By Michael Moline | Editor in Chief
“In short, there is no evidence indicating that anyone could reasonably conclude that Ms. McMath’s sentiments were shared by her employers.” — Garnett Chisenhall, administrative law judge
People visit a memorial set up in honor of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in Orem on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
The DeSantis administration has been dealt another setback in its drive to punish any employee guilty of wrongthink about the Charlie Kirk shooting. This time, a state administrative judge has dismantled the Department of Education’s case against an art teacher in Jacksonville who, among other comments, cited “karma” for a man who once said that a few murders are a “prudent deal” in exchange for Second Amendment protections. The judge concluded that no one could seriously conclude her comments, made off the clock, in any way implicated the school system. In May, the state settled with a state-employed biologist fired after posting about Kirk for half-a-million dollars.
He believes the rationale would equally apply to Florida’s ban on long gun sales to people under 21. “Eighteen-year-olds may vote, serve on juries, be drafted, and face adult criminal penalties, including capital punishment,” said Assistant Attorney General T. Elliot Gaiser for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel. “Glad DOJ has followed suit in the fight for Second Amendment rights of Americans who are old enough to sign up to defend our nation!” Uthmeier replied. “We took this position at the Supreme Court a year ago and look forward to working with the Florida Legislature to right this wrong!”
The U.S. House has voted to require states to consider forcing data centers using large amounts of electricity to pay the full additional cost of that generation, as well as needed transmission and distribution upgrades. But that doesn’t settle anything, not least because Donald Trump believes fears around data centers are a “HOAX” comparable to climate change concerns. “The lawmakers know this much: Their constituents don’t like data centers,” David Lightman reports. “I’ve never seen people come together across the political spectrum like I have the last few months on concerns about big tech, concerns around AI, concerns around data center development,” said Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H.
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