Karen Malo with the Guardian ad Litem Foundation The Guardian ad Litem Foundation of Tampa Bay works on a big problem – abused, neglected and abandoned children here in Florida. Oftentimes these children are born into troubled families. They are innocent, and must rely on either family, social workers, volunteers, the courts, foster parents, law enforcement… Read more »
Trump…Trump…Trump…the Trumps are Marching… The assaults on our democracy are coming like machine gun fire – the separation of church and state. Last week on National Prayer Day, the president signed a “religious freedom” executive order. Many breathed a sigh of relief – it could have been so much worse, but attacking the Johnson Amendment… Read more »
Wrongly convicted Death Row survivor speaks out Host Rob Lorei interviewed Juan Melendez, who spent more that 17 years on Florida’s Death Row before being exonerated and released. Juan is one of 26 innocent people exonerated and released from Florida’s Death Row – by far the nation’s highest number of exonerated death row survivors. He’ll be… Read more »
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Glenn Frankel has just written his second straight book about the making of an American classic western film in High Noon:The Hollywood Blacklist and the Making of an American Classic. It’s a story of Hollywood’s golden age, as High Noon achieved instant box-office and critical success. But what is often overlooked is that High Noon was made… Read more »
Florida Police Shootings investigated by Times’ Ben Montgomery For years, no one could say with much certainty how many times police shot people in Florida. Now, we have an answer as a result of a months-long investigation from the Tampa Bay Times titled Why Cops Shoot. According to the Times report, “No one was keeping track of… Read more »
A man is in Tampa’s Orient Road Jail serving a life sentence for a crime that someone else has confessed to; Jeremy Thomas insists he had no role in a robbery at a Hollywood Video store in Tampa in 2002 and he wonders why he’s still in jail a year after a written confession from… Read more »
The tempest continues… “It is not a Muslim ban, it is to make America safe.” “Iran – you are on notice.” Regulations – who needs them? Gorsuch, you are the man, and media – shut up and listen. This tempest is not in a teacup. First, JESSICA MASON PIEKLO, unapologetic feminist and social justice warrior, writer,… Read more »
Florida Democratic state Senator Darryl Rouson (SD 19) joined the program for the entire hour. Criminal justice reform, transportation and voting rights were just some of the topics discussed during the program. Rousson represents parts of Pinellas and Hillsborough County in the Legislature. You can listen to the show here.
WMNF’s Radioactivity Feb 1 2017 Good morning, welcome to Radioactivity. I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up we’ll get the perspective of a Constitutional law scholar from Stetson on President Trump’s nominee to fill the nearly year-long vacancy on the US Supreme Court. And with all the energy generated by the Women’s marches around the country two… Read more »
Several groups in Florida are asking Senator Bill Nelson to push for a delay in the confirmation hearings for U.S. Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions; the groups say Senator Sessions has not provided enough information and has a history of racism. Thirty people gathered at a press conference on the steps of the Federal Courthouse… Read more »
Should an 18-year-old convicted of a serious crime have to serve a sentence like life in prison or should the juvenile age be increased in the Florida criminal justice system? We’ll talk about this topic with the wife of a person convicted of a crime at 18 and with a legal expert. The juvenile age… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_161013_110618_radioactivityR1_191.MP3 By Rob Lorei A study which came out last month shows that just three counties– Hillsborough, Duval and Orange counties were responsible for nearly one quarter of all juvenile arrests in the state. And that there are alternatives that could keep the young people out of jail and help society at the same time.In… Read more »
On the program today we spoke with Mark. T. Jones, the pastor and founder of Manifestations Worldwide in Tampa, and later St. Petersburg activist Kofi Hunt, about the situation in Tampa and America regarding relations between law enforcement and the black community.
After last week, do you feel you are on a powder keg that is just about ready to explode?…. …or have we been on an active volcano for a long time and just haven’t paid any attention to the lava flow? Everything is connected, and I am more and more feeling that the problems at… Read more »
We are coming down to crunch time….. This has gone beyond mud fights and something tells me the game hasn’t even begun. The conventions are coming up in just a few weeks. Do the platforms matter? Well – yes and no….. they, of course, are not binding, but they do give a hint of some… Read more »
http://sound.wmnf.org/sound/wmnf_160614_110617_radioactivityT1_187.MP3 BY Rob Lorei Our guest on Radioactivity Tuesday was Linda Greenhouse, who covered the US Supreme Court for the New York Times for almost 30 years. She’s just co-written a new book about the Burger Court—named after the chief justice Warren Burger—from 1969-1986. Some scholars consider the court a moderate transitional court—between the liberal Warren… Read more »
Update 12 May 2016: The Department of Corrections has extended the contract (with revised terms) for Bradenton Bridge. An all-female inmate transitional facility in Bradenton could close soon because its contract has not been renewed by the state. The re-entry center provides substance abuse services and has a popular jobs program. Catherine Rodeheaver got a… Read more »
President Obama announced his Supreme Court nominee, political moderate Merrick Garland. Merrick’s nomination came as a surprise to some, who assumed that Sri Srinivasan, also a judge for the D.C. federal court, would be the top pick. Garland was confirmed to the federal bench under former President Bill Clinton’s second presidential term in 1997. He… Read more »
Arch-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died Saturday and the balance of the Court could shift with his replacement; WMNF spoke with a constitutional law professor about how election year politics could influence what happens. Louis Virelli is professor of constitutional law at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, Florida. Professor Virelli served for… Read more »
Roe vs Wade was a hot topic on From a Woman’s POV this week. The war on a woman’s right to choose continues. The Florida House Criminal Justice Subcommittee voted 8-3 on the “Florida for Life Act” or HB865. If made law, it will ban all abortions with the exception of the health and… Read more »
WMNF is non-commercial community conscious radio – we survive only due to the generosity of listeners like you. Please consider a sustaining monthly contribution and receive annual coupons for swag when you Join the WMNF Circle of Friends.
