A Letter From a Florida Inmate Asked for Help. It Arrived Too Late.
Theresa Mathis was in the middle of a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence when she sent Reason a letter asking for help.
Florida
Justice Department Finds Rampant Sexual Assaults and Constitutional Violations in Country's Largest Women's Prison
The report confirms what news investigations and advocates have said for years: Lowell prison lets guards abuse women without consequence.
Florida Masseuse Ordered to Pay $31,573 After 'Soliciting' Robert Kraft To 'Commit Prostitution'
Charges against Kraft were (rightfully) dismissed. The women he patronized now have criminal records.
Trump's New Lawsuit Looks Like an Attempt To Cancel All Mail-in Votes in Pennsylvania
The newest lawsuit in Pennsylvania is a longshot attempt to argue that all mail-in voting is unconstitutional because it differs from traditional, in-person voting. It's likely to fail.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Banned Localities From Collecting Mask Fines. Local Officials Say They'll Keep Issuing Fines Anyway.
Police in the Miami-area have been proactively issuing $100 fines to people not wearing masks outside.
Florida Drops Prostitution Case Against Robert Kraft, Still Pursues Charges Against the Women He Paid
Plus: DHS wants to ban some immigrants from getting four-year degrees, Louisiana cop who claimed attack admits he shot himself, and more...
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Unveils Bill To Stiffen Penalties for Protesters and Punish Towns That Cut Police Budgets
The parts that aren't constitutionally dubious are brainless culture-war fodder.
Will Pennsylvania Be the Florida of the 2020 Election?
If so, Republicans, Democrats, the state legislature, the state Supreme Court, and Gov. Tom Wolf will all share the blame.
Florida Leads the Way on 2020 Occupational Licensing Reforms
House Bill 1193 loosened or abolished rules governing more than 30 different professions.
Appeals Court Upholds Florida Law Requiring Felony Offenders To Pay Off Fines Before Regaining Voting Rights
The ruling is a major setback for civil liberties groups trying to re-enfranchise an estimated 775,000 Floridians with felony records.
Study Finds More School Arrests In Florida After the State Doubled The Number of Police in Schools
There were four times as many incidents of physical restraint against students the year after Florida doubled the number of police in its schools.
Florida Will Pay Out $4.6 Million to Female Inmate Paralyzed After Guard Beating
Cheryl Weimar's case put a gruesome spotlight on Florida's troubled prison system.
Do Legal Restrictions Account for the Downward Trend in New COVID-19 Cases?
The New York Times thinks so, but the data do not fit that hypothesis very well.
Florida Inmates Serving Outdated Drug Sentences Released Early Following Reason Investigation
A Florida prosecutor's office reviewed the cases and agreed to resentencing for nearly two dozen inmates, calling it "a matter of fundamental fairness."
A Florida Deputy Threatens To Show 'What Fucking Freedom of Speech Is' During an Arrest
The Palm Beach County sheriff said he does not "condone" the behavior in the video.
Video: Key West Police Arrest and Try To Handcuff 8-Year-Old Child
His wrists were too small for the cuffs, though.
Newly Identified COVID-19 Cases Are Falling in Sunbelt States Where They Spiked This Summer
The trend means we should see declining daily deaths in the coming weeks.
Miami Police Setting Up 'Mask Traps,' Issuing $100 Fines to People Wearing Masks Improperly
The theoretical case for government mask mandates has to be weighed against the reality of their enforcement.
Daily COVID-19 Deaths in the U.S. Continue to Rise
Meanwhile, the case fatality rate is still falling.
Supreme Court Won't Lift Freeze In Florida Felon Voting Rights Case
The state has barred hundreds of thousands of residents with felony records from voting without first paying off their court fines and fees.
This Florida Inmate Is Serving an Outdated Drug Sentence. Now He Has Coronavirus
Reason profiled William Forrester's 15-year mandatory minimum sentence in a 2017 investigation into Florida's draconian opioid trafficking laws.
COVID-19 Deaths Are Now Rising in the U.S., but Case Fatality Rate Continues To Fall
We are starting to see the fatal consequences of the recent infection surge.
As COVID-19 Cases Surge, Daily Deaths and the Case Fatality Rate Continue To Fall
Expanded testing, a younger mix of patients, and improved treatment help explain the seemingly contradictory trends.
Robert Kraft and Florida Massage Workers Are Still Fighting Unconstitutional Surveillance Video
"Supreme Court jurisprudence...is heavily weighted against you," an appeals judge told state prosecutors last week.
Body Camera Footage Shows Florida Cops Laughing About Using Rubber Bullets on Anti-Police Brutality Protesters
Scenes from anti-brutality protests are renewing the debate around the controversial use of rubber bullets.
Florida Just Passed the Most Sweeping Occupational Licensing Reform in History
The Occupational Freedom and Opportunity Act "will save thousands of Floridians both time and money for years to come," says Gov. Ron DeSantis.
11 Redacted Seconds of Video of Fatal 2014 Drug Bust Undermine Florida Cops' Official Story
Previously unreleased video shows Jerry Brown didn't have much time to react before Pasco County deputies shot and killed him.
CDC Antibody Studies Confirm Huge Gap Between COVID-19 Infections and Known Cases
The difference implies that the virus is much less deadly than it looks, but it also makes contact tracing a daunting challenge.
As COVID-19 Infections Rise, Patients Are Getting Younger
The trend, which may reflect growing defiance of social distancing in some age groups, implies a lower death rate.
Florida's Schools Have Become a High-Stakes Experiment in Classroom Policing
Will a hiring surge for school police and renewed zeal for zero tolerance policies undo years of declining youth arrests in Florida?
Federal Judge: Florida Can't Block Voting Rights Because of Inability To Pay Court Fines
A law passed by Florida Republicans to limit a constitutional amendment restoring voting rights to felony offenders violates the 14th and 24th Amendments, the judge ruled.
The CDC's New 'Best Estimate' Implies a COVID-19 Infection Fatality Rate Below 0.3%
That rate is much lower than the numbers used in the horrifying projections that shaped the government response to the epidemic.
Florida Man Spits on Cops While Claiming to Have Coronavirus. Justice Department Accuses Him of 'Bioweapon Hoax.'
The War on Terror gave us federal anti-terror-hoax laws. Now the FBI is using them to punish a man who falsely claimed to have COVID-19.
Condemned to Death by a Split Jury in Florida
Requiring unanimous juries underscores the gravity of a death penalty sentence.
Miami-Dade Antibody Tests Suggest Local COVID-19 Infections Exceed Confirmed Cases by a Factor of 16
The preliminary results imply an infection fatality rate of 0.2 percent, similar to estimates from two California studies.
Miami Has Recorded No Homicides in 6 Weeks Despite Deliberate Decline in Police Enforcement
Miami’s police chief orders officers to reduce ticketing and public interactions. Mayhem doesn’t ensue.