You paid $152k for DeSantis’ latest legal loss, another attempt to keep public info hidden | Commentary

Gov. Ron DeSantis removes his mask to answer questions during a press conference touting the expanded rollout of the Moderna vaccine for COVID-19, at Orlando Health South Seminole Hospital in Longwood, Fla., Monday, Jan. 4, 2021. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)

I’ve often argued that Floridians are subjected to such a steady stream of bonkers headlines that they get numb to news that would make most folks’ heads explode.

We saw another example this week when Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Department of Health agreed to settle a two-year lawsuit over its attempts to hide public data about COVID deaths by finally agreeing to release the data and paying $152,500 in legal fees.

Let’s stop here for a moment to recap what you just heard.

First of all, you had a public health department caught hiding public information — about human deaths, no less. That is not normal.

Then, when caught keeping secrets about the health data that was assembled with tax dollars, the agency used more public resources to wage a legal battle to try to continue keeping secrets.

Finally, when that agency ran out of legal options to defend its clearly indefensible behavior, it was forced to spend an additional $152,500 of your tax dollars paying the legal bills of Floridians who never should’ve had to hire attorneys in the first place.

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