Tallahassee, FL – On June 4, Florida Governor Rick Scott vetoed a bill that would have allowed undocumented youth covered by DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) to have driver's licenses. House Bill 235 or the Dream Act Driver License Act would have made it so that young undocumented DACA recipients could apply for a Florida state driver’s license. The bill was passed unanimously by the Florida Senate and won in the House by a 115 to 2 vote. At the last minute, after it had already passed, Scott used his veto powers to shut down the bill.
Tallahassee, FL – As the Florida legislative session comes to a close, workers racked up a couple of major victories at the capitol. After months of protest by labor unions and progressive groups, the Florida Senate defeated two bills that would have attacked pensions for public workers and allowed corporations to privatize public schools.
Tallahassee, FL – Nearly 30 community members and Tallahassee Dream Defenders attended a public hearing on April 12 in support of Antonio and Rodrizgus Richardson, two African-American brothers in Tallahassee. The brothers were wrongly convicted of first-degree murder and are facing 25 years to life in prison.
Tallahassee, FL – Over 30 Florida State University (FSU) students and Tallahassee community members gathered on campus to speak out and march against rape culture on April 12. The F-Word (a feminist campus organization), Students for a Democratic Society and Dream Defenders organized the rally.
Tallahassee, FL – More than 30 student activists from Florida State University (FSU) packed into a room in the Oglesby Student Union to hear Noor Elashi and other organizers speak about government repression, March 25. Holy Land 5 attorney John Cline joined Elashi on the panel, along with Mick Kelly, who was one of the 23 anti-war activists raided by the FBI in September, 2010.
Tallahassee, FL – On the morning of March 5, over 150 Black and brown Dream Defenders from across the state converged onto the state capitol here to deliver one important message to Florida Legislators and Governor Rick Scott on the first day of legislative session: the start of the “Dream Era.”
Tallahassee, FL – About 15 people waved signs and chanted outside the Leon County Courthouse, March 1, to protest the wrongful conviction of Antonio and Rodrizgus Richardson, two brothers recently sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder.
Tallahassee, FL – On Feb. 26, 2012, African-American high school student Trayvon Martin was gunned down in Sanford, Florida. His murderer is George Zimmerman, a 29-year-old man who maliciously stalked the 17-year-old Martin under the grounds of his ‘looking suspicious.’
Tallahassee, FL – 25 students at Florida State University (FSU) picked up their picket signs to protest a pro-sweatshop economist who spoke on campus here, Feb. 7. The FSU Economics Department brought Ben Powell, a right-wing libertarian economist, to speak in favor of sweatshops and exploitative working conditions.
Tallahassee, FL – On Thursday, February 17, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a 4-3 decision that a bill cutting public workers' wages by 3% was constitutional. The so-called pension reform bill requires Florida's public workers to pay 3% of their wage into the Florida Retirement System (FRS). The bill was passed by the Republican-dominated Florida state legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott in 2011 as a part of their larger assault on the rights of public workers and the right to collectively bargain.