U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Walker of the Northern District of Florida has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the state’s health department from moving forward with threats to criminally prosecute local TV stations for airing ads supporting abortion rights.

Walker issued the retaining order after finding the Florida government's threats would censor constitutionally protected political speech.

“To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid,” Walker wrote in his opinion.

The case involves the Florida Department of Health, which sent letters to local TV stations that threatened to bring criminal charges against stations for airing political ads supporting Amendment 4, a ballot proposition that would enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.

Prior to the letters, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, had been attempting to block the ballot measure. The state government has also been spending public money on ads defending the six-week abortion ban that the ballot measure would overturn.

The letter to stations, which can be found here, escalated that battle saying the pro-Amendment 4 ad was both “false” and “dangerous.” If the stations didn’t stop airing the ad, the Department of Health threatened to prosecute them for violating sanitary nuisance laws. Those statutes are typically used to prosecute people for things like overflowing septic tanks.

In response, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has issued a statement strongly condemning the threats as “dangerous” and for “undermining free speech.”

In his Oct. 17 ruling, Walker noted that Floridians are already voting on an amendment to the state constitution that would protect abortion rights titled “Amendment to Limit Government Interference with Abortion.“

“The State of Florida opposes Amendment 4 and has launched a taxpayer-funded campaign against it,“ Walker wrote. “Floridians Protecting Freedom Inc., the Plaintiff in this case has launched its own campaign in favor of Amendment 4. Plaintiff does not challenge the state’s right to spend millions of taxpayer dollars opposing Amendment 4. The rub, says Plaintiff, is that the state has crossed the line from advocating against Amendment 4 to censoring speech by demanding television stations remove Plaintiff’s political advertisements supporting Amendment 4 or face criminal prosecution.”

Walker agreed that the letters were, in fact, censoring political speech and issued a temporary restraining order. That order expires on Oct. 29, when the court will hold a hearing on issuing a preliminary injunction.

The chief financial officer of the state of Florida wants the FCC to “immediately halt any further utilization” of Wireless Emergency Alerts on a national level.

Jimmy Patronis, who also serves as the state’s fire marshal, addressed his letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. He took issue with use of the WEA platform to send the nationwide emergency text message to cellphones and wireless devices in early October:

“What was the point of that? Was it really necessary? The federal government scared about 70% of Americans with that alert, and in my opinion, this was government overreach at its finest,” Patronis wrote in the letter. (Read it here.) 

The FCC and FEMA conducted the national tests of WEA and EAS public warning systems on Oct. 4.

Patronis in his letter admonished the FCC for directly reaching out to citizens on their electronic devices. “I don’t like systems where the federal government can access Americans directly to their smartphones. Frankly, I don’t like the idea of any administration (regardless of party) having the ability to DM Americans without their permission,” Patronis wrote.

Patronis, a Republican, has served in Florida’s cabinet since 2017. According to his bio, Patronis is a fourth-generation Floridian who previously worked in his family’s restaurant business. He is a former member of the state legislature.

His letter continued: “Trust in our nation’s ruling class is at an all-time low and for good reason. In a time when the first and second branches of government should be reining in Big Tech and protecting the privacy of American citizens, Big Tech and Big Government seem to be indistinguishable. … In my opinion, there is absolutely zero reason that the federal government needs to notify millions of Americans at the exact same moment. It’s unreasonable that people on the West Coast need to be alerted about something going on in the East Coast,” he said.

Patronis says emergency alerting should be left to each state to handle. “State emergency management directors are more than capable of protecting and alerting their own citizens during emergencies without the federal government needlessly getting in the way.”

He concludes his letter: “I urge you as the chairwoman of the FCC and a fellow taxpayer to immediately halt any further utilization of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to your prompt response.”

Rosenworcel has sought to expand the capabilities of WEA by making them more accessible to people who don’t speak English or Spanish. In October the FCC adopted rules expanding the language capabilities of WEA by adding more bilingual alerts.

Replying on Friday to a Radio World request for comment, an FCC spokesperson wrote by email: “Life-saving emergency alert systems are the law, as is the requirement that FEMA conduct periodic nationwide tests, and they are responsible for setting the date and time of these tests. The FCC strongly supports emergency alerting, which save lives in communities across the country.”

The commission on its website describes Wireless Emergency Alerts as “an essential part of America’s emergency preparedness. Since its launch in 2012, the WEA system has been used more than 84,000 times to warn the public about dangerous weather, missing children and other critical situations—all through alerts on compatible cell phones and other mobile devices.” It notes that wireless companies volunteer to participate and that it is the result of a public/private partnership between the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the FCC and the wireless industry.

The letter produced some eyerolling on an EAS listserv maintained by the Society of Broadcast Engineers.

“I guess he is just unaware that we’ve had national alerting for at least 70 years, beginning with CONELRAD,” one engineer wrote. Another called his letter “political pandering … no, it’s scaremongering and nothing more.”

This article originally appeared on TV Tech sister brand Radio World. 

Petaluma, CA ­– Point Source Audio (PSA), will be displaying their patent-pending CO2 Confidence Collection, a new class of built-in redundant microphones, at this year’s Infocomm trade show being held June 12-14 in Orlando, FL.

The CO2 Confidence Collection all have dual elements, each measuring a tiny 3mm, that offer built-in redundancy and comes in three styles: headset, lavalier, and in Point Source Audio’s patented EMBRACE™ embodiment. The CO2 dual elements maintain two of the company’s signature features: IP 57 waterproof rating (rated against water, sweat and makeup), and the “unbreakable” headset boom bendable up to 360° to bolster durability.

The CO2 Confidence Collection, released in February 2019, has been gaining market acceptance as a convenient mic redundancy solution in their core theatre market as well as house of worship and corporate audio markets. Forty of PSA’s CO2 headsets were recently utilized for double mic’ing at the 2019 American Israeli Policy Conference (AIPAC) held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, in early March.

The CO2 headset microphones were also used at the recent USITT 2019 Stage Expo for the keynote speech and other high profile events. Jeff Polunas, Special Events Sound Coordinator for the USITT Sound Commission, incorporated the CO2 Confidence mics into his audio rigs saying, “I think they are top of the line products and anyone that would be using them would be happy to have them in their production.”

Attendees can see the full line of specialty miniature, body-worn style microphones and the patented EMBRACE™ earmounted lavalier, as well as in-ear audio headsets at the Infocomm booth 5443. For more information about Point Source Audio’s various audio solutions, visit www.point-sourceaudio.com.

About Point Source Audio
Point Source Audio (@PSA_audio) manufactures and distributes worldwide their SERIES8, EMBRACE, and CONFIDENCE collection of miniature microphones — a unique line of headset, earworn and earmounted microphones known for their robust bendable boom and waterproof features. The company also holds two patents for the EMBRACE concealable microphone as well as the patent for the world’s first modular in-ear comms headset that is supporting the hearing health for audio, lighting and camera techs using headsets everywhere from sports to space. Founded in 2004, Point Source Audio is headquartered in Petaluma, California. For more information call (415) 226-1122 or visit www.point-sourceaudio.com. Follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/PSA_audio.

The 2017 hurricane season has been especially lethal with Harvey and Irma wreaking havoc of historic proportions across wide swaths of the U.S. most notably in Texas and Florida.

As devastating as the loss of life and destruction of personal property has been, there have been countless inspiring human interest stories amid the tragedy. We’ve seen and heard tales of sacrifice, heroism, and valor among ordinary citizens and first responders to these storms. As is always the case when hardship hits the U.S., the best in our fellow citizens comes out in spades.

Our traditional first responders—police, fire, National Guard, EMT’s, doctors and nurses—rose to the occasion for the victims of Harvey and Irma. These heroes put the safety and well-being of the community ahead of everything else, including their own families. These brave and selfless men and women not only deserve our recognition, they demand our respect.

Another critically important group that unites our communities during natural disasters are the local broadcasters of the U.S. In the case of Harvey and Irma, it was the local radio and TV broadcasters in Texas and Florida, who were there for the local markets when the storms unleashed their fury.

When the people of Texas and Florida needed credible information on Harvey and Irma, local broadcasters stepped up to the plate to provide it in a way no one-person blog or non-local search engine could ever accomplish. The technology provided by local broadcasters during Harvey and Irma enabled millions of residents to find safe havens and clearly saved lives in the process. Only local broadcasters and local meteorologists were able to talk to the specific neighborhoods and towns in harm’s way to lead people to safety.

The local broadcasters were at the forefront to educate, inform, comfort, console and most importantly, protect the public before, during, and after Harvey and Irma. Their free, over-the-air signals were the epicenter of crucial news and information to help lead people to safety. When their communities needed them most, local broadcasters responded with bi-lingual, commercial free and around the clock coverage on their linear, digital and social platforms.

Local broadcasters trumped anything the national news media could provide because these storms were, in essence, local stories. Trusted TV and Radio brands and personalities were what people needed and the local broadcasters of Texas and Florida were there for them at every turn. Perhaps most importantly, local broadcasters stayed behind in the markets they serve when the cable news networks folded up their tents and left town. Local broadcasters across the U.S. are there for their communities for the long haul.

It’s inevitable that we will face future natural (and unnatural) disasters. Wherever and whenever they might happen, our local TV and radio broadcasting groups will be ready with their free, over-the-air, streaming, digital and social platforms to provide the most comprehensive coverage for the local community and the nation.

Paul Curran is market VP for Cox Media Group Orlando consisting of WFTV TV (ABC), WRDQ TV (Ind), News 96.5 WDBO, K92.3, Star 94.5, Power 96.5, WMMO 98.9, ESPN 580, Solo Exidos 107.3, and Cox Events.

Mark Krieschen is VP & market manager for Cox Media Group Houston: KKBQ (93Q), Country Legends 97.1, The Eagle 106.9 &107.5, and CMG Local Digital Solutions.

This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.