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Organizations: New York Times

covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan.

Locations: New York, Manhattan

☆ Florida Court Allows 6-Week Abortion Ban, but Voters Will Get to Weigh In
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-01 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

The conservative-leaning court found that a 15-week abortion ban enacted in 2022 was constitutional. That ruling will allow a six-week ban enacted last year to take effect within 30 days. In paving the way for the six-week ban, the court cemented the rapid transformation of Florida, once a destination for women seeking abortions in the American South, into a place with restrictive policies akin to those in surrounding states. But allowing the ballot measure gave supporters of abortion rights a chance to continue their national campaign to preserve access to the procedure by giving voters the opportunity to directly weigh in on the issue. Ballot measures in favor of abortion rights have already succeeded in seven states, including Kansas, Ohio and Michigan.

Locations: Florida, American, Kansas , Ohio, Michigan

☆ Ousted Florida Republican Party Chairman Won’t Be Charged With Sexual Assault
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-19 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida who was ousted earlier this month amid a criminal investigation will not be charged with sexual battery, the Sarasota Police Department said on Friday. But the authorities will seek to charge him with video voyeurism, a felony. Christian Ziegler, the ousted chairman, recorded a sexual encounter he had in October with a woman who later accused him of assault. Officers prepared a probable cause affidavit for the video voyeurism charge and sent it to state prosecutors on Friday. They did not pursue a more serious sexual battery charge because the video, which the police obtained, “showed that the encounter was likely consensual,” the statement said.

Persons: Christian Ziegler, “, Mr, Ziegler, Bridget Ziegler Organizations: Republican Party of, Sarasota Police Department, Police Department Locations: Republican Party of Florida

☆ Criminal Investigation Roils Florida Republican Party
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Florida’s Republican Party found itself roiled on Thursday after the police said they were investigating an accusation made two months ago that the party’s chairman had engaged in sexual battery. The chairman, Christian Ziegler, was elected to the post this year as top Florida Republicans were fretting over whether to support Gov. Mr. Ziegler was seen as the choice of Mr. Trump’s allies. No charges have been filed against Mr. Ziegler, who denied wrongdoing through his lawyer, Derek Byrd. Mr. Ziegler responded to a request for comment by sending the same statement from his lawyer.

Persons: Christian Ziegler, Ron DeSantis, Donald J, Trump, Mr, Ziegler, Trump’s, Derek Byrd, “, ” Mr, Byrd Organizations: Republican Party, Florida Republicans, Gov, Mr

☆ Her Livelihood? Hunting Pythons in the Dead of Night.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

People would see hatchlings and think, “Oh, well, this isn’t a very big snake,” according to Ms. Siewe. “It’s going to get to be 10 feet long in three years.”But that did not make the next part any easier. Trees, grass, trash. Recently, one of Ms. Siewe’s friends caught a 17-foot, 2-inch python — so big and heavy, at 198 pounds, that multiple people were needed to contain it. “I arrived and there were five of them sitting on this python, keeping her secured,” she said.

Persons: Siewe, “ It’s, ”, Roberts, “ Locations: Florida

☆ Ohio Voted to Protect Abortion Rights. Could Florida Be Next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“Florida has always been a deeply libertarian state,” said Anna Hochkammer, executive director of the Florida Women’s Freedom Coalition. It is deeply offensive to Floridians’ sense of independence and freedom.”Since June 2022, when Roe was overturned, states have given voters a direct say on abortion access, either to protect abortion rights, weaken them or explicitly exclude them from state constitutions. Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan all voted to expand or maintain abortion rights. Abortion was legal up to 24 weeks in Florida until last year. Most donations have come from Florida, with limited interest so far from the out-of-state donors who propelled campaigns in Ohio and elsewhere.

Persons: ”, Anna Hochkammer, we’ll, Roe Organizations: Freedom Coalition, American Civil Liberties Union Locations: Florida, Kansas , Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio

Image Robert Card. Mr. Card was last known to be driving a white Subaru Outback with a black bumper, officials said. The neighbor, Rick Goddard, 44, said he had known the Card family most of his life, because Mr. Goddard lives less than a mile down the road from the Card family house. At the address for the Card family home, no one answered the door on Thursday, and there was only one car parked out front. “We’re on edge right now because we know this is his stomping area,” Mr. Goddard said.

Persons: Robert R, Robert Card, ” Col, William G, Ross, Robert Russell Card II, Card, Bowdoin, Rick Goddard, Goddard, Robert, Card’s, Mr Organizations: . Lewiston, . Lewiston Maine Police Department, Associated Press, Maine State Police, Pentagon, Army Reserve, Subaru, Bowdoin, Mr Locations: Maine, Lewiston ., ., . Lewiston Maine, U.S, Lisbon, Lewiston

The fastest train in the country outside of the Northeast began service between Miami and Orlando on Friday, connecting two major cities in car-loving Florida and testing whether private passenger rail can thrive in the United States. Tickets from Miami to Orlando start at $158 round trip for business class and $298 for first class, with discounts for families and larger groups. Brightline became the nation’s first private passenger rail to launch in a century when it started its service between Miami and West Palm Beach, where the company’s trains do not reach such high speeds, in 2018. If Brightline proves profitable in Florida, it could represent a turning point for American passenger rail. The last private intercity passenger train — the Rio Grande Zephyr, which connected Denver and Salt Lake City — shut down four decades ago.

Persons: Brightline Organizations: Northeast, Orlando, West Palm Beach, Salt Lake City —, Amtrak Locations: Miami, Florida, United States, West Palm, Rio, Denver, Salt Lake City

☆ Changes Bring Friction, and Lawsuits, to Florida College Targeted by DeSantis
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-22 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

More than 200 students have been moved from on-campus dorms to off-campus hotels to make room for the recruited athletes and other new students. The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a complaint that New College, in its new iteration, discriminated based on disability. State lawmakers sent about $50 million to the school this year, a big jump from recent years. “What was really missing more than anything else at New College was leadership,” Mr. Corcoran, a former Florida House speaker and state education commissioner, said in an interview. “We’ve been able to do something that wasn’t accomplished in 63 years at the college, and that was grow enrollment.

Persons: Richard Corcoran, ” Mr, Corcoran, “ We’ve, “, ” Organizations: U.S . Department of Education, New College, L.G.B.T.Q, Florida House Locations: Florida

On the debate stage last month, Mr. DeSantis declined to raise his hand when a moderator asked the Republican candidates if they thought human behavior was causing climate change. His campaign and the governor’s office did not respond to requests for comment about his views. Instead, Mr. DeSantis has seemingly reverted to an old Republican Party line that climate change is happening naturally, without being accelerated by human behavior like the burning of fossil fuels. Mr. DeSantis says he is simply being realistic about the country’s economic and national security needs. As the governor of a traditionally purple state on the front lines of climate change, Mr. DeSantis has been confronted with clear evidence that the environment is changing.

Persons: DeSantis, “, Joe Biden’s Organizations: Republican, Republican Party, Fox Business, Joe Biden’s Green Locations: Florida

☆ Florida Supreme Court Considers Upholding Abortion Restrictions
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Florida Supreme Court’s conservative justices repeatedly questioned on Friday whether the state’s privacy rights extend to abortion as they considered whether to uphold a ban on the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy — a decision that could overturn decades of legal precedent and trigger a far more restrictive ban. Few women know they are pregnant by six weeks, and abortion rights backers say such an early ban amounts to near total prohibition. The justices did not indicate when they would rule. During a closely watched oral argument in Tallahassee on Friday, a lawyer for Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida and several abortion providers argued that the court should not narrow the scope of the privacy rights that Floridians have relied on for 40 years. The state’s solicitor general countered that the court erred in extending privacy rights to abortion, as it first did in 1989.

Organizations: Florida Supreme, Republicans, American Civil Liberties Union of Locations: Florida, American, Tallahassee, American Civil Liberties Union of Florida

Dan Ellison started shrimping when he was 12, bringing a change of clothes on the boat so he could make it to school after early-morning outings. He would sketch shrimp boats in class, before quitting school in eighth grade to pursue his passion. “I couldn’t do what a doctor or lawyer does,” Mr. Ellison, 61, said. You’ve got to know so much to survive.”He joined his father shrimping and fishing in tiny Horseshoe Beach, Fla., a business that took a significant hit when the state banned net fishing in the 1990s. “It’s just a dying breed,” Mr. Ellison said of shrimpers in the Big Bend region, where the Florida peninsula meets the Panhandle.

Persons: Dan Ellison, shrimping, Mr, Ellison, You’ve, “ It’s, shrimpers, Hurricane Idalia Organizations: Hurricane Locations: Fla, Bend, Florida

☆ ‘We Should Have Gotten Off the Island’: Cedar Key Residents Survived Idalia’s Wrath
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-30 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Hours after the waters of the Gulf of Mexico swept through her house, Donna Knight emerged in a windbreaker and boots to try to get her Chevy SUV to higher ground. By noon on Wednesday, the center of the Category 3 storm had passed, and she and her 19-year-old son knew they had survived. “We should have gotten off the island,” she said. The homes in her neighborhood, many of them Old Florida-style beach houses, were battered and flooded, though some of their metal and wooden shutters remained on windows. The storm surge lingered on some roads, smelling of salt water and gasoline.

Persons: Donna Knight, Idalia Locations: Gulf, Mexico, ”, Old Florida

Shortly before the shooting on Saturday, the gunman was spotted putting on the tactical vest in a parking lot at Edward Waters University, a small and private historically Black institution. The guard reported the gunman’s suspicious presence to a nearby sheriff’s deputy, Sheriff Waters said. In an interview, Sheriff Waters said the gunman did not shoot at one person inside the store who was also white. “I know for a fact that he did not like Black people,” said Sheriff Waters, who is Black. On the gunman’s laptop, his family found a last will and testament and a suicide note as part of more than 20 pages of racist writings, Sheriff Waters said in the interview.

Persons: Sheriff Waters, Edward Waters, ”, texted Organizations: Edward Waters University, Office Locations: Clay

☆ Christie Says DeSantis Should Drop Out if He Defends Trump at Debate
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-18 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

“If you’re running for president of the United States, are you really going to let some other group of people tell you what to say?” he said. On Friday, over more than 90 minutes of remarks and answers to questions, sprinkled with colorful language and jokes, Mr. Christie repeatedly jabbed Mr. DeSantis and Mr. Trump, the two Floridians who have dominated the state’s politics and rarely faced criticism from anyone in their own party. The receptive, bipartisan crowd sipping Cuban coffee and nibbling on pastries seemed a throwback to Republican politics before the Trump era. One man, a self-described “liberal Democrat,” said he would be open to supporting Mr. Christie. Another woman who said she was a lifelong Democrat said that she was dissatisfied with her party’s direction and unhappy with the possibility of having to choose between Mr. Trump and President Biden again, an opinion shared by many voters on the campaign trail.

Persons: ” Mr, DeSantis, Trump, Christie, jabbed, ”, Biden Organizations: Trump, Republican Locations: United States, Florida

☆ At Inter Miami, Lionel Messi’s Only Complaint Is the Humidity
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The version of Lionel Messi who has become South Florida’s reigning sport king is not the playmaker in his prime that he was for Barcelona or the tortured captain-under-pressure that he was for Argentina. The Messi of Miami is, in his own words, happy. Happy to show his young new team, Inter Miami of M.L.S., how to win. Less happy, perhaps, to deal with South Florida’s crushing summer humidity. Inter Miami, which had the fewest points in M.L.S.

Persons: Lionel Messi, The Messi, Messi, David Beckham Organizations: Miami, Inter Miami, Leagues, Nashville S.C Locations: Barcelona, Argentina, M.L.S, United States

Ron DeSantis of Florida suspended the top state prosecutor in Orlando on Wednesday, accusing her of incompetence and neglect of duty for what he characterized as lenience against violent criminals. Mr. DeSantis suspended Monique H. Worrell, the elected state attorney of Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, which includes Orange and Osceola counties, and cited her handling of three cases. It is the second time in a year that Mr. DeSantis, a Republican running for president, has taken the drastic and exceedingly rare step of removing an elected state attorney. Critics, and even a federal judge, blasted Mr. DeSantis’s ouster of Mr. Warren as politically motivated. But Mr. Warren remains out of office — and Mr. DeSantis mentions his removal in just about every campaign stump speech.

Persons: Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, Monique H, Worrell, Andrew H, Warren, DeSantis’s Organizations: Judicial Circuit, Orlando, Republican Locations: Florida, Orlando, Orange, Osceola, Tampa

Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald J. Trump’s private club and residence in Florida, appeared in court for the first time on Monday to face charges of conspiring with Mr. Trump to obstruct the government’s monthslong efforts to retrieve highly sensitive national security documents from the former president after he left office. Mr. De Oliveira did not enter a plea at his brief hearing in Federal District Court in Miami. The chief magistrate judge, Edwin G. Torres, released him on a $100,000 personal surety bond, and he was ordered to remain in the Southern District of Florida and to not have contact with any of the witnesses in the case. A slight man with gray hair, Mr. De Oliveira was met outside the courthouse by a throng of television cameras but made no public remarks. The arraignment is expected to be handled by a magistrate judge in Fort Pierce, Shaniek Mills Maynard.

Persons: Carlos De Oliveira, Donald J, Trump, De Oliveira, Edwin G, Torres, Aileen M, Cannon, Shaniek Mills Maynard Organizations: Mar, Federal, Court, Southern District of Locations: Florida, Miami, Southern District, Southern District of Florida, Palm Beach, Fla, Fort Pierce

☆ ‘Get Down’ From the Car. ‘Make’ the Line. Is Miami English a Dialect?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The stereotype of how many Miamians speak involves a sing-songy rhythm with a heavy-sounding “L” and a generous sprinkling of Spanglish. But what if the conversational language of South Florida were more than a lively accent? What if it were a distinct regional dialect of American English? Miami English, he calls it. “This is probably the most important bilingual situation in the Americas today,” Dr. Carter said.

Persons: Phillip M, Carter, Dr Organizations: Florida International University, Miami Locations: South Florida, Americas, Miami, Spanish, New York, American

It was Dr. Scott Rivkees, the Florida surgeon general. Ron DeSantis had decided that the worst was over for Florida, he said. Mr. DeSantis had begun listening to doctors who believed the virus’s threat was overstated, and he no longer supported preventive measures like limiting indoor dining. Mr. DeSantis was going his own way on Covid. Nearly three years later, the governor now presents his Covid strategy not only as his biggest accomplishment, but as the foundation for his presidential campaign.

Persons: Deborah L, Scott Rivkees, “, ’ ”, Ron DeSantis, DeSantis, ” Organizations: White, Gov, The New York Times Locations: Florida, Covid, New York, California

☆ In Florida, Swimmers Brave an Ocean That Feels Like Steamy Syrup
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The water temperature near Key Biscayne, a barrier island just east of Miami, had already passed 89 degrees one morning this week. And though the ocean off South Florida was slightly cooler than the recent record highs that had stunned scientists and threatened marine life, it remained phenomenally hot. But on this serene patch of the Atlantic Coast, it was still a summer day at the beach, when nothing satisfies quite like a dip — even when the ocean feels like a thick, simmering syrup. “I like it warm,” shrugged Niki Candela, 20, a Miami native, moments after a powerful siren warned of approaching lightning. The shallow water was a crystalline teal, rolling oh so gently, not a cresting wave in sight.

Persons: “, shrugged Niki Candela Locations: Key Biscayne, Miami, South Florida, Gulf of Mexico

☆ Lionel Messi Chose Miami, and Miami Loves Him for It
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Patricia Mazzei | More About Patricia Mazzei | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Miami’s Messi madness — over the arrival of the soccer superstar Lionel Messi, one of the most famous humans on the planet — reached a fever pitch last week when he was spotted at a Publix grocery store near Fort Lauderdale, buying Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops. Mr. Messi and his photogenic young family had landed in a soccer-crazy region that had been hoping to nab him for years. Already, Mr. Messi looked like a local, clad in shorts and flip-flops. South Florida has been consumed with a frenzied fandom for Mr. Messi, the Argentine whose signing on Saturday represented a coup for Inter Miami of Major League Soccer and for Miami itself, the unofficial capital of Latin America, with a penchant for celebrity. When the team presented Mr. Messi to a packed stadium in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday night, following a violent thunderstorm, he thanked the crowd in Spanish “for helping us feel at home so quickly.”

Persons: Miami’s Messi, Lionel Messi, —, Messi, ” Organizations: nab, Saturday, Inter Miami, Major League Soccer Locations: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Argentine, Miami, Latin America, Spanish

WHY WE’RE HEREWe’re exploring how America defines itself one place at a time. In South Florida, mango lovers turn to fruit to build a sense of community during the grueling summer. July 8, 2023The air gets thick with humidity as summer arrives in South Florida. Then, something magical happens: The mango trees bear fruit. In good years, they produce so much that strangers give away mangoes on their lawns.

Persons: Zak Stern, Zak the Baker Locations: South Florida, Miami’s Wynwood

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