TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—The United State Supreme Court today ruled in favor of the State of Florida in Florida v. Clayton Harris, deciding that police dog Aldo’s sniff constituted probable cause for Liberty County K-9 Officer William Wheetley to search Clayton’s Harris’s vehicle for illegal drugs. The Court’s decision is important to law enforcement officers throughout the nation because it clarifies the legal st ...

Washington, DC) Today, Congressman Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL) commemorated President Obama’s signing of the Uninterrupted Scholars Act (S.3472). The Uninterrupted Scholars Act is bipartisan legislation that Hastings co-sponsored, which amends the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act to grant a child welfare agency direct and unencumbered access to the academic records of young people in their care, while ...

(Washington, DC) Today, Representatives Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL), Grace January 10, 2013   Mr. Jeffrey Zients Deputy Director for Management Office of Management and Budget 725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503   Dear Deputy Director Zients:   We write to urge you to maintain funding for mental health programs as you plan for the President’s budget for Fiscal Year 2014.   There have b ...

Florida's universities are looking to make a deal with state lawmakers on tuition increases. On Wednesday morning, university presidents from across Florida gathered at the state Capitol and announced that they will guarantee no tuition increases next year if the state Legislature sets aside an extra $118 million for the schools. The $118 million represents the same amount of money that would be generated i ...

By BRANDON LARRABEE THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, December 4, 2012..........A judge struck down a decision by the Legislative Budget Commission to privatize health-care at prisons across most of the state, one of the first times a court has weighed in on the power of the 14-member panel. The ruling, issued Tuesday, allows the Department of Corrections to privatize health-care service ...

MIAMI, FL – Congresswoman Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.), will salute South Florida Veterans on Friday, November 9, 2012, in observance of Veterans Day. The tribute to our Veterans will be held at 11:00am, at the American Legion Post 29, 6445 NE 7th Avenue, Miami, Florida 33138. More than two hundred Veterans will be presented Congressional Records, in honor of their accomplishments. The Congressional Record wil ...

Florida to produce a vote count ...

  APPEALS COURT WON'T QUICKLY HEAR VOTER ROLL CASE A federal appeals court declined to quickly consider a challenge to Florida's effort to clean the voter rolls of ineligible, making it clear that voters who aren't citizens won't be removed before Election Day on Nov. 6. It was already unlikely that would happen, because of the ongoing legal fight and the fact that the process is lengthy, allowing thos ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Rep. Perry Thurston (D-Plantation), the incoming Florida House Democratic leader, issued the following statement:   “It is a favorable sign that Governor Scott has decided today to disavow himself from a highly controversial element of the Strategic Plan for public schools offered this month by the state Board of Education. I am hopeful that the Board of Education will recraft the p ...

By BRANDON LARRABEE September 19, 2012......A lawyer for opponents of a controversial change in early voting in Florida told a federal judge here that the law would disproportionately harm black voters and should be blocked. But supporters of the change said it was allowed under the Voting Rights Act and a reversal now would cause chaos on Election Day. The hearing was the latest chapter in a legal morass t ...