Sour 16: Help Us Pick the Worst Idea of the Year
Voting begins Tuesday, March 19, and continues through Friday, March 29!
Florida
Miami Beach's Breakup With Spring Breakers May Fare Poorly for the City
Efforts to revamp the tourist hot spot ignore the reality for local business owners.
FIRE Highlights the Blatant Hypocrisy of State Officials Who Decry Government Meddling With Social Media
Even as they attack the Biden administration's crusade against "misinformation," Missouri and Louisiana defend legal restrictions on content moderation.
Florida Lawmakers Vote To Raise Stripping Age to 21
Employing an 18- to 20-year-old at an adult venue could mean 15 years in prison, even if the young person used a fake ID.
DeSantis Vetoed a Social Media Age-Verification Law, but That Doesn't Mean He Won't Sign a New One
A law forcing kids off social media sites is still likely coming to Florida.
Florida Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison After Shooting Down a Drone
Rather than destruction of property, Wendell Goney was convicted of possession of a firearm as a felon.
Supreme Court Looks Poised To Gut Restrictive Social Media Laws
The First Amendment restricts governments, not private platforms, and respects editorial rights.
Texas and Florida Say the First Amendment Must Be Sacrificed to Save It
Supreme Court arguments about two social media laws highlight a dangerous conflation of state and private action.
Most Justices Seem Skeptical of the Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The Supreme Court seems inclined to recognize that content moderation is protected by the First Amendment.
Supreme Court Seems Likely to Strike Down Florida and Texas Social Media Laws
The laws violate the First Amendment because they require social media sites to abjure most content moderation, and platform speech they disapprove of.
Texas and Florida Want the Supreme Court To Bless Their Unconstitutional Social Media Laws
Both states are trying to force tech companies to platform certain sorts of speech.
Drive-Away Dolls Is an Underwhelming Lesbian Noir
A shaggy roadtrip comedy set against the backdrop of late 1990s right-wing family values politics fails to come together.
Good Times, Bad Times: Eviction Edition
Plus: Voters in Massachusetts reject state-mandated upzonings, Florida localities rebel against a surprisingly effective YIMBY reform, and lawsuits target missing middle housing in Virginia.
A Florida Cop Gets Into a Shootout With an Acorn, Emptying His Gun Into His Own Patrol Car
Deputy Jesse Hernandez, whose bullets miraculously missed the handcuffed suspect in the car, resigned during an investigation that found he "violated policy."
Ron DeSantis Supports Legislation Banning Lab-Grown Meat
"You need meat, OK? We're going to have meat in Florida," DeSantis said during a press conference.
Endless War Continues
Plus: An immigration deal that's already collapsing, more expensive Big Macs, and Taylor Swift (because why not).
Disney Can't Prove DeSantis Retaliated Against It, Federal Judge Rules
Disney has vowed to appeal the ruling.
Florida's Youth Social Media Ban Is an Affront to Freedom
Don't let a moral panic shut everything down.
Florida Bills Would Hide the Names of Police Officers Who Kill People
The bills would classify police and correctional officers who kill people on the job as crime victims.
Florida Legislation Would Ban Civilian Police Oversight Boards
Florida Republicans and police unions insist that toothless civilian oversight boards are still more scrutiny than police deserve.
DeSantis Rightly Rejects GOP Bill To Help Fund Trump's Legal Defense
It is not the job of Florida taxpayers to support state officials' preferred presidential candidates.
Republican Presidential Nomination
DeSantis Down and Out
Plus: Javier Milei’s powerful speech on economic prosperity in Davos
Ron DeSantis Could Have Run on a Message of Freedom
His political makeover into a Trumpy cultural warrior undermined what could have been a compelling campaign about the value of freedom.
Miami Police Used Clearview AI Facial Recognition in Arrest of Homeless Man
Facial recognition technology is increasingly being deployed by police officers across the country, but the scope of its use has been hard to pin down.
Federal Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Reform Prosecutor Removed from Office by Ron DeSantis
"The First Amendment prevents DeSantis from identifying a reform prosecutor and then suspending him to garner political benefit," U.S. Circuit Judge Jill Pryor wrote.
Florida Bill Would Make Allegations of Race Discrimination 'Defamation Per Se'
The state Senate bill, which is extremely similar to another House proposal, aims to scrap major First Amendment protections in defamation cases.
Rent Control for the Rich
Plus: Fort Collins tries passing zoning reform for the third time, Coastal California cracks down on Airbnbs, and state lawmakers try to unban rent control.
The Best of Reason: Long Live the Conch Republic
The colorful, mostly libertarian history of Key West.
In 2024, Teens Will Get Pregnant in Driverless Cars
Plus: State officials attempt to ban Donald Trump from 2024 election ballots.
Red State, Red Tape
How Florida’s legacy of slow-growth laws is holding back its post-COVID boom.
Freedom Towns: A Vast but Largely Forgotten Movement of Black Self-Rule
Zora Neale Hurston’s hometown of Eatonville, Florida, was one of the first all-black municipalities incorporated in the U.S.
Review: The Disputed Roots of the Cuban Sandwich
It's Miami vs. Tampa in the Florida sandwich wars.
How Florida Cut Red Tape To Fast-Track Hurricane Repairs
Bureaucracy usually mires construction projects in delays. Florida is trying to buck that norm.
The Best of Reason: How Florida Fixed Its Vote-Counting Problem After the 2000 Election
Ballots should be counted quickly and accurately.
A New Political Bellwether: Osceola County, Florida
Watch Florida's Hispanic communities for clues about the 2024 election.
Jimmy Buffett, Bard of the Florida Man
Buffett realized that what the consumer thought of him was ultimately more important than what he was.
This Florida Republican Is All in on Criminal Justice Reform
Former state lawmaker Jeff Brandes says the Florida Legislature has "ceded its role" to high-profile Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Review: The Florida Novels of Charles Willeford
“Just tell the truth, and they’ll accuse you of writing black humor.”
This Company Is Running a High-Speed Train in Florida—Without Subsidies
Brightline is the first privately funded intercity rail line in the U.S. in over 100 years.
The Best of Reason: Meet Florida's Python Bounty Hunters
Eradication of the apex predator is "likely impossible."
California Officials Force Elderly Couple To Dismantle Home, Citing Blocked Ocean Views
Plus: Austin's newly passed zoning reforms could be in legal jeopardy, HUD releases its latest census of the homeless population, and a little-discussed Florida reform is spurring a wave of home construction.
The Florida Barrier Reef's Last Stand
Summer heat this year posed an existential threat to the world's third-largest barrier reef.
Infographic: Floridians From Overseas
Nearly half of Miami's population was born outside the continental United States.
Florida Is Shunning the People Who Helped Build It
The state can thank immigrants for much of its recent economic success, but now they're getting the cold shoulder.
How Florida Fixed Its Vote-Counting Problem After the 2000 Election
Ballots should be counted quickly and accurately.
Infographic: Florida's Special Districts
It's not just Reedy Creek and The Villages. Florida has nearly 2,000 special districts.
DeSantis vs. Disney: Florida's Fight Over Private Governance
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ crusade to end America's greatest success in private governance.