Florida Spiraling Into Flagrant Authoritarianism
Florida Spiraling Into Flagrant Authoritarianism
Florida needs help.
Correction — Florida has needed help for more than four years.
Ron DeSantis, ever the one to punish those who disagree with or criticize him — fully weaponized multiple state agencies in a coordinated disinformation and political campaign against two initiatives on this year’s ballot.
Since no one in any level of authority within the United States government seems remotely interested in holding DeSantis accountable, that help is not likely to come.
I’d be remiss here not to link back to my penultimate article detailing the years of targeted harassment waged against me, both online and in the very real world. (Penultimate because we still have a chapter to go).
And I’d also like to remind everyone that my attorneys are deposing state officials in my whistleblower lawsuit against the state this week and likely into December. We are still about $3,000 short of covering the costs of deposition (we have to pay the stenographers/recorders) and could use any dollar you can spare.
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Amendment 4 — A “yes” vote overturns DeSantis’ near-total abortion ban.
The text of the ballot proposal (which you can find here):
Limiting government interference with abortion.— Except as provided in Article X, Section 22, no law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient’s health, as determined by the patient’s healthcare provider.
If approved by voters, Amendment 4 would overturn the state’s oppressive six-week abortion ban — a policy personally pursued by DeSantis after he made assurances that the already unreasonable 15 week ban passed just last year would be “enough.”
Article X, Section 22 should also be repealed, as that requires parental notification for any minor seeking pregnancy care, but that’s for another day.
On September 6, DeSantis used public funds and the Agency for Healthcare Administration’s (AHCA) authority to make false claims about Amendment 4. Florida law states that no employee or officer of the state shall “use the authority of his or her position to secure support for, or oppose, any candidate, party, or issue in a partisan election or affect the results thereof.” (Florida Statutes, Title X, § 110.233(4)b)
While this was hardly DeSantis’ first effort to mislead the public on the ballot initiative or lobby against it, the clear violation of law shocked many who aren’t familiar with DeSantis’ brand of weaponized state government.
On September 10, DeSantis started conspiracy theories about widespread “fraud” in the collection and submission of voter petitions required to put Amendment 4 on the ballot. DeSantis also repeated false claims and conspiracy theories about non-licensed medical professionals “ greenlighting late-term abortions all the way up to the moment of birth.” Later on during DeSantis’ public meltdown, DeSantis said he didn’t like the pro-choice ads being aired and that “ads should be taken off the air.”
On September 19, DeSantis’ administration forced AHCA to issue threats to healthcare providers who shared information about the oppressive laws after two women were killed because of similar laws in Georgia.
In a letter dated October 3, under direct orders from DeSantis’ administration, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) threatened television stations in Tampa, Gainesville, Sarasota, and Panama City with criminal charges for airing ads in support of Amendment 4.
On October 8, the FEC soundly ruled that DeSantis’ threats to jail local television station owners and executives were a flagrant violation of the First Amendment, with FEC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel issuing the following public statement:
“The right of broadcasters to speak freely is rooted in the First Amendment. Threats against broadcast stations for airing content that conflicts with the government’s views are dangerous and undermine the fundamental principle of free speech.”
On October 10, the lead attorney for DOH who sent the threatening letters resigned his position, stating in his resignation letter: “A man is nothing without his conscience. It has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before the agency.”
On October 11, Florida’s Secretary of State, through the DeSantis-created “elections crimes office,” claimed it was opening “more than 100 criminal investigations” related to ballot petition signatures collected to put Amendment 4 on the ballot. Cord Byrd, a DeSantis sycophant previously appointed to the head of Florida’s education department, provided no evidence or proof.
Floridians Protection Freedom filed a lawsuit in federal court against DOH on October 16.
On October 18, a federal judge issued a restraining order against DOH and the DeSantis administration to prevent them from continuing to threaten, intimidate and harass tv stations airing the ads.
Chief US District Judge Mark Walker stated in his decision, “To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid.”
Also on October 18, opponents of Amendment 4 filed a 400-page lawsuit making unsubstantiated claims of massive petition fraud in an attempt to remove the amendment from the ballot altogether. The claims in the lawsuit, which provide no evidence of any widespread petition fraud, echo the Florida Secretary of State’s earlier claims.
A hearing on the restraining order will be held next week, on October 29.
In order to pass, the amendment needs 60% voting “yes.” Given the lies being spread by not only the GOP and DeSantis, but also official state agencies about the amendment, it’s no surprise that favorability is razor-thin for Amendment 4.
Meanwhile, Amendment 3 — legalizing adult use of Marijuana — polled at 65% support in a Sachs Media research Survey last week.
Amendment 3 — A “Yes” vote legalizes marijuana use for adults 21 and older.
While not getting nearly as much attention as the state’s abortion rights ballot initiative, DeSantis again weaponized state government against another amendment — Amendment 3.
The non-medical personal use of marijuana products and marijuana accessories by an adult, as defined below, in compliance with this section is not subject to any criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida Law.
Medical Marijuana Treatment Centers, and other entities licensed as provided below, are allowed to acquire, cultivate, process, manufacture, sell, and distribute marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use upon the Effective Date provided below.
A Medical Marijuana Treatment Center, or other state licensed entity, including its agents and employees, acting in accordance with this section as it relates to acquiring, cultivating, processing, manufacturing, selling, and distributing marijuana products and marijuana accessories to adults for personal use shall not be subject to criminal or civil liability or sanctions under Florida law.
The less legaleese-version of that is: A “Yes” vote on Amendment 3 allows adults 21 years or older to possess, purchase, or use marijuana products and marijuana accessories for non-medical personal consumption by smoking, ingestion, or otherwise.
DeSantis again used public funds in spreading disinformation on another voter-approved ballot petition amendment — this time stealing money from the Department of Education to lie about marijuana.
And because weaponizing one agency wasn’t enough, he took funds from and used the authority of the Department of Health, Department of Children and Families, and the Department of Transportation for this one, using the guide of “Public Service Announcements” to get discounted rates on airing false, inflammatory ads against legalizing marijuana.
One of the ads falsely blames marijuana use for domestic abuse and crime.
In another, the state makes the absurd claim of rampant DUI’s due to marijuana use.
DeSantis — no stranger to hiding, manipulating and falsifying data to suit his agenda — approved ads that claim total DUI crashes increased in states that have legalized Marijuana, claiming weed use was responsible for more crashes and deaths and higher insurance premiums — none of which is true.
The total amount of sunshine could have increased over the same period, but it wouldn’t be because of marijuana use.
Research has shown that cannabis alone may actually reduce the risk of a crash. The NIH found that “retail marijuana sales did not elicit substantial changes” in crash severity. Overall, there’s no clear link between the two.
And crime? The conservative CATO Institute even found that claim to be bogus:
Even 20 years ago, the RAND corporation debunked these myths in a 2004 comprehensive review of evidence, noting: “In the case of violent crime, we find a statistically significant association with arrests but not reported crime, suggesting that marijuana use may just influence the likelihood of getting caught committing these crimes.”
Even Republicans called out DeSantis on this one, with former state senator Jeff Brandes warning that the governor’s actions set a dangerous precedent, suggesting that such use of public funds may not be permissible under Florida’s budget.
In all, taxpayers have funded a $20 million disinformation campaign to keep abortion and marijuana illegal in the state.
Florida reporter Jason Garcia posted some of the itemized receipts for those costs here.
On another stage, the marijuana issues has become personal for DeSantis because of the public and political humiliation he’s been subjected to by Donald Trump.
DeSantis’ poor imitation of a 1970s housewife petrified by “reefer madness” was met with Donald Trump’s “progressive” support of legalizing marijuana for adults.
If you’ve been following the relationship between these two egotistical maniacs, you’d know they loathe each other, and Trump’s support of Amendment 3 (and brief support of Amendment 4) may be more about pissing off DeSantis than any moral or legal justification for its passage.
(I explain the difference between these two’s ideologies in this post, but can also simplify the difference between these two men as: “DeSantis believes he’s ordained by God; Trump believes he is King, Empower and God-almighty”)
The First Amendment exists to prevent exactly the kinds of authoritarianism DeSantis’ invokes in these attacks. It’s not there to protect you from getting sued, or to keep you on social media. It’s there so that government cannot jail you for disagreeing with it.
DeSantis crossed that line nearly four years ago with me.
It should come as no surprise that he’s crossing now with the entire state of Florida.