Editorial: How Florida can honor the Stoneman Douglas families

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, South Florida Sun Sentinel
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School is too big and too tragic for current law.

Circuit Court Judge Patti Englander Henning ruled last week that the Broward County School District had no duty to warn students and faculty that Nikolas Cruz could present a threat. It was the latest frustration for survivors and victims’ families who have sought to hold someone accountable.

Their frustration is understandable. The Florida Supreme Court previously ruled that, under state liability statutes, the deaths of 17 people and the wounding of 17 others qualifies only as a single incident. The school district thus could have to pay no more than $300,000 — split among all the families.

Sadly, bureaucratic ineptitude is not actionable. When it came to Cruz, the school district committed plenty of it.

District officials lost track of Cruz after he was assigned to a program for troubled students. After the shooting, the district tried to cover up its mistakes. Yet Englander’s ruling seems correct.

As the judge wrote in her ruling, “Plaintiffs wish to place on trial the district’s programs arguing that but for (italics ours) the ineffective special programs instituted for Cruz and other students with like tendencies, he would not have bought a gun nor have attended Marjory Stoneman Douglas nor used the weapon at Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

“Knowing how poorly he was progressing with modified school programs, the district should have predicted his future criminality – specifically that he would one day enter the school (where he had not been in attendance for over a year) and commit the unimaginable violence that he did.”

Englander called the allegations “an impermissible stacking of inferences.” As she explained:

“There is no foundation for the argument that if Cruz had been sent to a different program, and if he had been treated as a higher threat years before the incident, and if he had been criminally charged years earlier so he’d have been convicted and could not buy or own a gun, and if he had never been permitted to attend Marjory Stoneman Douglas, then he would not have been on this campus and would never have committed the crime.”

Each is a tempting scenario to explain that horrible afternoon. For every scenario of failure by the school district that the families raise, however, there’s another scenario.

Example: Why did Florida fail to ban the sale of military-style weapons — meant to inflict mass casualties as quickly as possible — before Cruz bought one? Why did the Legislature ban sales of such weapons to those under 21 only after the Stoneman Douglas shooting?

Example: Why didn’t the FBI follow up more aggressively on two tips that Cruz might shoot up a school? A month after the shooting, the bureau issued a statement that read, in part, “As the FBI Director has made clear, the FBI could have and should have done more to investigate the information it was provided prior to the shooting. While we will never know if any such investigative activity would have prevented this tragedy, we clearly should have done more.”

Example: Why didn’t the Florida Department of Children and Families investigate Cruz more thoroughly? In 2016, DCF responded because Cruz was displaying erratic behavior, according to his mother. DCF closed the case after determining that he posed no danger to himself and was adequately cared for.

Another “if only” concerns Scott Peterson, the school resource officer. The disgraced former Broward sheriff’s deputy did not enter the building even after shots were fired.

That “if only” prompted the Broward County State Attorney’s Office to file 11 criminal charges against Peterson. Most accuse of him child neglect. The indictment, however, seems like overreach.

Prosecutors did not argue that even prompt action by Peterson could have saved the victims killed on the first floor of the 1200 Building. The allegation is that Peterson could have saved the six who died on the third floor.

As his attorneys responded, however, Peterson would have had just 73 seconds to reach the third floor and prevent the killings. Before getting there, he would have had to secure classrooms, bathrooms and teachers lounges on the first and second floors. Two years ago, a man in Dayton, Ohio, armed with a similar weapon, killed nine people in 26 seconds.

The families still can go after the school district in court. They could seek claims bills for higher payments through the Legislature, though that process can take years and usually requires claimants to hire lobbyists.

It has been an especially torturous time for those who lost loved ones at Stoneman Douglas. As Sunday’s three-year anniversary of the shootings approached, they had to endure the rantings of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene that the shooting was a “false flag.” They had to watch all but 11 House Republicans refuse to strip Greene of her committee assignments.

But the Legislature could respect the Stoneman Douglas families — and change Florida for the better — by revising the state’s outdated sovereign immunity law. Doing so would require the Legislature to focus less on issues like allowing guns in churches and removing the license requirement for carrying concealed weapons.

Could Florida shift away from those priorities? If only.

___

Latest Stories

  • Lindsey Graham claims GOP will try to impeach Kamala Harris

    Senator falsely claims vice president bailed out ‘rioter’ who later ‘broke somebody’s head open’

  • Devastation as 500 tanker blast destroys Afghanistan-Iran customs post

    A catastrophic explosion and fire at an Afghan customs depot has destroyed hundreds of fuel tankers and caused traders tens of millions of pounds of losses. A series of blasts hurled lorries hundreds of yards into the air and deposited the crumpled remains of fuel tanks as far as half a mile from the blast site. Nasa satellites could reportedly see the blast from space and the fire was so intense that Afghan officials appealed to neighbouring Iran for help. The blast on the Iranian border in Western Afghanistan destroyed as much as $50 million worth of vehicles and goods, the local chamber of commerce said. “It's a huge catastrophe for the private sector,” said Younis Qazizada, a spokesman for the chamber. Health officials in the nearby city of Herat said only 17 people had been injured, but with the customs depot entirely incinerated, there were fears bodies would only be found later. The cause of the blast was unknown, officials said. “The devastation is much higher than we imagined,” said Mr Qazizada. “There's no infrastructure remaining at all.” Some estimates put the number of destroyed fuel tankers as high as 500. The blast site was still smouldering on Sunday. Electricity pylons had been knocked down by the force of the blast and the highway next to the depot was blocked by incinerated vehicles. Crowds looted many of the remaining lorries and on Sunday there were repeated bursts of gunfire as soldiers tried to keep order. Local traders blamed delays by customs officials for building a dangerous backlog of tankers are the border. Iranian state media said the country had sent several helicopters, 11 fire engines and 21 ambulances to the scene after requests for help from the local governor. Units of the Iranian Army's Ground Force were also sent to the border area and the Iranian police were drafted into rescue operations.

  • The curious case of the fugitive drug 'kingpin' who outran his charges

    After three decades on the run, Howard Farley Jr. was arrested in Florida, where he had been hiding in plain sight.

  • Nigeria's president calls for calm after clashes in southwest Oyo state

    Clashes between traders from the Yoruba and Hausa ethnic groups broke out on Saturday at Shasha market in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo, the state governor's spokesman said. Most Yoruba live in southwestern Nigeria, while the Hausa are concentrated in northern states. Tensions have increased in southwestern states in recent weeks amid claims by public figures that nomadic cattle herders from the mainly northern Fulani ethnic group are carrying out violent crimes, which the pastoralists have denied.

  • Thailand's pro-democracy protesters clash with police

    Pro-democracy protesters in Thailand clashed with police Saturday night while seeking the release of four comrades awaiting trial on charges of defaming the monarchy. After the four protest representatives returned from the shrine, organizers declared an end to the rally and the crowd began to disperse.

  • ‘The last straw’: the US families ending love affair with grocery chain after Capitol riot

    Families are boycotting Publix after a member of founding family donated $300,000 to the Donald Trump rally that preceded January’s deadly Capitol attack Florida-based grocery chain operates more than 1,200 stores across seven south-eastern states. Photograph: Larry Marano/REX/Shutterstock Wendy Mize’s family grew up on Publix, disciples to the giant supermarket chain’s empirical marketing slogan: “Where shopping is a pleasure”. As infants, her three daughters wore diapers bought from the Publix baby club. As children, they munched on free cookies from the bakery. There were even perks for the family’s pets, who are proud members of Publix Paws. But now the decades-long love affair is over. After a member of Publix’s founding family donated $300,000 to the Donald Trump rally that preceded January’s deadly Capitol riots, Mize is pulling out of what she says has become “an abusive, dysfunctional relationship”, and joining others in a boycott of the Florida-based grocery chain that operates more than 1,200 stores across seven south-eastern states. “It was the last straw,” said Mize, 57, an advertising copywriter from Orlando whose youngest twin daughters are now 19. “Insurrection at the Capitol, images of the police officer with his head being crushed, individuals dressed as Vikings on the floor of the Senate… we’re not going to call this normal. [Publix] are a private company and it is their business how they want to contribute their money, but it’s also my right to decide where I want to spend my dollars.” Publix is an institution in Florida, the company growing from Depression-era roots in the 1930s to a regional behemoth with 225,000 workers today, and its founding Jenkins family now worth $8.8bn, according to Forbes. It prides itself on a family-friendly image, luring customers with prominent buy-one-get-one deals and a range of popular sandwich subs, and boasts of being the largest employee-owned company in the US. Yet the company and its founders have donated often and generously to partisan, conservative causes, including more than $2m alone by Publix heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli, daughter of the late company founder George Jenkins, to the Republican National Committee and Trump’s failed re-election campaign. In a brief statement on 30 January, to date the company’s only comment about Fancelli, Publix attempted to distance itself from her. Yet her funding of the Trump gathering that formed the insurrection’s opening act, and revealed by the Wall Street Journal to have been channelled through the rightwing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, was just the latest in a series of controversies and missteps that left some shoppers holding their noses as they filled their carts, or others like Mize pulling out altogether. Three years ago, in the aftermath of the high school shooting in Parkland, Florida, that killed 17, Publix temporarily halted political donations after an outcry over its bankrolling of Adam Putnam, a self-confessed “proud National Rifle Association sellout”, for state governor. Parkland survivors, led by the activist David Hogg, and their supporters staged “die-ins” at Publix supermarkets in several locations, protesting the company’s donation of $670,000, through its political action committee, to Putnam’s campaign. Putnam, as Florida’s commissioner of agriculture, had strongly opposed stricter gun laws following the shooting. Publix donated donated $100,000 to a political action committee looking to secure Ron DeSantis’s re-election in 2022. Soon after, the governor awarded Publix a lucrative and exclusive contract to distribute Covid-19 vaccines in numerous stores. Photograph: Bob Self/AP He was also the state official responsible for regulating Publix’s 800 stores in Florida, but ended up losing the Republican primary to the current governor Ron DeSantis, a staunch Trump ally and another recipient of the company’s political benevolence. Earlier this year, Publix donated donated $100,000 to a political action committee looking to secure DeSantis’s re-election in 2022. Soon after, the governor awarded Publix a lucrative and exclusive contract to distribute Covid-19 vaccines in numerous stores. The governor’s office, which denied impropriety, has since added other retailers, including Walmart and Winn Dixie, to its approved distribution chain. But the controversy did not sit well with some observers. “This is, plain and simple, dirty pay-to-play politics, corruption made possible by having a manipulative governor who kept Covid-19 infection data secret and is now doing the same with vaccine distribution,” the Miami Herald columnist Fabiola Santiago wrote. “He isn’t working for us, but on behalf of his re-election campaign. And this is exactly the type of politician Publix aids and abets by financing their careers.” Others point to the juxtaposition of Publix being at the forefront of vaccine distribution in Florida while failing to enforce in-store mask wearing in some areas of the state, and defending a damaging wrongful death lawsuit from the family of an employee in Miami who died of Covid complications after being told not to wear a mask. A judge in Tampa last week threw out the company’s demand to reduce the lawsuit to a worker’s compensation claim after the company asked for 70-year-old deli worker Gerardo Gutierrez’s death last April to be classified as a workplace accident. Gutierrez’s family insists he contracted the infection from a colleague after employees were banned from wearing masks by workplace regulations later reversed. Publix has said it does not comment on pending litigation, and did not respond to other questions from the Guardian for this article. “They were very slow adapting to the pandemic, and the new pandemic rules,” said Craig Pittman, author of several books on Florida culture who has chronicled Publix’s rise to become the state’s premier grocery retailer. “But the thing with Publix is it does lots of little things that people like, they make a big deal of the fact they’ll carry your groceries to the car and won’t accept the tip, they give free cookies to the kids in the bakery, if you ask for a sample they’ll give it to you no questions asked. “So for a long time people have been willing to overlook some of the less savory aspects of the story, a number of sexual and racial discrimination lawsuits filed by employees, and this whole thing about them or their heirs donating to various politicians. “ Corporate messaging experts say Publix is walking a tightrope in its handling of the Fancelli crisis. “What Publix does is take the middle path, they minimize responsibility, and by noting that Mrs Fancelli’s actions were essentially those of a private citizen not involved in the company, they’re saying, ‘Look, we don’t have control here,” said professor Josh Scacco of the University of South Florida’s department of communication. “Publix assesses the situation as: ‘We don’t have responsibility, or responsibilities beyond guilt by association’. [But while] there is separation between the person at the checkout, the person behind the deli counter, the manager of a store, the CEO, and then the political action committee, ultimately they all come under the umbrella of Publix.” Scacco also believes the furore mirrors the increasingly partisan nature of corporate America, where even the purchase of guava and cheese square from a Publix bakery has become a political statement. “President Trump, for example, would tweet out support for a particular company and brand approval immediately polarized, Republicans like that company, Democrats dislike that company,” he said. “That is the risk that companies face being so closely tied to a particular leader or set of leaders. “It’s also partly why there was such a rush immediately after 6 January for many of these companies to say, ‘We are not donating to individuals in Congress who voted to overturn the election result, we’re just not going to do it’.” Mize, and her family, meanwhile, are working through their Publix break-up with a mixture of grief and relief. “This time I just thought, ‘Enough. It’s not going to be business as normal’.”

  • Authorities search for suspect in 2016 homicide after skeletal remains identified as missing Louisiana woman

    The remains were found in a rural area of Evangeline Parish, Louisiana during the search for a missing child in December 2018.

  • S.Korea cuts Q1 COVID-19 vaccination plan, restricts use of AstraZeneca shot

    South Korea said on Monday it will not use AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine on people aged 65 and older, reversing an earlier decision, and scaled back initial vaccination targets due to delayed shipments from global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX. South Korea had said it would complete vaccinations on 1.3 million people by the first quarter of this year with AstraZeneca shots, but it slashed the target sharply to 750,000. The decision is largely due to adjustments in the supply timetable of the 2.6 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from COVAX, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Monday.

  • Reports: Israeli strike near Syrian capital kills 6 fighters

    Israel fired several missiles early on Monday targeting areas near the Syrian capital, Damascus, Syria's state news agency reported. An opposition war-monitoring group said the strikes killed six Iran-backed fighters. The SANA news agency claimed that Syrian air defenses shot down most of the missiles, which it said were fired from Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

  • US cold snap: Why is Texas seeing Arctic temperatures?

    Freezing temperatures have been recorded across the usually hot southern US state.

  • Florida woman seeks charges dropped, claims self-defense in SWAT officer shooting

    Last September, Diamonds Ford was arrested for shooting a Jacksonville Sheriff SWAT team officer after law enforcement broke a window while serving a search warrant. The Jacksonville, Florida woman, who was woken the morning of Sept. 28 by the sound of glass breaking, is now asking that charges brought against her be dropped arguing that she was unaware that it was law enforcement attempting to enter her home when she fired gunshots through the window.

  • Wintry weather in US making rare dip to Gulf Coast

    Winter weather conditions are affecting large portions of the U.S., but it is rare for them to extend so far south. The storm is prompting canceled flights, making driving perilous and reaching into areas like Texas’ Gulf Coast. (Feb. 14)

  • Row over WHO Covid-19 probe escalates as China accuses U.S. of damaging cooperation

    The U.S. is "pointing fingers" at other countries who have been supportive of the WHO, Chinese embassy in Washington said in a statement Sunday.

  • At Camp David retreat, Biden hangs out, shows he's got game

    President Joe Biden spent his third week in office visiting the Pentagon, touring the National Institutes of Health and working on the administration’s COVID-19 response. It’s been used by every president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt first went there in 1943 as a personal hideaway and has been the site of major diplomatic negotiations and policy discussions throughout history, according to Michael Giorgione, who served as commander of Camp David for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush and wrote the book “Inside Camp David.”

  • Bendable concrete and other CO2-infused cement mixes could dramatically cut global emissions

    Bendable concrete created at the University of Michigan allows for thinner structures with less need for steel reinforcement. Joseph Xu/University of Michigan College of EngineeringOne of the big contributors to climate change is right beneath your feet, and transforming it could be a powerful solution for keeping greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. The production of cement, the binding element in concrete, accounted for 7% of total global carbon dioxide emissions in 2018. Concrete is one of the most-used resources on Earth, with an estimated 26 billion tons produced annually worldwide. That production isn’t expected to slow down for at least two more decades. Given the scale of the industry and its greenhouse gas emissions, technologies that can reinvent concrete could have profound impacts on climate change. As engineers working on issues involving infrastructure and construction, we have been designing the next generation of concrete technology that can reduce infrastructure’s carbon footprint and increase durability. That includes CO2-infused concrete that locks up the greenhouse gas and can be stronger and even bendable. The industry is ripe for dramatic change, particularly with the Biden administration promising to invest big in infrastructure projects and cut U.S. emissions at the same time. However, to put CO2 to work in concrete on a wide scale in a way that drastically cuts emissions, all of its related emissions must be taken into account. Rethinking concrete Concrete is made up of aggregate materials – primarily rocks and sand – along with cement and water. Because about 80% of concrete’s carbon footprint comes from cement, researchers have been working to find substitute materials. Industrial byproducts such as iron slag and coal fly ash are now frequently used to reduce the amount of cement needed. The resulting concrete can have significantly lower emissions because of that change. Alternative binders, such as limestone calcined clay, can also reduce cement use. One study found that using limestone and calcinated clay could reduce emissions by at least 20% while also cutting production costs. Apart from developing blended cements, researchers and companies are focusing on ways to use captured CO2 as an ingredient in the concrete itself, locking it away and preventing it from entering the atmosphere. CO2 can be added in the form of aggregates – or injected during mixing. Carbonation curing, also known as CO2 curing, can also be used after concrete has been cast. These processes turn CO2 from a gas to a mineral, creating solid carbonates that may also improve the strength of concrete. That means structures may need less cement, reducing the amount of related emissions. Companies such as CarbonCure and Solidia have developed technologies to use these processes for concrete poured at construction sites and in precast concrete, such as cinder blocks and other construction materials. Carbon dioxide can make up a significant percentage of concrete mass. Lucca Henrion/University of Michigan, CC BY-ND The Kitahama building, the tallest residential tower in Japan, is built with bendable concrete for earthquake resistance. MC681/Wikimedia Commons At the University of Michigan, we are working on composites that produce a bendable concrete material that allows thinner, less brittle structures that require less steel reinforcement, further reducing related carbon emissions. The material can be engineered to maximize the amount of CO2 it can store by using smaller particles that readily react with CO2, turning it to mineral. The CO2-based bendable concrete can be used for general buildings, water and energy infrastructure, as well as transportation infrastructure. Bendable concrete was used in the 61-story Kitahama tower in Osaka, Japan, and roadway bridge slabs in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The challenge of lifecycle emissions These cutting-edge technologies can start addressing concrete infrastructure’s carbon footprint, but barriers still exist. In a study published Feb. 8, three of us looked at the lifecycle emissions from infusing CO2 into concrete and found that estimates did not always account for emissions from CO2 capture, transportation and use. With colleagues, we came up with strategies for ensuring that carbon curing has a strong emissions benefit. Overall, we recommend developing a standard CO2 curing protocol. Lab experiments show that CO2 curing can improve concrete’s strength and durability, but results vary with specific curing procedures and concrete mixes. Research can improve the conditions and the timing of steps in the curing process to increase concrete’s performance. Electricity use – the largest emissions source during curing – can also be reduced by streamlining the process and possibly by using waste heat. [Deep knowledge, daily. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter.] Advanced concrete mixes, bendable concrete in particular, already begin to address these issues by increasing durability. Merging infrastructure and climate policy In 2020, a wide range of companies announced steps to reduce their emissions. However, government investment and procurement policies are still needed to transform the construction industry. Local governments are taking the first steps. “Low embodied carbon concrete” rules and projects to reduce the amount of cement in concrete have cropped up around the country, including in Marin County, California; Hastings-on-Hudson, New York; and a sidewalk pilot in Portland, Oregon. In New York and New Jersey, lawmakers have proposed state-level policies that would provide price discounts in the bidding process to proposals with the lowest emissions from concrete. These policies could serve as a blueprint for reducing carbon emissions from concrete production and other building materials. A lot of North American infrastructure is in a state of disrepair. Achim Herring/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Nationally, the crumbling of federally managed infrastructure has been a steadily growing crisis. The Biden administration could start to address those problems, as well as climate change, and create jobs through a strategic infrastructure program. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg recently declared that there were “enormous opportunities for job creation, equity and climate achievement when it comes to advancing America’s infrastructure.” Policies that elevate low-carbon concrete to a nationwide climate solution could follow.This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Lucca Henrion, University of Michigan; Duo Zhang, University of Michigan; Victor C. Li, University of Michigan, and Volker Sick, University of Michigan Read more:Biden plans to fight climate change in a way no U.S. president has done beforeWhat is climate-ready infrastructure? Some cities are starting to adapt Lucca Henrion works as a research fellow in the Global CO2 Initiative at the University of Michigan. He is a volunteer with the Open Air Collective. Duo Zhang works as an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan. He conducts research on carbon-sequestering concrete materials.Victor C. Li receives research funding from the Department of Energy (ARPA-E) and the Aramco Company. He is the James R. Rice Distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Professor Li directs the Center for Low Carbon Built Environment (CLCBE) at the University of Michigan.Volker Sick receives funding from the US Department of Energy and the Global CO2 Initiative at the University of Michigan.

  • Letter from Africa: How the Nairobi Expressway is changing Kenya's capital

    The building of an expressway in Kenya's capital could divide Nairobi in more ways than one.

  • One in custody in connection with suspected human smuggling incident

    In a chilling 911 call this week, a migrant told Texas dispatchers that he and about 80 others were trapped in a tank truck. They have not been found.

  • You may be eligible for more COVID stimulus money. Here’s how to get it

    You may be eligible for more stimulus money. We explain how.

  • Analysis: Trump will use his acquittal to relaunch political warfare

    Remember Sarah Palin? She lives in Alaska now, and you don't hear much about her. There are senior Republicans who hope Donald Trump will similarly become a voice at the fringes of the party, shouting into the wind, a subject for the occasional "Where are they now?" TV segment. But that is certainly not how the former president envisions his future, and the future of Republicanism. Instead, Mr Trump intends to use his impeachment trial as a launching pad for a forceful return to the political stage. Even if he does not run for the White House again himself he intends to dominate the landscape. Mr Trump is looking ahead to holding rallies, although that would not be "immediate," an adviser told The Sunday Telegraph. The former president plans to target his enemies and back Republican candidates loyal to him in next year's congressional elections, both financially and in person. He is sitting on an election war chest of $30 million, raised in the final months of his presidency. Mr Trump will probably also keep his profile high with paid speeches, which he is entitled to do as a private citizen, like Bill and Hillary Clinton before him. That could mean making appearances around the world - including the UK. He is also keen to look at new business ventures globally, including potentially new hotels. But a plan for a television station was said to have been rejected for now in favour of promoting existing supportive ones.

  • California woman, 78, dies after vaccination, though no sign of link

    "Her death does not appear to be related to the vaccine," said the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.