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Special Session Called to Redraw Congressional District Boundaries
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On July 9, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a 5-2 decision that eight of Florida's 27 congressional districts violated a 2010 constitutional amendment aimed at preventing gerrymandering. A legal challenge claimed that legislators violated the state Constitution during the 2012 redistricting process, the once-a-decade reapportionment that follows every Census.
The eight districts directly affected by the ruling are represented by the following members of Congress: Corrine Brown (District 5); David Jolly (District 13); Kathy Castor (District 14); Ted Deutch (District 21); Lois Frankel (District 22); Mario Diaz-Balart (District 25); Carlos Curbelo (District 26); and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (District 27). However, redrawing the eight districts will also affect other districts. Leon County Circuit Judge George S. Reynolds III told lawmakers that a special legislative session to redraw the districts and a subsequent hearing must be finished by September 25.
In a joint proclamation, the Florida House and Senate called a special session for the sole purpose of redrawing district boundaries to be held Monday, August 10 through Friday, August 21. |
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24-Hour Reflection Period Halted as a Result of Court Action
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During the 2015 Florida Legislative Session, lawmakers passed HB 633 that provided women 24 hours to reflect before obtaining an abortion.
One day after HB 633 was signed into law by Governor Scott, attorneys for the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a legal challenge on behalf of Bread and Roses Women's Health Center, a Gainesville abortion clinic, and Medical Students for Choice and requested a temporary injunction of the new law.
In response, Judge Charles Francis of the Second Judicial Circuit granted the injunction, effectively halting implementation of the new law. Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi immediately filed a notice to appeal Judge Francis' ruling, resulting in a stay of the injunction. The notice of appeal allowed the law to go into effect, but only for a day, until the stay on the injunction was lifted by the Second Judicial Circuit Court.
The FCCB will continue to provide updates as the 24-hour reflection period makes its way through the courts and until a final ruling is issued. |
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Congress Takes Action to Reauthorize Elementary and Secondary Education Act
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On Thursday, July 16, the U.S. Senate passed the Every Child Achieves Act (S. 1177) on a 81-17 vote. This bill reauthorizes the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and is similar to the Student Success Act (H.R. 5) that passed the U.S. House of Representatives on July 8. Since its inception in 1965, the ESEA has continually upheld the principle that students in need deserve an equitable share of services and benefits, whether they attend a public or nonpublic school. However, since the Act's most recent reauthorization in 2001, equitable services have steadily eroded. The recent measures passed by the House and Senate restore equity and strengthen historical safeguards designed to insure the fair and equitable treatment of nonpublic school students and their teachers. Congress will next proceed to conference on the two bills.
Archbishop George J. Lucas of Omaha, Nebraska, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Catholic Education, applauded the action taken by Congress. "This is wonderful news and a testament to what can be achieved when we put the needs of children first," Archbishop Lucas said. "The members of Congress, by passing legislation to reauthorize ESEA have put us one step closer towards restoring equity and ensuring that all children are afforded the educational services, benefits and opportunity our government has to offer, regardless of the type of school they attend."
Florida Senator Marco Rubio voted against S. 1177; Florida Senator Bill Nelson, who recently underwent surgery for prostate cancer, did not vote on the legislation. To see how your U.S. Representative voted on H.R. 5, click here.
For more on ESEA reauthorization and its effect on private schools, see a recent blog published by redefinED. |
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FCCB Continues to Call for an End to the Use of the Death Penalty after Supreme Court Ruling
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Jerry Correll was scheduled to be executed on Thursday, February 26, 2015. However, his execution was stayed pending a U.S. Supreme Court review of Oklahoma's lethal injection process. On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Glossip v. Gross that Oklahoma's three-drug protocol, virtually identical to Florida's, does not violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Within hours of the Glossip ruling, Florida's Attorney General Pam Bondi filed to lift the stay and reschedule Jerry Correll's execution. Correll's attorneys have asked that his execution remain on hold pending the outcome of another case before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court will consider whether Florida's death sentencing process violates its findings in the 2002 case Ring v. Arizona, which determined that a jury - not a judge - must find that a defendant qualifies for the death penalty.
"Society today can protect itself without resorting to the death penalty," said Michael Sheedy, FCCB Executive Director, in response to last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling. "The death penalty devalues human life and diminishes respect for human dignity. Florida must abandon the misguided effort to teach that killing is wrong by killing." |
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State Ends Appeal in Same-Sex Marriage Case
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Three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a right to marry, the State of Florida filed a motion for dismissal in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a federal case challenging the constitutionality of Florida's definition of marriage as solely between a man and a woman. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in November filed an appeal after U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ruled that Florida's voter-approved marriage amendment was unconstitutional. The appeal was put on hold because of the then-pending U.S. Supreme Court case involving the legal definition of marriage in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee. The U.S. Supreme Court's June 26 decision in the case requires all states to license and recognize same-sex "marriage", making pursuit of the Florida case moot.
Comparing the ruling on marriage to other wrong decisions by the Supreme Court, such as Roe v. Wade and Dred Scott, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami, FCCB president, stated, "This decision redefining marriage will also bring bad consequences. Losing the understanding of marriage in our culture as a conjugal union of a man and a woman in a permanent and exclusive commitment conducive to welcoming and raising the children born from such a union weakens the family as the basic cell of society; and it imperils the human flourishing of future generations." |
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2015 Respect Life Conference Coming to Tallahassee
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The annual Florida Respect Life Conference is scheduled for October 23-24, 2015. The event theme, Every Life is Worth Living, keeps with Church teaching that all human life has dignity and is to be protected. The Conference promises to be an informative and uplifting event, with Masses celebrated by Bishops Estévez and Parkes, and speakers on a variety of subjects including abortion, adoption, the death penalty, and marriage and family.
A pre-conference talk on Project Rachel, a post-abortive ministry, will be presented by Mary McClusky of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and a separate youth track open to high school students will take place on Saturday, October 24 from 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Youth will be especially challenged with relevant concerns such as biotechnology, restorative justice, and love and mercy as a means to cultivate a culture of life.
More information about the conference and a variety of registration options are available on the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee website. |
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July 22, 2015
Follow Us On
     
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Words of Wisdom
Let us pray: "That political responsibility may be lived at all levels as a high form of charity."
-- Pope Francis
Universal Prayer Intention,
July 2015
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