Attorney General Pam Bondi applauded the ruling of the Florida Supreme Court Tuesday to uphold a lower court ruling that denied a stay of execution to Manuel Valle, convicted of murdering a police officer in Broward County in 1978. He had appealed that one of the drugs used in the lethal injection process would violate the Eighth Amendment's protection from "cruel and unusual" punishment.
The stay of execution imposed on death row inmate Manuel Valle, a convicted cop killer, has been lifted by the Florida Supreme Court.
Valle, who has spent more than 30 years on death row for murdering a police officer in Broward County in 1978, appealed for the stay, claiming a switch in one drug in the three-drug cocktail used by Florida for lethal injections would subject him to pain, consituting a violation of the Eighth Amendment's protection against "cruel and unusual" punishment.
After "leaving the door open a crack" last week to the possibility of a run for U.S. Senate, U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, shut it Monday, according to Politico.
Here's West's statement:
"I will not seek the Republican nomination for the United States Senate in 2012. With regard to my future, the only goal I have is to do my very best to represent the constituents of the congressional district and to restore the exceptionalism of our nation," he said.
According to numerous reports, Hurricane Irene is poised to hit South Florida by as early as Thursday morning. The storm is only a Category 1 right now, with winds of 80 mph, but some projections have it gathering strength and rising to a Category 3 storm with 115 mph winds before striking U.S. soil.
Gov. Rick Scott was in Miami Friday to kick off the 500-day countdown to the 500th anniversary of the European discovery of modern-day Florida. Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon first reached the peninsula in 1513.
He was joined by Ambassador Cristina Barrios, consul general to Spain and Secretary of State Kurt Browning to mark the beginning of "Viva Florida 500," the state's quincentennial celebration.
Politico has a rundown of the "veepstakes" -- potential vice presidential nominees that could bolster the eventual GOP presidential nominee's ticket. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is "in everyone's top five" because of the assets he could bring to the ticket.
The story notes he's from Florida, a large swing state; Hispanic; and appeals to both the tea party movement and Republican establishment alike.
The Republican National Committee wants to turn President Barack Obama's Midwest bus tour and following nine-day vacation in Martha's Vineyard into a fundraising opportunity.
The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling Tuesday outlawing an executive order issued by Gov. Rick Scott halting all new rules and mandating executive approval before implementation.
Scott wanted to decrease the amount of new and existing rules and regulations promulgated by state agencies, saying they impede job creation. But the Supreme Court ruled his executive order encroached upon the legislative branch and the authority of the Legislature to enact policy and direct rule-making procedures.
Dave Bitner, chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, sent his counterpart, Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith, a letter Monday taking him to task for his apparent "hypocrisy" surrounding his stance on the redistricting process.
Specifically, the letter notes Smith's current criticism of the existing legislative and congressional districts, but voted for them in committee as a member of the Legislature in 2002.
