic.

"As well they should. The self-perpetuating lockdowns, mandates, and state of emergency that were imposed across much of the world in response to Covid-19 were a totalitarian aberration incompatible with the values of constitutional democracy. Resisting those mandates wasn’t just a parable of American freedom — it was American freedom.

"Unlike some leaders such as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, DeSantis didn’t initially see through the lockdowns. But he was one of the few political leaders to quickly and publicly recognize his error, vowing that Florida 'will never do any of these lockdowns again.' Where DeSantis really stands out, however, is in his wholehearted embrace, from that point forward, of the anti-lockdown movement in its entirety. 

"He’s consulted and hosted roundtable discussions with prominent anti-lockdown activists and scientists including Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, Dr. Martin Kulldorff, and Dr. Sunetra Gupta, and appointed Dr. Joseph Ladapo, a strong opponent of Covid mandates, as his Surgeon General. DeSantis and his team became active within the anti-lockdown movement on social media, and he frequently voiced strong opposition to Covid mandates in his speeches, such as during his State of the State address:

Florida has become the escape hatch for those chafing under authoritarian, arbitrary and seemingly never-ending mandates and restrictions. Even today, across the nation we see students denied an education due to reckless, politically-motivated school closures, workers denied employment due to heavy-handed mandates and Americans denied freedoms due to a coercive biomedical apparatus.

These unprecedented policies have been as ineffective as they have been destructive. They are grounded more in blind adherence to Faucian declarations than they are in the constitutional traditions that are the foundation of free nations.

Florida is a free state. We reject the biomedical security state that curtails liberty, ruins livelihoods, and divides society. And we will protect the rights of individuals to live their lives free from the yoke of restrictions and mandates.

"DeSantis’s staunch support for the anti-lockdown cause may be explained, in no small part, by the fact that he remains one of the world’s only major political figures to publicly share his belief that the Chinese Communist Party played a key role in influencing the global response to Covid-19:

The [W]est did a lot of damage to itself by adopting some of these policies, which have proven to not work to stop the spread, but to be very economically destructive. I do think there was an information operation angle to this, where they really believed that if they could get these other countries to lock down, and they were willing to do some propaganda along the way, particularly in Europe, that ultimately would help China. And I think it has helped China.

"For this, DeSantis effectively became the face of the anti-lockdown movement in the United States. It was a bold political gamble ... and it drew the consternation of lockdown supporters, media and political elites across the country.

"But it paid off big. DeSantis won the race for reelection with a 19-point margin of victory—the widest victory margin in a Florida gubernatorial election since 2002. Even more telling, DeSantis’s odds to win the 2024 presidential election soared by more than 10 percentage points, making him the new frontrunner in the presidential race.

"The outsized significance of DeSantis’s victory isn’t so much in the victory itself, which was predicted, or even the margin of that victory. The real significance is that DeSantis outperformed by a wide margin at the same time the Republican Party underperformed across the rest of the country. This unique outperformance vindicates whatever DeSantis did differently [from] the rest of the GOP. And without a doubt, what DeSantis is best known for is his wholehearted embrace of the anti-lockdown movement."

https://brownstone.org/articles/desantis-delivers-win/

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Life returns to normal in Florida

 Inside Florida, the state that forgot COVID-19 is a national emergency | New York Post - Kyle Smith:

Spring break, Orlando, Florida, March 2021

January 6, 2022 - "The greatest feeling about Florida is the sheer 'Gonna ride this hog wherever it takes me' exuberance. I’ve been down there maybe eight or 10 times during the pandemic and arriving in any airport is like crossing the Wall out of East Berlin. Quite a lot of people wear masks in malls and stores, but most don’t. Nobody mask-shames anybody. You don’t need a vaccine card at all, much less have to dig out your Excelsior Pass three times a day. 

"This is because Florida accepts the basic truth that should have been Washington’s guidance from Day 1: If you’re vaccinated, the COVID-19 emergency is over for you; if you’re not, well, the risk is yours.  

"Florida schoolchildren have been back in school and unmasked since August 2020. Life is normal for them, except for the amusement value of seeing panicky teachers in masks. New York’s children, like those in many areas where the Democratic Party and its affiliated teachers unions rule, are essentially being used as human shields.... Kids are suffering so badly here that even the New York Times is starting gently to suggest that maybe we should take our hands off our children’s throats — masking them, forbidding them to socialize and exercise and even talk at lunchtime, canceling their extracurriculars, canceling childhood.

"The unemployment rate in Florida, heavily dependent on tourism, spiked to 14.2 percent in May 2020, fell to half of that by September and now stands at 4.5 percent (as of November). New York? Peaked at 16.6 percent in April 2020, but remains third-worst in the nation at 6.6 percent. In February 2020, that figure stood at 3.9 percent. New York is stacking its own crises on top of the virus problem.

"Florida’s response since the summer of 2020 has been to act as the state embodiment of the Great Barrington Declaration in which academics Jay Bhattacharya, Martin Kulldorff and Sunetra Gupta (of Stanford, Harvard and Oxford, respectively) argued that we are never going to eliminate the virus, so we’d better take mitigation strategies for the most vulnerable but otherwise learn to live with it.... 

"One of the great self-owns in Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s career of auto-embarrassment came when she took the bait National Review dangled when it published a picture of her enjoying a Christmas vacation drink in Miami Beach. Florida, people like AOC keep telling us, is a COVID-superspreading lunatic state that actually voted for Donald Trump (twice). Yet where does AOC go when she wants to unwind? Not just Florida, but the part of it that is getting hit hardest in the Omicron wave....AOC then attacked Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and suggested he take some 'tips' from her state’s governor, Kathy Hochul.

"AOC telling Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to take tips from Gov. Hochul is laughable.... As I write these words, the state with the most COVID cases in the country is … New York, which has 70 percent more cases than Florida, and five times as many deaths per 100,000.

"Heavy restriction is getting us nowhere. If we’re going to get hammered by the Omicron wave anyway, can we please have some freedom back?"

Read more: https://nypost.com/2022/01/06/how-florida-is-able-to-forget-the-national-covid-emergency/

Natural immunity should be legally recognized, say some lawmakers and doctors

GOP embraces natural immunity as substitute for vaccines | Denver Post - Anthony Izauirre, Associated Press: 

Illustration: Chad Crowe, Wall Street Journal

November 21, 2021 - "Republicans fighting President Joe Biden’s coronavirus vaccine mandates are wielding a new weapon against the White House rules: natural immunity..... Florida wrote natural immunity into state law this week as GOP lawmakers elsewhere are pushing similar measures to sidestep vaccine mandates. Lawsuits over the mandates have also begun leaning on the idea. Conservative federal lawmakers have implored regulators to consider it when formulating mandates.... 

"The immunity debate comes as the country is experiencing another surge in infections and hospitalizations and 60 million people remain unvaccinated in a pandemic that has killed more than 770,000 Americans. Biden is hoping more people will get vaccinated because of workplace mandates set to take effect early next year but which face many challenges in the courts. And many Republicans eager to buck Biden have embraced the argument that immunity from earlier infections should be enough to earn an exemption from the mandates.

"'We recognize, unlike what you see going on with the federal proposed mandates and other states, we’re actually doing a science-based approach. For example, we recognize people that have natural immunity,' Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who has been a chief critic of virus rules, said at a signing ceremony for sweeping legislation to hobble vaccine mandates this week. The new Florida law forces private businesses to let workers opt out of COVID-19 mandates if they can prove immunity through a prior infection, as well as exemptions based on medical reasons, religious beliefs, regular testing or an agreement to wear protective gear. The state health department, which is led by Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who opposes mandates and has drawn national attention over a refusal to wear a face mask during a meeting, will have authority to define exemption standards.

"The Republican-led New Hampshire Legislature plans to take up a similar measure when it meets in January. Lawmakers in Idaho and Wyoming, both statehouses under GOP-control, recently debated similar measures but did not pass them. In Utah, a newly signed law creating exemptions from Biden’s vaccine mandates for private employers allows people to duck the requirement if they have already had COVID.

"And the debate is not unique to the U.S. Russia has seen huge numbers of people seeking out antibody tests to prove they had an earlier infection and therefore don’t need vaccines.... [Russia, the European Union, and virtually all European governments recognize natural immunity as equivalent to vaccination in their health passes and mandates. - gd]

"'The shot is not by any means the only or proven way out of the pandemic. I’m not willing to give blind faith to the pharmaceutical narrative,' said Idaho Republican Rep. Greg Ferch. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican and physician, along with 14 other GOP doctors, dentists and pharmacists in Congress, sent a letter in late September to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urging the agency, when setting vaccination policies, to consider natural immunity.

"The White House has recently unveiled a host of vaccine mandates, sparking a flurry of lawsuits from GOP states, setting the stage for pitched legal battles.... In separate lawsuits, others are challenging local vaccine rules using an immunity defense.

"A 19-year-old student who refuses to be tested but claims he contracted and quickly recovered from COVID-19 is suing the University of Nevada, Reno, the governor and others over the state’s requirement that everyone, with few exceptions, show proof of vaccination in order to register for classes in the upcoming spring semester.... Another case, filed by workers of Los Alamos National Laboratory, challenges their workplace vaccine mandate for civil rights and constitutional violations, arguing the lab has refused requests for medical accommodations for those workers who have fully recovered from COVID-19. A similar lawsuit from Chicago firefighters and other city employees hit a bump last month when a judge said their case lacked scientific evidence to support the contention that the natural immunity for people who have had the virus is superior to the protection from the vaccine."

Read more: https://www.denverpost.com/2021/11/21/republicans-natural-immunity-vaccine-mandate/

7 U.S. governors say no to vaccine passports

Governor Kristi Noem bans “vaccine passports” in South Dakota | KCRG - Austin Goss"

Apr. 21, 2021 - "In an executive order issued Tuesday evening, Governor Kristi Noem banned government entities in South Dakota from requiring 'vaccine passports'.... In the executive order, Noem bans any government entity, to include local governments, within the state from requiring vaccine passports. Noem says that requiring vaccine passports could ultimately lead to 'improper disclosure of private health information.'

"'I’m going to do everything I can to protect people from getting mandates like this out of governments,' Noem [earlier in April].... 'This kind of provision is a fundamental threat to our freedoms.'"

Read more: https://www.kcrg.com/2021/04/21/governor-kristi-noem-bans-vaccine-passports-in-south-dakota/

Ducey bans ‘vaccine passport’ use by Arizona governments | Arizona Mirror - Jerod MacDonald-Evoy:

April 19, 2021 - "Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday banned state and local governments from requiring a 'vaccine passport' to receive service or enter an area.Ducey’s executive order also applies to any business that has a government contract, and bars them from requiring any customer to provide information on their vaccination status to receive any government services they provide. The executive order does allow for hospitals, nursing homes and other health care facilities to ask about documentation of a visitor’s, patient’s, employee’s or resident’s vaccination status. Universities, child care centers, home schools and other schools are also exempt. The executive order does not apply to private businesses. 

"'The residents of our state should not be required by the government to share their private medical information,' said Governor Ducey in a press release about the executive order. 'While we strongly recommend all Arizonans get the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s not mandated in our state — and it never will be. Vaccination is up to each individual, not the government.'"

Read more: https://www.azmirror.com/2021/04/19/ducey-bans-vaccine-passport-use-by-arizona-governments/

Arizona Becomes Sixth State To Ban Coronavirus Vaccine Passports — See The Full List Here | Forbes - Carlie Porterfield:

Apr 19, 2021 - "Ducey['s] ... executive order ... mak[es] Arizona the sixth state to denounce the passes that allow holders to prove they’ve been vaccinated against coronavirus....

"Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, in isolation after testing positive for coronavirus, signed an executive order April 14 that will ban both the state government and businesses from requiring proof of vaccination to protect 'individual liberty and personal privacy,' though he added he still encourages constituents to receive a vaccine. It’s a sentiment he shares with Idaho Gov. Gov. Brad Little (R) who issued an order April 9 banning state government entities from requiring proof of coronavirus vaccination to receive public services, in which he noted vaccines are the 'best shot at protecting jobs and saving lives.'

"On Tuesday, April 6, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued a similar executive order to block Texas state departments and groups that use public funds from issuing vaccine passports or mandating proof of immunization to receive services. On Friday, April 2, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order with an even further reach — under the order, the state government will punish private businesses that opt to require proof of vaccination by barring them from state grants or contracts.

"In February, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a bill into law that bans the Utah state government from requiring or issuing vaccine passports, though private businesses remain free to mandate them for patrons if they wish. Other Republican governors have not issued executive orders regarding vaccine passports, but have indicated they do not support their use, like Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R), Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R).... 

"The White House has pledged it will not pursue a vaccine passport sponsored by the federal government.... The majority of vaccine passports in development are being spearheaded by private companies in hopes it will embolden customers to feel safe traveling and pursuing in-person entertainment again at places like sports arenas, restaurants and live music venues. So far, New York is the only state to launch its own vaccine passport."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2021/04/19/arizona-becomes-sixth-state-to-ban-coronavirus-vaccine-passports---see-the-full-list-here/

Blowing the whistle on the Florida whistleblower

 Rebekah Jones, The Narrative, and the truth | Human Events - Christina Pushaw:

February 2, 2021 - "At first glance, the story of Rebekah Jones — a brave 'COVID-19 scientist' standing up to a corrupt right-wing machine — looks like a bombshell. When the Florida Department of Health (DoH) fired her last May, Jones claimed she had been terminated for refusing to falsify case numbers to support Governor Ron DeSantis’ plans to reopen the economy. Overnight, she became a heroine. She launched her own COVID-19 dashboard, raised half a million dollars, and gathered a Twitter army of 378,000.

"Jones shot to stardom because she lent a fresh face to a 'Narrative'. According to The Narrative, ... the idea that DeSantis could handle COVID-19 better than mask-mandating lockdown enthusiasts like Andrew Cuomo or Gavin Newsom was unthinkable. But ... Per capita, New York has nearly double Florida’s COVID-19 fatalities — and unlike New York, Florida has been open for months. For journalists struggling to explain this deviation from The Narrative, Jones’ tale was irresistible. She confirmed their unspoken suspicions: Florida’s relative success in fighting COVID-19 was an illusion crafted by a mendacious Trumpian governor and his flunkies, who fudged statistics to justify their homicidal reopening drive. DeSantis’ categorical rejection of Jones’ allegations only gave them momentum.

"Eight months later, ... Jones is ... facing a felony charge for breaching a government computer system.... Jones casts herself as the target of a vast right-wing conspiracy orchestrated by the governor, his loyalist judges, and his 'Gestapo,' the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The media continues lauding her. Fortune named her to its 40 Under 40. Forbes awarded her 'Technology Person of the Year'.... 

"NPR describes Jones as a 'top scientist' leading Florida’s pandemic response. In fact, Jones has held three jobs in her field; all three have ended in her being terminated and criminally charged. She has a Master’s in geography from Louisiana State University, where she worked until she was fired. She was arrested in 2016 while, reportedly, trespassing on campus and attempting to steal computer equipment from her former workplace. She then lectured at Florida State University (FSU) and began researching tropical storms for a dissertation, but never earned a Ph.D. as she was suspended and fired in 2018 after her former student accused her of sexual cyberharassment. Before her termination from the DoH, she was a geographic information systems manager, overseeing the COVID-19 web portal. Florida’s top Democratic official calls her 'Dr. Rebekah Jones,' but Jones is no doctor. Nor is she an epidemiologist, virologist, statistician, or public health professional.... 

"After she was fired from the DoH for a pattern of insubordination, Jones claimed that Deputy Secretary for Health Shamarial Roberson had asked her to 'manipulate data to mislead the public' about the safety of reopening rural counties. According to Dr. Roberson, this is 'patently false.' Emails show a state epidemiologist told Jones to temporarily disable data export from the dashboard to verify dates against other official sources. The data was aggregated from local public health authorities in 67 counties; it couldn’t be falsified or hidden.... Jones is now accusing Dr. Roberson of trying to conceal fatalities. 'The woman who told me to delete cases and deaths is now blaming DOCTORS for the death backlog,' Jones wrote in a recent social media post accompanying an article about Dr. Roberson. 'She’s the most corrupt, lying, incompetent and ignorant person that could be ever be put in charge.'

"Since her termination from the DoH, Jones has doubled down on her criticism of prominent epidemiologists — and in doing so, she has revealed serious gaps in her own knowledge of COVID-19. In July, Jones asserted that false negative antibody tests are 'worrisome' because 'you’re not aware that you have and can spread the virus.' Dr. Natalie Dean, an infectious disease expert, explained that false negative antibody tests carry no public health risk, but false negative antigen tests do. (Antibody tests show past infection, while antigen tests detect active infections that can be spread). Instead of admitting her mistake, Jones blocked Dr. Dean and contacted the epidemiologist’s employer to complain....

"Today, Jones awaits trial at her new home in an upmarket DC suburb. She invested part of her crowdfunding proceeds in a for-profit corporation, Florida COVID Action LLC.... Jones vows to campaign for DeSantis’ 2022 Democratic challenger.... She says she’s using donors’ funds 'to fight DeSantis, and anything else he throws at me'.... 

"Those desperate to see DeSantis fail, and Florida become America’s cautionary COVID-19 tale, want to believe Jones. This includes mainstream media acolytes.... The left sees Jones as the eye of a perfect storm: the GOP’s war on science, a corrupt Trumpian governor, the foolhardiness of any COVID-19 policy short of Chairman Xi-style lockdowns — and a telegenic 'whistleblower' to reinforce these tropes. Reality never stood a chance."

Read more: https://humanevents.com/2021/02/02/the-florida-covid-19-whistleblower-saga-is-a-big-lie/

A tale of two states

 The Florida Versus California Showdown | American Institute for Economic Research - Amelia Janaskie:

February 22, 2021 - "Florida and California are remarkably similar for their warm climates, beaches, tourist destinations, immigrant populations, and more, but both states could not be more different with respect to the management of the Covid-19 pandemic. Florida operates on close to zero pandemic-related restrictions whereas California maintains strict lockdown policies. In California, virtually all public schools are closed, restaurants must follow unwavering capacity limits, travelers must quarantine for ten days, and on the list goes. Meanwhile, Florida’s schools are all open for in-person instruction, state-wide restrictions do not exist for restaurants, and there is no travel quarantine implemented by the state....

"While the media labels California Governor Newsom a 'lockdown fanatic' for his authoritarian approach, they call Florida Governor DeSantis 'DeathSantis' for being too relaxed. The two governors are polar opposites in how they handle Covid, but their outcomes are peculiarly similar. In total, California experienced more cases per 100,000 people, while Florida had more deaths per 100,000 people. During the summer of 2020, cases and deaths spiked higher in Florida, but the course switched from November through January as cases and deaths peaked in California.... 

Graph courtesy The Dossier

"Rather, the outcomes suggest that lockdown measures might not have a significant impact on lowering the number of Covid cases and deaths. But a more comprehensive look at the economic and social well-being of the states potentially reveals a greater disparity. 

• "First, the unemployment rate in Florida remains consistently lower than California’s. As of December 2020, Florida’s (preliminary) unemployment rate was at 6.1% while California’s was 9%. This means that a staggering 1,700,383 people are unemployed in California, compared to 614,327 in Florida. (The gap between the states is still immense when the numbers are adjusted for population.)
• "The gross domestic product (GDP) of both states is similar, though Florida’s annual rate is slightly higher. California ranks as the largest economy – in terms of GDP – of all US states and even exceeds the United Kingdom’s. So, the drop in California’s GDP is not only steeper than Florida’s but also takes a greater toll on the entire United States economy.
• "Another revealing factor is inbound and outbound migration. According to 2020 data collected from two moving companies (U-Haul and United Van Lines), Florida is among the top states for inbound migration, and California ranks high for outbound migration. While these migration patterns follow previous 2019 moving trends, lockdown policies still might play into other factors for why people are leaving California, including taxes, cost of living, and affordable housing. Florida conversely attracts movers for having no income tax, low housing prices, and agreeable climate....

"While Governor Newsom keeps his state at high level of lockdowns despite glaring consequences, Californians are becoming increasingly irate as they sign a petition for a recall against him. As of February 2nd, Newsom’s approval rating rests at 46%, a sharp drop from September’s rating of 64%. Meanwhile, DeSantis is in the green with an approval rating of 54%....

"California and Florida provide a clear example for the dubious efficacy of Covid-19 restrictions. Their disparities elucidate the enduring costs of lockdowns with regard to the economy and livelihoods of residents. The states also pave the way for us to better understand whether authoritarian measures truly work in controlling a virus and, on a greater scale, the trajectory of human behavior."

Read more: https://www.aier.org/article/the-florida-versus-california-showdown/

In search of exponential growth

by George J. Dance

Imagine an invasive species of water lily that takes over a pond, choking off all other life; it grows exponentially, doubling its area every day. In 60 days the pond is completely full of lilies. When was the pond half full? When was the pond 1% full?

I expect most readers got the first answer: The pond was half full on day 59. The second is a bit trickier, and I found it much harder to estimate. It looks intuitive that if the pond is full in two months, it must have been at least 1% full after one month. However, that intuition does not account for the phenomenon of exponential growth. If the pond was full on day 60, then it was half full on day 59 (as you figured out), 1/4 full on day 58, 1/8 full on day 57, and so on. On day 53, the pond was only 1/128 full of lilies; so it was not 1% full until day 54. For more than seven weeks, there was nothing to see; then suddenly, in less than a week, the infestation had ripped through the pond killing everything in its path.

I read that story on the web in March. It was meant to illustrate the scary potential of the novel coronavirus, which at the time appeared to be growing exponentially. The warning was clear: even though, outside of New York, the virus was not even noticeable on this side of the ocean, it was only a matter of time before we had as many sick and dead as New York. The numbers got even scarier when one projected exponential growth into the future: epidemiologists at the Imperial College of London calculated that, by August 2020, 250 million Americans would be sick and 2.2 million would die, most in the last month.

Imperial College's report panicked Britain and the United States into lockdowns; and it was only lockdowns, we are told, that prevented its nightmare scenario from coming true: Without lockdowns, those countries would have suffered exponential growth and almost 3 million dead. The conclusion was inescapable: if those countries abandon lockdown, they once again face exponential growth and close to 3 million dead.

However, American state lockdowns have proved to be unsustainable. While still hugely popular with voters, they are being increasingly defied and ignored; and state governments (with a few exceptions like California) have found it necessary to lift or at least relax them. Since then the virus has resurged, and if the lockdown theory is right we can expect it to now resume exponential growth. Which is exactly why it is important to establish whether the virus is and/or will grow exponentially, anywhere.

Last week I looked at the numbers for the United States as a whole. I found that, while the virus grew exponentially in March (when total numbers were small), by mid-April (with 43 American states under lockdown) growth had become linear instead; the virus still spread, but at a steady rate. Even more encouragingly, after states began lifting and easing lockdowns, growth stayed linear.

One helpful comment I received on that column suggested I look at the Republican states that have had newsworthy recent surges: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Texas. All four states have Republican governors, who have drawn extensive criticism, and lost some support with voters, for easing lockdowns already. If exponential growth were re-occurring anywhere, surely it would be there. So, leaving Georgia for another time, I did a similar dive into the numbers for those states, again using Worldometer's "United States" coronavirus pages for data. In addition, I used the numbers for California (a state that has has maintained a strick lockdown, but has also seen a surge) as a control. My tabulations appear at the end.

For the three "Republican" states, I found that while cases have risen dramatically in all of them, growth in all cases has stayed linear. Both Florida and Texas have seen a big surge in cases, to more than 10,000 a day; however, neither state's figures show the constant doubling that indicates exponential growth. Florida went from 50,000 cases to 100,000 in 30 days; from 100,000 to 200,000 in 13 days; from 150,000 to 300,000 in 15 days; and from 200,000 to 400,000 in 19 days - a big speedup, followed by a slowdown. For Texas, the comparable time intervals were 30, 18, 18, and 21 days. Arizona's cases doubled from 20,000 to 40,000 in 15 days; from 40,000 to 80,000 in 14; from 60,000 to 120,000 in 20; and from 80,000 to 160,000 in 25 days - a consistenty slower growth.

It was otherwise with California, the lockdown state. California, with a larger population than either Florida or Texas, has only a slightly higher number of cases than either; and while its death total is more than double that of either, it per capita death rate is below that of both Florida and Arizona. California's numbers seem low; but then, so did the number of lilies on the pond back on day 30. Given exponential growth, low numbers early on mean little.

And in California, exponential growth may be occurring. The state's caseload doubled from 50,000 to 100,000 in 26 days; from 100,000 to 200,000 in 29 days; from 150,000 to 300,000 in 26 days; and from 200,000 to 400,000 in 26 days. That steady increase, though happening slowly, looks like constant doubling and therefore exponential growth  While it is too early to say for sure (and the pattern may change at any time), California could be in serious trouble by the fall.

California was the earliest state to lock down, on March 19. The state's strict lockdown has already been lauded by at least one academic study, a National Bureau of Economic Research paper published in April, which concluded that the lockdown had prevented "as many as 1,661" deaths from COVID-19 in its first month. One can only hope that those, and subsequent months', prevented deaths in the state remain prevented..   

===Arizona===
Deaths (time to add 500)
Jun. 5 - 1,012 (28 days)
Jun 24 - 1,490 (19 days)
Jul. 9 - 2,038 (15 days)
Jul 16 - 2,492 (7 days)
Jul 22 - 2,974 (6 days)

Cases  (time to add 20,000)
Jun. 1 - 20,123
Jun 16 - 39,097 (15 days)
Jun 24 - 59,974 (8 days)
Jun 30 - 79,215 (6 days)
Jul. 5 - 98,089 (5 days)
Jul 11 - 119,930 (6 days)
Jul 17 - 138,523 (6 days)
Jul 25 - 160,041 (8 days)

===California===
Deaths (time to add 1,000)
Apr 17 - 1,041
Apr 30 - 2,029 (13 days)
May 13 - 2,966 (13 days)
May 28 - 4,039 (15 days)
Jun 12 - 4,988 (15 days)
Jun 29 - 5,976 (17 days)
Jul 11 - 7,026 (12 days)
Jul 22 - 8,045 (11 days)

Cases (time to add 50,000)
Apr 30 - 50,347
May 26 - 100,208 (26 days)
Jun 13 - 150,921 (18 days)
Jun 24 - 194,415 (11 days)
Jul. 2 - 249,094 (8 days)
Jul. 9 - 303,323 (7 days)
Jul 15 - 355,285 (6 days)
Jul 20 - 399,898 (5 days)
Jul 25 - 453,121 (5 days)

===Florida===
Deaths (time to add 1,000)
Apr 23 - 987
May 18 - 1,997 (25 days)
Jun 16 - 2,996 (19 days)
Jul. 9 - 4,009 (23 days)
Jul 19 - 4,985 (10 days)
Jul 27 - 5,933 (8 days)

Cases (time to add 50,000)
May 23 - 50,127
Jun 22 - 100,217 (30 days)
Jun 30 - 152,434 (8 days)
July 5 - 200,111 (5 days)
Jul 10 - 244,151 (5 days)
Jul 15 - 301,180 (5 days)
Jul 19 - 350,047 (4 days)
Jul 24 - 402,312 (5 days)

===Texas===
Deaths (time to add 1,000)
May 6, - 1,006
Jun 14 - 1,996 (29 days)
Jul. 9 - 3,052 (25 days)
Jul 18 - 4,007 (9 days)
Jul 25 - 5,069 (7 days)

Cases (time to add 50,000)
May 18 - 49, 684
Jun 17 - 99,304 (30 days)
Jun 27 - 148,845 (10 days)
Jul. 5 - 202,146 (8 days)
Jul 10 - 254,319 (5 days)
Jul 15 - 302,817 (5 days)
Jul 20 - 347,135 (5 days)
Jul 26 - 397,992 (6 days)

Libertarian convention 2020.2 opens in Orlando

Libertarians bring a socially distanced convention to Orlando, with color-coded ‘risk bracelets’ | Orlando Sentinel - Steven Lemongello:

July 8, 2020 - "The Libertarian National Convention kick[ed] off Wednesday in Orlando, bringing hundreds of delegates to the five-day event at the Rosen Centre on International Drive. The convention will hold most of its larger sessions at the Orange County Convention Center across the street, becoming one of the first events to be partially held at the convention center since the pandemic began.

"Libertarian national chair Nicholas Sarwark said the party is opposed to government-mandated mask orders.... But it has advised the estimated 500 to 600 delegates expected at the event to wear masks, get temperature-checked and socially distance themselves.... Special color-coded 'risk bracelets' will let delegates know how comfortable other participants are with close contact: red to stay 6 feet away, yellow for closer conversations without physical contact; and green for no distancing at all.

"'Public health guidance should provide as much information as possible to people so they can make good choices for themselves,' Sarwark said. 'What we’re doing is [the] best practices based on the best data that we have and working with the hotel and the convention center to try and abide by whatever regulations or guidance their insurers are recommending.'

"The convention had already been thrown into turmoil by the outbreak, with its scheduled meeting in Austin, Texas, in May forced to be canceled amid COVID-19 shutdowns. The party [held] a virtual convention in May to choose Jo Jorgensen, a lecturer at Clemson University in South Carolina, as its first woman nominee for president. Podcaster Spike Cohen will be her running mate.

"But the delegates still needed to convene in person to conduct other necessary business. The party turned to Orlando, where it had held its convention in 2016, and booked the Rosen Shingle Creek resort.... But then cases began to skyrocket in mid-June, and later in the month they were told the original location at Shingle Creek could not be used. Finally, a combination of the Rosen Centre and the convention center were booked.

"Jim Turney, an Altamonte Springs city commissioner and convention organizing committee member, said the party is expecting much fewer than the 900 delegates who attended the 2016 convention. 'We made a last-minute switch from Memorial Day to this weekend and from Austin to Orlando, so a lot of people fell out over that,' Turney said. 'And of course, some fell out because they don’t want to travel, either because of themselves or their families’ concerns for COVID'....

"Mid-June began a string of record-breaking single days of new cases in the state, including more than 11,000 on Saturday, and Orlando ranks among the cities with fastest-rising numbers nationwide. Travel advisories such as the one put in place by New York and New Jersey would also require 14-day quarantines upon returning home, and a similar rule for travelers from the New York area to Florida issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April is still in effect.

"The party is giving out 1,000 masks custom-made for the convention at a facility in Altamonte Springs, Turney said, as well as 2,000 non-branded masks....

"'I believe all Libertarians believe in personal responsibility,' Turney said. 'We believe that even when you don’t intend to cause harm to somebody, you just made a mistake or it was an accident or a coincidence or whatever, you’re still responsible.'"

Read more: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/politics/os-ne-libertarian-convention-orlando-20200708-xveya7pumjacfmvoi7ucx2c3wy-story.html

FL woman fined $100K for home she left in 2011

Excessive fines? Florida city hits homeowners with massive penalties - Kristine Philips, USA Today:

June 19, 2019 - "Kristi Allen read the letter and thought it had to be a scam. It said she owed $92,600 in fines for overgrown vegetation and a stagnant swimming pool at a house she no longer owned. She must pay in two weeks, the letter said, and it hinted that she could be sued if she didn't. Including interest charges and other fees, her debt swelled to $103,559, about twice her yearly income.

'Three months later, in late 2018, the city of Dunedin sued to collect, setting off another legal fight over how local governments use their power to impose heavy fines on citizens....

"Dunedin, a small seaside city outside Tampa, cracks down on code violations, saddling homeowners with massive fines while its revenue grows. In 5½ years, the city has collected nearly $3.6 million in fines – sometimes tens of thousands at a time – for violating laws that prohibit grasses taller than 10 inches, recreational vehicles parked on streets at certain hours or sidings and bricks that don't match.... The city fined a man nearly $30,000 because of a 'chronic' overgrown yard. It fined a couple $31,000 for fixing their roof without a permit after a tree fell on it during a hurricane....

"Allen moved to Dunedin in 2005 to be with her boyfriend, Keith, who later became her husband. She bought a bungalow-style house on the same street where he was raised.... Then the financial crisis hit. Allen ... took a pay cut and lost her house in the wave of foreclosures that washed over Florida. She signed an agreement with U.S. Bank National Association allowing the foreclosure and moved out. She thought Dunedin was behind her.

"In early 2014, three years after Allen moved out, a code inspector came to the house, which had been vacant. Brown palm fronds littered the overgrown backyard. A neighbor told the inspector that something dead may have been rotting there. The swimming pool had turned into a bright green, mosquito-infested cesspool.

"City officials sent notices of the problems to Allen, who was still listed as the homeowner in county property records. Then they started fining her $100 a day. The letters mailed to Allen were returned undeliverable with no forwarding address. The city kept fining her anyway.... Her name stayed in property records because the foreclosure was not finalized until late 2014. By then, the city had been fining Allen for several months.... The daily fines continued for the next two years until a code inspector visited the house again and saw it had been cleaned and renovated....

"In Florida and elsewhere, unpaid fines can be attached to someone’s property through liens. That allows cities to foreclose and take the property to collect what they’re owed.... Dunedin expects to make a little more than $1 million this year from fines and forfeitures. That’s about five times as much as the city made a decade ago."

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/2019/07/19/florida-city-hits-homeowners-massive-penalties-supreme-court-excessive-fines/1691703001/

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Mow your lawn or lose your home in Dunedin FL (video)

Stossel: Mow Your Lawn or Lose Your House! – Reason.com - John Stossel:

July 9, 2019 - "Jim Ficken left his home to take care of his recently deceased mother's estate. While away, the man he paid to cut his lawn died. The grass in Ficken's yard grew more than 10 inches long.

"The City of Dunedin has an ordinance against long grass. The Florida city fined Ficken $500 a day. Over time the fines added up to almost $30,000.... Ficken doesn't have $30,000, and now the city wants to foreclose on his home.

"Ficken's lawyer, Ari Bargil of the Institute for Justice, points out that the city could have 'hire[d] a lawn service to come out and mow the grass, and send Jim a bill for 150 bucks, but they didn't do that.' The reason, says Bargil, is that the city 'wants the money. Code enforcement is a major cash cow for the city.' Dunedin collected $34,000 in fines in 2007. Last year, the fines ballooned to $1.3 million.

"Bargil argues Dunedin's big fines violate the 8th Amendment. That protects us not only from cruel and unusual punishment but [also] from 'excessive fines.' Stossel agrees. What's more excessive than politicians taking your home because you didn't cut your grass?

Read more: https://reason.com/video/stossel-mow-your-lawn-or-lose-your-house/

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Florida legalizes front-yard vegetable gardens

After 6-Year Fight, Florida Couple Wins Right to Grow Veggies at Home – Reason.com - Billy Binion:

July 5, 2019 - "Vegetables are ugly. Or at least that's the view of the officials in Miami Shores, Florida, who implemented a ban on front-yard vegetable gardens at residential properties in 2013. The ordinance forced Hermine Ricketts and her husband, Laurence Carroll, to uproot the garden they'd maintained for nearly two decades.

"Now they can start planting again: The Florida legislature has passed a bill shielding vegetable gardens from local prohibitions. "After nearly six years of fighting…I will once again be able to legally plant vegetables in my front yard," Ricketts said in a statement. "I'm grateful to the Legislature and the governor for standing up to protect my freedom to grow healthy food on my own property."

"The Institute for Justice filed a lawsuit on Ricketts' behalf in 2013. Florida's Third District Court of Appeals upheld the ban, and the state's Supreme Court declined to hear the case. So Ricketts and the institute lobbied the legislature, and it passed a law effectively invalidating the local ordinance. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed it last week.

"How were city commissioners able to pass the rule in the first place, much less get it past an appeals court? It was billed as a zoning regulation, which cities have near-unlimited power in implementing. The Florida League of Cities opposed Ricketts' efforts until the end, arguing that code enforcement is an essential tool for maintaining a town's aesthetic. They also didn't like the idea of a state government preempting measures adopted at the local level.

"Ricketts now uses a wheelchair and has suffered from a litany of health issues in recent years, which she blames on stress induced by the legal battle. She's hoping that a little gardening might be the medicine she needs."

Read more: https://reason.com/2019/07/05/after-6-year-fight-florida-couple-wins-right-to-grow-veggies-at-home/
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Florida Libertarians set up whistleblower site

Local Libertarians Launch Site to Report Government Waste - Bradenton Times:

April 21, 2019 - "The Libertarian Party of Manatee County [Florida] hopes to provide citizens and government employees an opportunity to anonymously report acts of government waste. The political party launched GovStoppers.com this week, where residents can upload pictures or documents that show government waste, fraud or corruption, without the posts being traced back to the person who submitted them.

"'While some agencies may have ways to report fraud, often a report must be made to the very agency involved, for example the School Board website,' says LPMC Chair Ray Wolff. 'This is bit like the fox watching the hen house. GovStopper.com is a better way to make such reports.'

Wolff says local Libertarians seek to establish more transparency and accountability to Manatee County....  'As the Libertarian Party of Manatee County, we see one of our roles as a third party is to bring openness, trust and transparency to our local government,' Wolff says. "With help from the public and government employees, GovStoppers can be the impartial and anonymous way to bring local government waste and corruption to light.'

"The website is built with anonymity in mind, said Wolff, using anonymous third-party messaging and email to access GovStoppers and send files. Its photo upload feature does not log or store information that could link the photos with the sender.

Wolff says that the Libertarians — America’s fastest growing political party — face ballot access restrictions engineered by the major parties, intended to discourage independents and third-party candidates from winning office and affecting political change, but that GovStoppers is a way for members to magnify their impact."

Read more: https://thebradentontimes.com/local-libertarians-launch-site-to-report-government-waste-p20786-158.htm
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State politicians bungling cannabis legalization

Libertarian official schools entrepreneurs on cannabis legalization - News - Sarasota Herald-Tribune - Sarasota, FL - Billy Cox:

February 23, 2019 - "[C]annabis ... legalization advocate Adrian Moore told a conservative Argus Foundation audience Friday that Florida has to get smarter.... Moore, vice president of the Libertarian Reason Foundation, said support for an 'adult use' referendum on the 2020 ballot is growing, and that lawmakers should be wary of pushing back with the sorts of stifling regulations that have created surging black markets in legal states....

“'These state governments were just doing an absolutely atrocious job with literally no idea of how things work,' he told an audience of 90 at the Sarasota Yacht Club. 'I think most of you probably know that understanding how markets work is not a prerequisite for being a legislator.'

"Having moved to Sarasota from northern California four years ago to escape high state taxes, Moore offered a cautionary tale to area business leaders whose understanding of emerging marijuana markets might well be as limited as that of Florida’s elected officials. He cited how Tallahassee’s refusal to yield to public opinion — lawmakers have erected numerous roadblocks to full implementation of Amendment 2 in 2016, despite 71 percent voter approval — has resulted in legal defeats at every turn.

"With prospects for even broader access looming, Moore warned against overtaxation, which fuels underground economies and defeats the purpose of legalization. He mentioned a New York Times article exposing California’s thriving marijuana black markets.... Moore, who holds a doctorate in economics as well as master’s degrees in economics and history, acknowledged the windfall-prospects lure of legal cannabis. But legislative greed, he said, can undermine the law’s best intentions.

"But legal marijuana’s pitfalls aren’t limited to tax policy. Federal prohibition aside, Moore pointed to tensions between state and local governments over licensing restrictions, zoning restrictions and regional price disparities that can drive product demand across state lines, which can provoke federal blowback.

"In California, for instance, four-fifths of the state’s municipalities have banned marijuana retailers simply because 'they were given the option to'.... What it means, he said, is that 'you don’t have a functional market in California.' Moore also points to California’s onerous 330 pages of rules and regulations in state marijuana laws, much of which he argues are devoted to 'harm reduction' scenarios, many of which are hypothetical and growth-inhibiting.....

"Another 'super-hot issue' facing states is the expungement of criminal records for nonviolent offenders whose marijuana crimes become obsolete when legalization laws are passed. Then there’s the issue of mandated 'gifting' of licenses to entrepreneurs in traditionally disadvantaged communities, whether or not those owners are qualified to handle demand.

"Moore’s presentation generated questions from understandably confused Sarasota employers.... He reminded listeners that, with marijuana still classified as a dangerous Schedule 1 drug, no state has developed a model policy. Colorado, the first state to legalize personal-use cannabis in 2014, continues to tweak and refine its rules as issues arise."

“'It seems that employers have control over their destiny, which is really what we’re going for,' Moore said. 'It should be up to employers to figure out how it should be applied and how it shouldn’t, as long as it’s not discriminatory.'”

Read more: https://www.heraldtribune.com/news/20190222/libertarian-official-schools-entrepreneurs-on-cannabis-legalization

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FL couple wins fight to paint house like Van Gogh

Couple Wins Fight to Keep Their House Painted Like Van Gogh's Starry Night to Soothe Autistic Son - Foundation for Economic Education - David Gornoski:

August 27, 2018 - "Mt. Dora, Florida, ... is an artsy little hamlet known for its murals and art festivals. A year ago, Nancy [Nemhauser] and her husband Lubomir decided to paint their house wall in an interpretation of Vincent van Gogh's famous Starry Night painting. They had no homeowners association, they checked with city code and no issue was raised. Yet after they painted it, they received a city citation claiming the wall art was graffiti — that the wall had to match the color of the house. So the couple decided to paint the whole house to match to avoid any issue.

"This gesture ... was not received well by the city magistrates. They began to issue rolling hundred dollar fines for every day the Nemhausers failed to comply with their demands.

"Nancy and Lubomir commissioned the mural as a gift to their son, who has autism. They found that the Starry Night painting was a particular source of comfort and fascination for the young man. Also, in instances in which he might get lost from home, his difficulty in communication could be overcome by saying 'the Van Gogh house' to a person looking to help.

"If I do not like the color scheme of my neighbor's house, do I have a right to come to their door and demand that they pay me a hundred dollars a day until they fix it? If they resist long enough, can I bring men with guns to force them out of their home? Such behavior sounds insane. Because it is.

"However, when we form groups, we start to think we can get away with doing really insane or cruel things. Toxic groupthink can be playground bullies mimicking a child's unique speech pattern. It can also produce groupthink in governments that maintain the right to do things they would find abhorrent to do individually — just because a majority of voters in a space hired them.

"Nancy and Lubomir ... violated no law. They were merely victims of an arbitrarily banal exertion of power by busybodies who presume control. However, whether such a code existed or not on paper, the principle at stake here is one that arrests the very nature of what our culture should be.

"Should we ever use the threat of theft — an act of violence — to change a person's nonviolent behavior or choices? Should we have a culture that produces laws to coerce people's expression, personal choices, property use, or means of caring for their children? If there is no flesh and blood victim that can be named in a citation or police report about an event, how could we ever accuse a person of a crime or violation?

"As long as human beings are not stealing, defrauding, or initiating violence, they should enjoy their lives free from meddling.... Private contracts are mutually agreed upon covenants that can be enforced if people violate the terms. However, public contracts — the domain of states — are often arbitrarily decided piecemeal based on the ever-changing whims of the people close to power.... It is our job as role models for future generations to never let the law be used in such a farcical way.

"Thanks to their courage and the Pacific Legal Foundation, Nancy and Lubomir were victorious. Facing a federal battle over constitutional rights and an onslaught of media attention, Mt. Dora reached a settlement. As part of the agreement, the mayor publicly apologized in a press conference.

"Nancy told me the ordeal cost them greatly in health, stress, and many sleepless nights. For painting their house to help their son."

Read more: https://fee.org/articles/couple-wins-fight-to-keep-their-house-painted-like-van-goghs-starry-night-to-soothe-autistic-son/
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Florida Libertarians run no statewide candidates

A new strategy for Libertarian Party of Florida: no statewide candidates - WMNF 88.5 -  Seán Kinane:

July 19, 2018 - "Four years ago the Libertarian Party of Florida ran candidates for statewide office, placing third in races for governor and attorney general; but something changed this year: there are no Libertarian candidates running for governor or any cabinet office in Florida....

"Ryan Ramsey, the Bradford County chair of the Libertarian Party of Florida ... says it’s a new strategy by the party to focus on winnable local elections and building a team of experienced campaigners....

"'A governor’s campaign or an attorney general campaign, if you have a great candidate — even if you know you’re going to get a low percentage of the vote — is a good way to get your message out there.... Adrian Wyllie was an excellent candidate for governor (in 2014). He ... got me interested in the LPF by seeing him out there. So, it can be beneficial, but for the most time it’s not. If your candidate is not really charismatic and good it could almost hurt you.

"'[T]he goal of the Operation First Step is to run large amounts of candidates for smaller offices: counties, localities. And also to put an eye on unopposed seats, or even vacant seats. I’ve actually got some guys I installed on the Bradford County Soil and Water Conservation District because it was vacant seats... They ... met with the body ... and ended up getting appointed [laughs] by the current Soil and Water Conservation District. So, on June 22nd [closing of qualifying for candidates in the 2018 election] ... basically they’re going to be elected....

"'I’ve got a mayor of Newberry, Florida, over in my Alachua affiliate. I’ve got all sorts of county-level candidates. That’s basically the reason that you’re not seeing a lot of these statewide races. We’ve got a few guys running for [State] House.

"'The idea: we want to build a cadre of qualified candidates for statewide offices and House and Senate races in the state.... The idea is to get more people involved, let the cream rise to the top, empower people in their local communities where 70% of the laws that affect your business and your life really happen.

"'The big difference you’re going to see is: you’re probably going to have a local campaign that you can support and go meet the people and get yourself involved in.... And that’s another thing ... if we have dozens and dozens of campaigns for smaller offices, all those people are going to gain experience in being a campaign treasurer or doing the social media outreach for the campaigns or all these various things that campaigns need to succeed. So, it’s basically  training a cadre of both candidates and staffers to really build the party and take it to the next level....

"'So basically we have a plan to focus locally over the next couple of cycles. And then we’re going to break into the State House and then a couple of cycles later start trying to break in to the Federal government.'"

Read more & listen: https://www.wmnf.org/new-strategy-libertarian-party-florida-no-statewide-candidates/
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Libertarians petition against dispensary ban in Collier co., Florida

Libertarian Party petitions for medical marijuana dispensaries in Collier County - Fox 4 Now WFTX Fort Myers/Cape Coral - Karl Fortier:

May 30, 2018 - "A political party frustrated with the ban on medical marijuana dispensaries in one Southwest Florida county is fighting back. The Libertarian Party of Collier County has started [an] online petition that they hope will pressure county leaders to allow the dispensaries, after Florida voters said yes to legalizing medical marijuana.

"Rob Tolp, chairman of the Libertarian Party of Collier County ... believes that medical marijuana helps people with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

"'My son-in-law being one, who is 100% disabled from PTSD,' Tolp said. "I know from many of my friends, (medical marijuana) helps them greatly."

"Last week, Collier County commissioners voted to ban dispensaries for the controversial drug - at least for now.

"'It was almost a consensus that we would look at this again in 6 months, to see if the state has given us any additional information or guidance in this,' said commissioner Penny Taylor.

"The Collier Libertarian Party hopes their petition, on Change.org, will pressure the board of commissioners to take action sooner....

"Taylor said the county isn't denying access to medical marijuana completely, saying that it can still be delivered or purchased from dispensaries in neighboring Lee County....

"Alex Popoff, a veteran who claims medical marijuana helps him with shooting pain from his sciatic nerve, wants commissioners to listen to Florida voters - 71% of whom were in favor of allowing it in Florida. 'People made their voices heard, and we're going to continue to make them heard,' he said....

"As of Wednesday evening, over 600 people had signed the online petition on Change.org."

Read more: https://www.fox4now.com/news/local-news/libertarian-party-petitions-for-medical-marijuana-dispensaries-in-collier-county
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12 Libertarians win office in November elections

Libertarian Party Wins More Than a Dozen Elections Across the Nation - Hit & Run : Reason.com - Brian Doherty:

November 8, 2017 - "The Libertarian Party participated in elections in 12 states yesterday: Connecticut, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, and Washington. The party's candidates won races (not always partisan ones) in the following states:

• In Florida, party members were elected to the Altamonte Springs City Commission, the Coconut Grove Village Council, and the Cape Canaveral City Council.
• In Pennsylvania, party members were elected Rome Township auditor, Spring Township auditor, auditor of Upper Providence, Victory Township supervisor, Houston Borough judge of elections, Exeter Township school director, Lower Nazareth auditor and judge of elections, constable in Sunbury, and member of the Houston Borough Council.
• In Washington, party members were elected to the Long Beach City Council and the Covington City Council.
• In North Carolina, a party member was elected to the Carthage Town Board of Commissioners.

"While nowhere near the spread between winning Democrat Ralph Northam and losing Republican Ed Gillespie, at least 29,000 Virginians voted for Libertarian Cliff Hyra for governor. Michelle Darnell won an impressive 32 percent in a Washington State Senate race in the Redmond area, though with only one major-party opponent, the winning Democrat.

"Details on the L.P.'s results yesterday can be found on the party's website."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/08/libertarian-party-wins-more-than-a-dozen
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Second libertarian elected in Frostproof, Florida

Florida town now has two elected Libertarian officials | Libertarian Party:

Apil 21, 2017 - "The town of Frostproof, located in Polk County, Florida, now has two elected Libertarian officials, as Austin Gravley was elected to the city council on April 4.

"Even though the election was non-partisan, Mr. Gravley switched his voter registration to Libertarian the day before the election.

"Mr. Gravley won the one-on-one race with almost 62% of the vote. He ran for the city council back in 2015, losing by only 20 votes. The seat carries a three-year term.

"Martin Sullivan was elected to the Frostproof City Council in 2015, and is in the second year of his term. He was recently chosen by the city council as the Vice-Mayor."

https://www.lp.org/florida-town-now-two-elected-libertarian-officials/
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