Florida Lawmaker Questions Governor's Assault on Free Speech

art-assault-florida Part of the series, Assault on Florida.

At Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s budget-signing event last Thursday, a handful of Democratic protesters were prevented from attending by sheriff’s deputies at the direction of Scott staffers. Today, Democratic state Rep. Mark Pafford of Lake Worth sent Scott a letter asking for answers:

Dear Governor Scott:

Following the state budget signing ceremony on Thursday, May 26, I have been asked numerous times if the event crossed any lines relating to the Florida Constitution, the Sunshine Law or other Florida statutes.

Reports from the press, media and at least one video aired on YouTube suggest that Sheriff’s deputies removed selected attendees from the ceremony, possibly at the request of the Governor’s Office. Those same sources, and my interpretation of the reports and video, indicate that those removed were participants who did not support the budget or who were wearing shirts or holding signs indicating their objection to your administration.

Florida Statute 119.07 permits the request of public records that may assist in resolving the numerous questions that have arisen as a result of the ceremony. Rather that invoking 119.07, I am requesting that your office simply respond to some specific questions related to the event, and resolve the matter.

Respectfully, I request responses to the following questions:

Was the event public or private and how was it promoted?
Who had the authority to direct security and crowd control for the event and who made the decision to remove attendees?
Which state employees were in attendance and were they reimbursed for travel?
Were Sumter County Sheriff’s deputies contracted and by whom?
Were participants removed at the request of the Governor’s Office? If so, why?

Thank you in advance for responding to these questions and providing any other information you or your staff feel is important to better understanding what exactly happened at the budget signing ceremony.

I look forward to your response and appreciate your assistance and cooperation regarding this matter.

Sincerely,

MARK PAFFORD
State Representative, District 88

Gee, we hope Pafford extracts some answers, but we’re not holding our breath.

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Florida Lawmaker Questions Governor’s Assault on Free Speech

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Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“One woman at a rally in New Jersey told me last week that she was ‘nauseously optimistic.’ That may capture a lot of people’s last-minute jitters.”

— Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), quoted by Axios, on what Democrats feel ahead of the midterm elections.

“I think Congress made a mistake not protesting turning the Rose Garden into what looks like the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.”

— Former President Bill Clinton, quoted by The Wrap.

“Boy, they are scraping the bottom of the barrel. It feels like a real desperation play to me, because it has got zero basis in the law.”

— Republican election law expert Ben Ginsberg, quoted by Politico, on the Trump administration’s effort to invalidate Alaska’s election results.

Numerati

3,824

$1.4 billion

-35 points

31%

63% to 38%

KFF Poll: “With the 2026 midterm campaigns in full swing and early voting about to begin, there is a wide enthusiasm gap between partisan voters, with Democratic voters 25 percentage points more likely than Republican voters to say they are ‘more motivated’ than usual to vote (63% vs. 38%).”