National Roundup

Florida
Law seeks to rein in large social media companies
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Standing at a lectern with a sign reading “STOP BIG TECH CENSORSHIP,” Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday that seeks to punish social media platforms that remove conservative ideas from their sites.

The new law will enable the state to fine large social media companies $250,000 a day if they remove an account of a statewide political candidate, and $25,000 a day if they remove an account of someone running for a local office. It takes effect July 1.

DeSantis said big tech companies are controlling accounts to remove content that doesn’t suit their ideology. Republicans have accused companies like Twitter and Facebook of censoring conservative thought. DeSantis pointed in particular to then-President Donald Trump being banned by Twitter while still allowing Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to maintain an account.

“When you de-platform the president of the United States but you let Ayatollah Khamenei talk about killing Jews, that is wrong,” DeSantis said to thunderous applause at a bill-signing ceremony at Florida International University in Miami.

The law will give Florida’s attorney general authority to sue companies under the state’s Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. It will also allow individual Floridians to sue social media companies if they feel they’ve been treated unfairly.

The bill targets social media platforms that have more than 100 million monthly users, which include online giants as Twitter and Facebook. But lawmakers carved out an exception for Disney and their apps by including that theme park owners wouldn’t be subject to the law

Democrats opposed the bill and defended the right of social media companies, as private entities, to control the flow of information on their platforms.

Louisiana
Detective shot while serving warrant in 2016 dies
JEFFERSON PARISH, La. (AP) — A Louisiana detective who was shot multiple times while serving a warrant in 2016 has died from his injuries, according to authorities.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said in a statement Sunday that Detective Stephen Arnold, a 12-year veteran of the sheriff’s office, was under intense medical care since being shot.

Arnold was previously a district deputy and a narcotics detective, according to Lopinto. He was assigned to a federal Drug Enforcement Administration task force at the time of his injury.

“Detective Arnold was well-known and held in the highest regard by his peers,” the sheriff said. “His commitment to serving our community was the standard we all strive to meet.”

Arnold and other law enforcement officials forced their way into Jarvis Hardy’s New Orleans home in January 2016 after not receiving a response to a knock at the door, the Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.

Hardy, who was in possession of crack cocaine, shot Arnold five times, according to the news outlet. He eventually pleaded guilty to the shooting as well as other drug and gun charges. Lopinto said Hardy is serving a 35-year sentence in a federal facility.

The news outlet reported that Arnold’s brain didn’t receive oxygen for the first 30 minutes after he was shot. He couldn’t speak or walk and used a tracheotomy tube to breathe.

Arnold received two Distinguished Service Awards and an Award for Valor while with the sheriff’s office, according to Lopinto. He was awarded a Purple Heart after his injury and will be posthumously given a Medal of Honor from the sheriff’s office.

Florida
Sentence reduced to life for man who killed girlfriend’s mom
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A man whose 1998 murder of his girlfriend’s mother gained national headlines apologized in court Monday as his death sentence was reduced to life in prison.

Adam William Davis, now 42, told Judge Michelle Sisco “not a single day goes by” that he doesn’t think of the murder of Vicki Robinson and “how I wish I could turn back the clocks of time and change what happened.”

Davis was being resentenced for the murder, which happened when he was 19. Prosecutors had decided not to seek the death penalty again after the U.S. Supreme Court threw out his sentence and others because the jury had not voted unanimously for the penalty. Davis’ jury voted 7-5.

The murder became national news and was told on TV true-crime shows.

“Ms. Robinson had so much light and love for the world and showed me kindness,” Davis said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Her loss is a great tragedy that should never have happened. To her family and loved ones, I express my deepest sorrow for their loss.”

Robinson had been trying to contain the behavior of her 15-year-old daughter, Valessa, when Davis, the girl and a third teen, Jon Whispel, decided to kill Robinson.

Later that night, Davis attacked Robinson in her kitchen, injecting her with bleach. When that didn’t kill her, he stabbed her to death. The three then put her body in a trash can and dumped it in the woods.

While Davis got a death sentence, Valessa Robinson served 13 years and Whispel was released in 2019. That discrepancy also played a role in the prosecution’s decision not to seek another death sentence.

No one from Robinson’s family was present to hear Davis’ apology, but Judge Sisco believed it sincere.

“Even though you were not a juvenile at the time, you were still young,” Sisco said. “And I thought to myself that I bet not a night goes by, when you’re in your jail cell, that you don’t have (anything) but regret for the choices that you made.”

Iowa
Trial venue moved for man charged in death of Wilton teen
TIPTON, Iowa (AP) — The murder trial for a man charged in the stabbing death last year of another man in rural Iowa has been moved from Cedar County to Dubuque County.

The change in venue ordered Friday came after an estimated 1 in 4 people in Cedar County had formed an opinion on whether Milton Serrano Jr., 21, was guilty of killing 19-year-old Chantz Stevens, of Wilton, the Quad City Times reported.

The courthouse in Dubuque is about 73 miles (117.5 kilometers) from Cedar County.

Police have said Serrano stabbed Stevens to death after Serrano was asked to leave a July 19 party at a home south of Clarence. Investigators said that hours after the stabbing, Serrano posted an account of the stabbing on social media.

A judge postponed Serrano’s first-degree murder trial until Aug. 24 to accommodate the criminal docket in Dubuque County.