Federal Judge Rules Against Drug Testing Welfare Applicants
January 2, 2014
A federal judge has ruled that a 2011 law requiring welfare applicants to undergo drug tests is unconstitutional, striking a blow to Gov. Rick Scott’s administration over the controversial tests.
Scott quickly said he would appeal U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven’s Tuesday ruling, the latest defeat for the governor in a drawn-out battle over drug testing some of the state’s poorest residents.
Scriven ruled that the urine tests violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government.
In a harshly worded, 30-page opinion, Scriven concluded that “there is no set of circumstances under which the warrantless, suspicionless drug testing at issue in this case could be constitutionally applied.”
Scott, who used the mandatory drug tests as a campaign issue, insists that the urine tests are needed to make sure poor children don’t grow up in drug-riddled households.
“Any illegal drug use in a family is harmful and even abusive to a child. We should have a zero tolerance policy for illegal drug use in families — especially those families who struggle to make ends meet and need welfare assistance to provide for their children. We will continue to fight for Florida children who deserve to live in drug-free homes by appealing this judge’s decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals,” Scott said in a statement after Tuesday’s ruling.
At Scott’s urging in 2011, the Legislature passed the law requiring all applicants seeking Temporary Assistance for Needy Families” — the “poorest of the poor” — to undergo the urine tests. Applicants had to pay for the tests, which cost about $35, up front and were to have been reimbursed if they did not test positive.
Within months after the law was passed, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida sued the state on behalf of Luis Lebron, a Navy veteran and single father. In October 2011, Scriven issued a preliminary order putting the law on hold. Scott appealed the decision but in February, an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel agreed with Scriven, ruling that the drug tests amounted to an unreasonable search by government. Scott later requested a full court review of the case but was turned down.
In her Tuesday ruling, Scriven relied heavily on the 11th Circuit opinion, which cited previous U.S. Supreme Court rulings that restricted urine tests by government agencies to employees working at dangerous jobs or in jobs where schoolchildren were involved.
Scott’s lawyers argued that TANF recipients should be considered a “special interest” exception to the Fourth Amendment. The tests are needed to ensure TANF participants’ job readiness, help the social welfare program meets its goals and guarantee that the public money is used for its intended purpose and not spent on drugs.
But Scriven criticized the expert witnesses, testimony and evidence the state used to defend the law.
“In sum, there simply is no competent evidence offered on this record of the sort of pervasive drug problem the State envisioned in the promulgation of this statute,” she wrote.
The state failed to show that TANF recipients used drugs with more frequency than the rest of the population, Scriven found. But even if it had, creating a special class of people who would be exempt from the constitutional protections could be dangerous, she wrote.
“If persons in an economic demographic could be shown to have a higher rate of drug use, would all such persons in that economic group be subjected to drug testing? Even if such suspicionless testing as proposed by the State were limited to those persons receiving state funds, would college students receiving governmental assistance to subsidize their education, for example, be subjected to random, suspicionless drug testing if it could be shown that drug use is demonstrably higher among college students? The Supreme Court’s Fourth Amendment precedent would suggest not,” Scriven wrote.
Scriven’s decision “is a sound rejection of the evidence that the state presented to the district court in its attempt to establish that TANF applicants used drugs at a higher rate than the general population,” said ACLU of Florida Associate Legal Director Florida Maria Kayanan, the lead attorney on the case.
She called Scott’s promised appeal “a waste of the state’s time and taxpayer’s money” but said “they certainly have the right to an appeal.”
Thieves Attempt To Steal Entire ATM
January 2, 2014
The Atmore Police Department is looking for two men who tried to steal an entire ATM from a convenience store.
According to police, they responded to an alarm at the BP Station on Highway 21 at I-65 at 3:45 a.m. Monday. They discovered damage to the front door of the business and a large broken chain around an ATM. Surveillance video showed two black males in a silver or light colored SUV, possibly a Tahoe or Yukon, driving up to the front door, using a pry bar to gain entry and attempting to drive off with a chain around the ATM. The attempt failed when the chain broke.
Anyone who has information regarding this case is asked to call Atmore Police at (850) 368-9141.
Florida Supreme Court Suspends Two Escambia County Attorneys
January 2, 2014
The Florida Supreme Court has suspended two Escambia county attorneys, according to information released by the Florida Bar.
Will Rogers Helton, Jr., 900 N. Pace Blvd., Unit B, Pensacola, was suspended for 180 days. Helton was also a member of the South Carolina Bar. This is a reciprocal discipline case from South Carolina, where the misconduct occurred. During a seven-month period, Helton personally handled real estate closings that took place outside his law office.
Helton’s non-lawyer assistants handled most of the closings that took place in the law office, without the presence or supervision of a licensed attorney. In most cases, the non-lawyer assistants would sign Helton’s name as a witness on deeds, mortgages and other closing documents, the court said.
Eugene Keith Polk, 201 E. Government St., Pensacola, was suspended for 90 days, followed by three year’s probation. After being retained, Polk failed to communicate with a client for nearly two years and failed to return documents despite numerous requests, the court said.
Polk failed to respond to Bar inquiries for several months and misrepresented to the referee during the course of the disciplinary proceedings.
Cantonment Cold Case: 1981 Murder Remains Unsolved
January 2, 2014
It was 32 years ago on the afternoon of January 2, 1981, that 9-year old Kenneth Deshun Underwood and three companions went bird hunting in the woods near their Cantonment home. Everyone returned home that afternoon except for Underwood.
When Underwood was still not home around 6 p.m., Escambia County Search and Rescue personnel were called. The area were Underwood was last seen alive was canvassed. His body was discovered about 5:45 the next morning –apparently murdered — in an area near Booker Street.
The case remains unsolved, and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for help because they believe someone in our area still has information about Underwood’s death.
If you know anything about the death of Kenneth Deshun Underwood, 9, you are asked to call the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit at (850) 436-9580 or Crime Stopper at (850) 433-STOP (7867).
Pictured above: The fourth grade photo of murder victim Kenneth Deshun Underwood of Cantonment. Pictured below: The highlighted area in this map shows were the body was found. Courtesy images for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Century Care Residents Welcome 2014
January 2, 2014
The residents of Century Care Center welcomed 2014 with a New Year’s Day party Wednesday afternoon. Submitted photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Northview FFA Wraps Up Annual Citrus Sale, Awards Top Members
January 2, 2014
The Northview High School FFA recently completed their annual fruit sale fundraiser.
Selling the most fruit were:
1st Place — Haylee Weaver sold $691 worth of fruit
2nd Place — Bethany Reynolds sold $534 worth of fruit
3rd Place — Kaylee Foster sold $393 worth of fruit
Fruits available included red apples, grapefruit, navel oranges, tangelos and Hamlin oranges.
Pictured top: First place fruit salesperson Haylee Weaver and second place Bethany Reynolds. Not pictured: Third place winner Kaylee Foster. Pictured inset: Some of the hundreds of pounds of fruit the Northview FFA sold. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.
2013 In Photos: May And June
January 2, 2014
All this week, we are looking back at the photos that were in the news in 2013. Today, we are featuring photos from May and June.
Area law enforcement agencies held a June active shooter exercise in Flomaton High School.
Gov. Rick Scott signed Florida’s new texting while driving law.
One person was injured in this crash on Highway 29 near Morgan Cemetery Road in Molino.
Ernest Ward Middle School presented academic awards to hundreds of students.
The Northview High School Class of 2013 held their Baccalaureate Service at the First Baptist Church of Bratt.
Hundreds of people attended the 18th annual Heather Leonard Danceworks recital at Northview High School in May.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office recovered and returned stolen kart racing equipment belonging to a Molino teen.
An alleged burglar was shot at a home in Walnut Hill.
A high speed chase that began in Brewton, AL, ended with an unsuccessful manhunt in Century.
Northview split two Spring Jamboree games against two Alabama teams.
Fire destroyed this community transportation bus on Highway 29 in Molino. There were no injuries.
Firefighters from Nokomis, AL, joined the Walnut Hill Station of Escambia Fire Rescue for joint training.
Two boys playing in a dirt pile at the edge of a Davisville cemetery discovered apparent human remains in early May.
Record crowds attended the annual Sawmill Day and Car Show in May.
The annual Relay for Life of Greater Escambia at Tate High School.
Northview High School presented Grease before a sold-out audience.
Rev. Ted Bridges of the Walnut Hill Baptist Church, on his knees, reading from his Bible during a National Day of Prayer event.
LCDR John Hiltz, pilot of the No. 2 Blue Angels plane, gets a little help with a story that pointed out humans have arms, not wings, during story time at the Molino Branch Library.
Fire damaged the Hadji Shrine Temple on Nine Mile Road in late June.
A stolen BMW was found torched alongside Barrineau Park Road near Molino.
Hundreds of people turned out to honor Army Staff Sgt. Jesse Thomas, 31, who was killed June 10 while serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Work started in June on the demolition of a portion of Ernest Ward Middle School for the construction of the new school.
NEP won the Gospel Projects 2013 Tee Ball World Series in June.
A June North Escambia sunset.
A driver slammed his pickup into a Cantonment business. The driver was not seriously injured.
Kids get hands on with a large snake during a program at the Century Branch Library.
Alabama and Florida firefighters held joint “get out alive” training in Atmore.
Flooding closed Highway 29 in Cantonment for about nine hours.
Gov. Rick Scott signs the “Infants Born Alive” bill at the Florida Baptist Children’s Home in Cantonment.
A graduation program was held for eighth graders at Ernest Ward Middle School.
Florida’s first quintuplets, the Bakers, graduated from Tate High School. Pictured (L-R) Ian Kirk, Marcus Wade, Elizabeth Jane, Tristan Miller and Evan Whitson — with mom Mona Baker at Tate High School’s graduation.
Jazzlyn Franklin of Walnut Hill was named the Northview High Class of 2013 valedictorian.
Hit And Run Driver Kills Pedestrian Overnight
January 1, 2014
The Florida Highway Patrol is searching for a hit and run driver that left a person dead early Wednesday morning.
About 2:25 a.m., an unknown model red Dodge pickup was traveling east on Jackson Street near Wiggins Avenue when it struck a bicycle. The bicyclist was pronounced deceased at the scene. The identity of the bicyclist is not yet known by the FHP.
The pickup was involved in a second hit and run crash and was last seen traveling north on W. Street.
The truck is believed to have extensive front end damage. Anyone with information is asked to call Cpl. M Collins at (850) 471-6924 or dial *FHP.
Escambia County’s Gas Tax Jumps Four Cents For ECAT
January 1, 2014
A new four-cent tax went into effect Wednesday in Escambia County for mass transit. The Escambia County Commission and the City of Pensacola entered into an interlocal agreement on the tax to fund ECAT. And, despite the Town of Century’s refusal to go along with the increase, the higher gas tax will be collected in the town for ECAT.
Century refused sign off on an interlocal agreement with Escambia County to allocate additional gas taxes collected in Century to the county for mass transit. Town officials contended the new tax is unfair to North Escambia residents and may force the three gas stations in Century to close as drivers purchase lower priced gasoline across the state line in Flomaton.
But regardless of Century’s refusal to support the tax, they simply were not allowed opt-out of the tax altogether. The local option fuel tax statute provides that the most populous municipality within the county speaks for all the municipalities in the county on the issue.
The Century Town Council wanted the Florida Legislature to consider exempting the town from the tax, but the proposal never made it to a meeting of the Escambia County State Legislative Delegation. Because Florida law won’t allow the Legislature to consider such an exemption.
Five Statewide Stories That Dominated 2013
January 1, 2014
On Jan. 1, 2013, few people had ever heard of the Dream Defenders.
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll was still in office, and any rumblings about her future were confined to rumors that she might not be Gov. Rick Scott’s running mate in 2014. And Charlie Crist was still a private citizen.
Scott was known as the governor opposed to anything and everything to do with the federal Affordable Care Act. And 45 percent of voters disapproved of the governor’s job performance, compared to 36 percent who approved.
As the state nears Jan. 1, 2014, virtually all of that has changed. The Dream Defenders became the story of the summer in Tallahassee. Carroll was forced to resign because of her one-time association with an alleged illicit gambling operation. Crist is a newly-minted Democratic candidate for governor. Scott endorsed the Medicaid expansion that was one of the central pieces of the Affordable Care Act, even if he didn’t push very hard for it.
But some things, it seems, aren’t so easily changed. Scott’s disapproval rating stands at 47 percent in the most recent Quinnipiac survey, though 42 percent of those polled now approve.
Here are five big Florida politics and government stories from the year that was. The list isn’t meant to be comprehensive, and the rankings are certainly up for debate. But these are the things that many people will likely remember about 2013.
1. CHARLIE CRIST GOES FULL KAFKA, WILL RUN AS A DEMOCRAT
Former Republican governor Crist had already undergone most of his metamorphosis by the time 2013 dawned. Crist bolted from the GOP in 2010 to run as an unaffiliated candidate for the U.S. Senate, then joined the Democratic Party in late 2012 after backing President Barack Obama’s bid for re-election.
Instead, a very different waiting game was underway: Whether and when Crist would announce that he was going to challenge Scott for his old job. The “whether” wasn’t much in doubt. Crist ended speculation about the “when” in November. He filed for office Nov. 1 and held a rally three days later to make it official.
“When the people give you the honor of being the governor, you aren’t the governor of any one party,” Crist said. “You’re the governor for all Floridians. No matter what they say, it is not a sin to reach across the aisle. It is your obligation to work together. So yeah, I’m running as a Democrat and I am proud to do it.”
Crist started the race with a healthy advantage over Scott — he led by seven points in the first Quinnipiac poll after his announcement — but the match is far from a cakewalk. In a precursor for what is expected to be a brutal advertising campaign, Republicans spent much of 2013 unloading what seemed to be thousands of pages of opposition research on Crist months before he entered the race.
“Charlie Crist has now officially filed to run for the position he once abandoned,” Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry said after Crist filed. “When Florida needed Charlie Crist the most during difficult economic times, he ran away. If he really wants to be Governor now, why did he quit the first time?”
Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s half-hearted attempts to stamp out rumors that he might run for governor just as often poured gasoline on them.
With 2014 opening, Crist’s only credible primary opponent is former Senate Minority Leader Nan Rich of Weston, who is a decided underdog. Barring the unexpected, Crist is on track to face off against his successor in November.
2. JENNIFER CARROLL LEAVES AMID FIRESTORM
On March 12, a skit at the annual comedy event put on by the Capitol press corps parodied what might happen if Scott tried to drop Carroll from the ticket ahead of his bid for re-election. The next day, Scott’s office announced that she was gone.
Carroll quit in the wake of a multi-state racketeering investigation into St. Augustine-based Allied Veterans of the World. State and federal authorities arrested 57 people associated with the nonprofit, accused of posing as a charity while running a $300 million illegal gambling ring through dozens of Internet cafés around the state.
Carroll co-owned a company that provided consulting services to Allied Veterans while she was a member of the House. She dropped her ties to the company after she was selected by Scott as his running-mate in 2010. Carroll was never charged with any crime.
“My decision yesterday to resign as Lieutenant Governor represents my unwavering commitment to the great state of Florida,” Carroll said. “I simply refuse to allow the allegations facing a former client of my public relations firm to undermine the important work of the Governor and his administration.”
Carroll’s resignation was in some ways eclipsed by the Legislature’s unusually swift response to the gambling sting. Lawmakers hurriedly passed a measure banning Internet cafés and shutting down so-called “senior arcades” popular with the elderly in Broward and Palm Beach counties and in Southwest Florida. Scott signed the measure into law less than a month after the May arrests.
Carroll later said she was asked by a Scott aide to resign shortly after she was visited by investigators probing the gambling ring.
“In my military time, when the commander in chief makes a demand or a request, you say ‘Aye, aye sir,’ and you march on. And that’s what I did,” the retired Navy officer told The Associated Press.
Carroll stepped down after an at-times tumultuous two-year tenure.
After criminal charges against an employee led to allegations last year that Carroll was caught in a compromising position with another female aide, Carroll outraged the LGBT community when she suggested she was too attractive to be gay. She later apologized.
Shortly after Carroll’s departure, Scott said he would wait until after the legislative session that had just begun to appoint her replacement. And so the Capitol waited until the session ended. And then waited. And then waited some more.
By the end of 2013, Scott — and the state — had gone nine months without a lieutenant governor. Rumors reporting that the position would go to state Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, came up empty. A short list of four names leaked out late in the year, but two of those mentioned quickly withdrew from consideration. The position remains unfilled.
3. TO EXPAND OR NOT TO EXPAND ON MEDICAID
Scott built his political career largely on opposing Obama’s health-care law, sponsoring commercials to blast the act months before he decided to run for governor and before it was even passed by Congress. That made it all the more stunning when, in February, the former health-care executive stood in the Governor’s Mansion and announced that he supported Florida expanding Medicaid temporarily, a cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act.
“We have a choice — and it’s not an easy choice — but my job is to worry about every Florida family,” Scott said, portraying the issue as one of conscience.
Few House Republicans saw it that way. From the beginning, House Speaker Will Weatherford signaled that his chamber would be fiercely opposed to growing the Medicaid rolls, arguing that such a move would eventually tax the state’s budget if federal funding didn’t come through. And conservative activists called Scott’s endorsement of the Medicaid expansion that would draw down billions of dollars in federal funding a betrayal.
“Will Medicaid expansion cover me for the knife (Scott) just buried in my back?” Henry Kelley, a Northwest Florida tea party leader, said in a Twitter message.
Kelley and others didn’t need to worry. The House and the Senate quickly tossed Medicaid expansion overboard, while floating different alternatives.
The Senate wanted to tap into the federal money and offer private coverage to the same people who would otherwise be part of a Medicaid expansion. Those people have incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or $26,951 for a family of three.
The House countered with a state-funded plan to offer $2,000 subsidies to people whose incomes are up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level and meet certain guidelines such as being parents of children. Those people would be able to buy coverage through a long-planned state health online marketplace known as Florida Health Choices. A family of three with an income of $19,530 — 100 percent of the poverty level — would qualify.
In the end, neither side budged enough to get a deal done. And Scott — as Democrats pointedly noted — seemed unwilling to spend much, if any, political capital to force the Legislature to act. All the proposals for increasing insurance coverage died.
4. THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM ON GUN LAWS
No one quite knew what to think when a group of about 100 students and protesters made their way to Scott’s office on July 16, calling for changes to the state’s self-defense laws.
The protesters were reacting to the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager. As the evening hours wore on, about 40 protesters stayed on past 5 p.m. and vowed to spend the night.
The last of them left 31 days later.
At a time when the summer doldrums are usually at their worst for Capitol reporters, the Dream Defenders showed a knack for generating media attention and bringing attention to their cause: a special session called to overhaul the state’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law and ease zero-tolerance discipline policies in schools.
When lawmakers refused to call a special session, the Dream Defenders held a “People’s Session.” Harry Belafonte and the Rev. Jesse Jackson came to Tallahassee to wish them well.
Jackson connected Zimmerman’s fatal shooting of Martin to dozens of other unarmed African-Americans killed by police, security guards or “vigilantes,” in Jackson’s word.
“Trayvon was a canary in the mine,” Jackson said. “There are many more birds in that mine.”
Protesters eventually left after forcing the state to poll legislators to see if they wanted a special session. Lawmakers did eventually hold a subcommittee vote on a bill to repeal Stand Your Ground — and killed the measure on an 11-2 vote.
“We stand and defend what is ours,” said Rep. Jimmie Smith, R-Inverness. ” ‘Stand your ground’ is core to our American way of life.”
5. WE HARDLY KNEW YE. OR YE. OR YE.
High-ranking officials have not lasted long in Scott’s administration. At least 12 department heads hired in the three years Scott’s been on the job have resigned. The governor is on his third chief of staff and still has a vacancy in the lieutenant governor slot.
Scott’s revolving door seemed to worsen in 2013. At one point, the lead positions in charge of public schools and higher education were both vacant. Both were filled by the end of the year, but the transitions did little to ease an appearance of turmoil inside the Scott administration.
The quickest and highest-profile fall from grace befell Education Commissioner Tony Bennett, a rising star in the school accountability movement when he took over in Florida. But the ghosts of his old job in Indiana soon came back to haunt Bennett, who resigned in August after fewer than eight months on the job in the wake of reports that he tweaked the Indiana school report card formulas to help a school founded by a political contributor.
A state report in Indiana, issued after Bennett had already quit the Florida job, later found the grade changes were “plausible,” and the policy behind the changes “was consistently applied to other schools with similar circumstances.” Bennett was eventually replaced by Pam Stewart in her second stint as interim education commissioner. Before Bennett was hired, Stewart filled in after his predecessor Gerard Robinson, who served for a little more than a year, stepped down. Stewart is now education commissioner, the fourth since Scott took office.
Bennett’s departure followed on the heels of the resignation of DCF Secretary David Wilkins. Wilkins quit in July amid criticism of the agency’s handling of four children whose deaths critics said could have been prevented. Since then, the state has commissioned a study of 40 deaths of children known to the department when they died of abuse or neglect.
Wilkins had also battled the state’s 19 community based care organizations, which deliver local child-welfare services, saying he was trying to make the local agencies more accountable.
Interim Secretary Esther Jacobo has announced she will stay on the job through the end of the 2014 legislative session.
And State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan left in August for a similar post in Pennsylvania. Though there were fewer immediate signs of trouble in Brogan’s relationship with Scott, the governor had ruffled some feathers by pushing the Florida Board of Governors to keep tuition rates down and increase its emphasis on the science, technology, education and math degrees that he believes will power the new economy.
The board quickly turned to Marshall Criser, a fixture of the state’s business and political establishment, to fill the post. Criser, the son of a former president of the University of Florida and member of the UF board of trustees, had served as president of AT&T Florida since 2005 and has had a role in government relations in Florida for telecom giant or its state predecessor, BellSouth, off and on since 1989.
QUOTE OF THE YEAR: “You can’t dip them in milk and hold them over a candle and see the United Nations flag or Barack Obama’s face. They’re not some federal conspiracy.”–Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, responding to the concerns some conservative activists have about the Common Core education standards.