Florida A&M University Marching 100 drum major Robert Champion‘s hazing-related death was a homicide, an autopsy report ruled today.

The Orlando medical examiner’s findings were released as Gov. Rick Scott stepped up pressure for the historically black university’s president James Ammons to step down.

After being summoned to Scott’s office this afternoon, a subdued Ammons – until then appearing to reject calls for his ouster – said the governor was committed to preserving FAMU’s future and indicated he may go along with Scott’s recommendation before the university’s board of trustees meet on the issue, again at Scott’s urging, by telephone Monday morning.

“It’s something I’m considering,” Ammons told reporters before leaving the Capitol to hand out diplomas at FAMU’s fall graduation ceremony.

Champion’s death was caused by internal bleeding after suffering blunt trauma, the Orlando medical examiner’s office said. The autopsy found the 26-year-old had bruises to his chest, arms, shoulder and back and suffered bleeding from soft tissues.

Former state Sen. Al Lawson, a FAMU alumnus who accompanied Ammons to Scott’s office in the role of mediator, said it was no surprise that Champion’s death was a homicide.

“This young man lost his life as a result of hazing. It had to do with a lot of physical blows and so forth, in that report. I think everybody expected that it would be that,” Lawson said. “We know the history of hazing at the university. It’s been around since the early 50s.”

Lawson also advised Ammons to stay on the job until the trustees reach a decision Monday morning, and indicated the governor-appointed board may not agree with Scott.

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Two senators who challenged Gov. Rick Scott’s authority to kill a high-speed rail project failed to make their case, the Florida Supreme Court ruled today.

And Scott reiterated his rejection of $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funds for the project this morning in a telephone call with U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, likely meaning the money will go to other states.

“The Governor is gratified that the court provided a clear and unanimous decision, he is now focused on moving forward with infrastructure projects that create long-term jobs and turn Florida’s economy around. He also spoke with US DOT Secretary LaHood this morning and informed him that Florida will focus on other infrastructure projects and will not move forward with any federal high speed rail plan,” Scott’s spokesman Brian Burgess said in a statement.

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The latest salvo in a constitutional battle over who’s got the power to get a high-speed train on track in Florida came from two senators suing Gov. Rick Scott over his refusal to accept $2.4 billion in federal funds for the project.

Sens. Thad Altman, R-Rockledge, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, allege in their suit filed yesterday that Scott overstepped his authority by rejecting the funds, part of which lawmakers had already appropriated, and scrapping the project that they had created in state law.

Scott fired back today that the senators were simply miffed their “policy preferences” hadn’t prevailed in the political realm, and that the high court couldn’t micromanage the Legislature or governor to spend federal money that hadn’t been appropriated yet.

Now, the bipartisan pair issued their response to his response.

“Respondent has set up a fake argument just in order to tear it down. Petitioners are not asking this Court to direct the Respondent how to manage the construction of the high speed rail in Florida. Instead, the Petitioners are simply asking this Court to direct the Respondent that he does not have the jurisdiction or authority as granted by the laws of this State (which he is obligated to faithfully execute) to take the action he has taken in rejecting a specific appropriation of $130.8 million; federal grants amounting to $2.4 billion subject to statutory authority; dedicated funding pursuant to the Florida Rail Act of $60 million per year; and thus the entire high speed rail project,” their lawyers wrote.

Their filing this afternoon is probably the last stop for the fast-tracked lawsuit for today.

The court ordered oral arguments at 3 p.m. tomorrow to get a decision in time for the Friday deadline set by the White House for Scott to change his mind.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered oral arguments tomorrow at 3 p.m. on a lawsuit filed by two senators against Gov. Rick Scott over his nixing of a high-speed rail project.

The suit, filed by Sens. Thad Altman, R-Rockledge, and Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, accuses Scott of overstepping his authority when he rejected $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funds for a Tampa-to-Orlando rail project already approved by the legislature and his predecessor Charlie Crist.

Scott argued in his response that it was his privilege to turn down the money and that, at best, the court could order him to spend the $130.8 million already appropriated by the legislature for the project “to build a few miles of railroad for no apparent purpose”

If they did that, the “Court will have created the high-speed railroad to nowhere,” Scott’s response reads.

A lawsuit filed by two senators challenging Gov. Rick Scott‘s authority to reject $2.4 billion in federal funds for a high-speed rail project “is based on mischaracterizations and omissions of fact,” the governor’s lawyers wrote in a response filed shortly before noon today.

Scott scolds Sens. Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat, and Thad Altman, a Rockledge Republican, for overstepping their bounds by asking the court to force Scott to accept the funds even though Senate President Mike Haridopolos has vowed not to spend any money on the project this year. In the response, Scott insists he will veto any appropriations for the project should they make it into the budget.

In the opening line of Scott’s 29-page response, the governor’s legal team call Joyner and Altman “State Senators whose policy preferences have not prevailed in the political process” and frequently disparage the Tampa-to-Orlando rail project that would eventually link to Miami.

“Fortunately for the taxpayers of Florida, nothing in Florida law compels the Governor or the (Florida Rail Enterprise) to pour millions of dollars into a black hole during the historic fiscal crisis with which the State is presently grappling,” Scott’s general counsel Charles Trippe wrote.
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UPDATE: Gov. Scott issued this statement about the lawsuit:
“My position remains unchanged, I’ve yet to see any evidence that Florida taxpayers would not be on the hook. Senators Altman and Joyner’s disrespect for taxpayers is clear by their lawsuit trying to force the state to spend this money.”

The Florida Supreme Court gave Gov. Rick Scott until noon tomorrow to respond to a lawsuit filed today by two state senators challenging the governor’s authority to reject $2.4 billion in federal funds for a high-speed rail project.

Sens. Thad Altman, a Republican from Melbourne, and Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat, filed the lawsuit today asking the court to order Scott to accept the money or issue an immediate injunction keeping the White House from giving the money away to other states.

Their lawsuit alleges that Scott exceeded his authority by rejecting the money that his predecessor Charlie Crist had already accepted and that lawmakers had already spent a portion of.

It’s all about the constitutional separation of powers, the bipartisan pair said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.

“This is not a monarchy. He is not a king,” Joyner, a lawyer, said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson asked U.S. Transportation Department Ray LaHood to wait while the lawsuit proceeds before giving the money away. He’s already given the state two delays to give Scott more time to reconsider.

Sens. Thad Altman, a Melbourne Republican, and Arthenia Joyner, a Tampa Democrat, have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Rick Scott over his rejection of $2.4 billion from the federal government for a high-speed rail project.

The bipartisan duo asked the Florida Supreme Court to force Scott to accept the money, challenging Scott’s authority to turn down money his predecessor Charlie Crist had already accepted.

Altman and Joyner also asked the court to agree with them that Scott exceeded his authority because the legislature had already appropriated part of the funds he’s now refused.

They also want the court to issue a temporary injunction while they’re considering the case, if they decide to take it up.

Scott, with the support of tea party activists, calls the $2.7 billion project a boondoggle. He says he doesn’t believe the train will support itself and fears that taxpayers will be on the hook for cost overruns and future operations.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood met with Scott last week in Washington and gave Florida another week to come up with an alternate plan, something a bipartisan coalition of local, state and federal lawmakers have been scrambling to accomplish.

But Scott remains unconvinced and has given no indication he will change his mind.

Sen. Nan Rich has her work cut out for her as the Weston Democrat takes over as head of her caucus.

Dems are outnumbered more than ever after the elections earlier this month – just 51 Democrats remain of the 160 members of the House and Senate. Republicans have a veto-proof majority in both chambers – IF they can keep Democratic leader Rich and her House counterpart Ron Saunders from corralling moderate GOP members on crucial floor and committee votes.

Democrats are down to 12 in the Senate after losing two seats to Republicans earlier this month.

Perhaps Rich’s right-hand-woman, Sen. Arthenia Joyner, expressed it best during a caucus conference this morning.

“As the loyal opposition, we’ve got to be a voice for the voiceless,” Joyner, D-Tampa, said. “As a black woman…I’m ready for a fight every day because…Just to exist, everything’s a fight. It’s a way of life.
It’s not a problem because we know how to take it even in the worst of times.”

One brave senator and a few courageous volunteers sampled the controversial prison ‘food loaf’ banned in some states that drew questions during a criminal justice budget meeting last week.

Sen. Arthenia Joyner asked prison officials last week to give her the nutritional value of the culinary concoction – also called “behavior modification loaf,” “nutri-loaf” or “suicide loaf” – used to punish misbehaving prisoners.

This morning, Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Richard Prudom arrived at the Senate committee meeting with two loaves of the questionable meal and the “special management meal” recipe.

The meeting ended without Joyner, D-Tampa, or any other committee member sampling the loaf, which resembles a holiday fruitcake with visible chunks of carrot instead of citrus.

But Chairman Victor Crist gave in when urged to try it and conducted an ad-hoc taste test with a Senate aide, a reporter and a lobbyist.

The consensus: the worst thing about the loaf is its consistency, which one guinea pig likened to “something that’s been eaten before.”

“It’s not real tasty.”

“It doesn’t smell bad.”

“It’s awful.”

The recipe calls for carrots, spinach, black-eyed peas, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, grits, water and oats.

DOC’s loaves, baked at the nearby Wakulla Correctional Institution, had an overpowering smell of spinach and a mushy consistency with a bland taste that, while far from a gastronomical delight, did not induce a gag reflex when sniffed, chewed or swallowed.

But Crist said that, with a little gravy and heated up as the recipe calls for, most people probably wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the loaf and genuine meat loaf.

“I don’t find anything offensive about it,” Crist, R-Tampa, said, “but it’s not something I’d order off the menu.”

Food loaf. It’s what inmates hope isn’t for dinner.

As if prison food isn’t bad enough already, naughty inmates are fed a mystery “meat” called “food loaf.”

What exactly the loaf is made up of and what prisoners do to warrant the punishing meal isn’t clear either.

“Food loaf” is also known as called “meal management loaf,” “nutri-loaf” or “behavioral loaf in prison circles. In some prisons the concoction is made up of all of the day’s food put into a blender with some oats thrown in and baked into a loaf.

It is given in some prisons to unruly inmates who throw their food trays at correctional officers and was served in the past to Florida inmates with no utensils.

Currently, inmates in Vermont are suing prison officials over the use of the food loaf and which some states have banned.

Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa, asked Department of Corrections Chief of Staff Richard Prudhom at this morning’s Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations meeting morning to give her, in writing, the caloric value of the mystery package and the department policy on offenses that result in the loaf.

Prudhom said he will report back.

The state spends $2.33 a day for three meals and a snack on the 100,000 prisoners behind bars.

State Sen. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, picked up an endorsement this morning from Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler. Gelber and fellow Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, are competing in a primary for their party’s attorney general nomination.

Seiler and Gelber were close friends during their time together in the Florida House. Seiler said he prefers to stay out of primaries, but felt compelled to make this endorsement. “We need to make sure that Alex Sink has the right person sitting next to her on the Florida Cabinet,” Seiler wrote in his endorsement, which you can read here.

Gelber’s backers have also been excited about the endorsement last week from state Sen. Arthenia Joyner, D-Tampa. They point out that Joyner is from the politically crucial I-4 corridor, she’s a long-time civil rights activist and is also the first state senator to pick sides in the battle between the two members of that chamber.

Read Joyner’s endorsement here.

Rep. Steve Precourt, R-Orlando, logs on to www.PostOnPolitics.com during House session Friday to read the grand jury indictment of former House Speaker Ray Sansom, R-Destin. (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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