Dog dreams may be dashed

If you thought things couldn’t get crazier in Florida, think again. Senate minority leader Lauren Book has sponsored a bill that forbids dogs from doing the most dog thing ever – sticking their heads out of car windows. It includes other provisions relative to animal welfare, like declawing, cosmetic animal testing, and animal abuser registration, but the doggy joy ride provision appears to have taken the cake (off the counter when your back was turned).

Senate Bill 932 provides for a variety of canine transportation do’s and don’ts, like not holding your dog on your lap or in “such a position as to interfere with the person’s control over the driving mechanism…while the person is operating the motor vehicle on a public roadway.” That one makes sense, especially given the increase in distracted driver laws. The common sense continues with not allowing a dog to ride in front of you on your motorcycle, or transport a pup on your roof, hood, fender, running board, trunk or cargo space. After that, it gets a little hairy.

The proposed bill states that a person may not “[a]llow a dog to extend its head or any other body part outside a motor vehicle window while the person is operating the motor vehicle on a public roadway.” I think everyone agrees that a dog (or anything else) should not be dangling out of a window, but taking away Fido’s ability to live his best dog life, his ears flapping in the wind, smelling all the smells, seems pawsitively crazy.

Yes, there are risks to Fido sticking his head out of a window, like accidentally stepping on the automatic window button, but the window locks can be engaged. Things may fly in his face and eyes, which can cause harm, but there are doggy goggles he could wear. If there is an accident, the dog may be launched from the vehicle, but most people do not secure their dog inside of their car, so this can happen anyway. A person who is found to have violated that portion of the proposed law would be issued a non-criminal traffic infraction.

Not surprisingly, people have a bone to pick with Senator Book for supporting the bill. Riding in a car with their head out of the window is something that is intrinsically linked to being a dog, their mouths gaping wide with excitement and thrill. Their lives are so much shorter than ours, and because of that, we want to give them the freedom to experience things before they cross rainbow bridge. Forbidding this pleasure would be too ruff to handle.

California law offers protection for artists' lyrics

Music has always been a creative outlet for individuals to showcase their talent and imagination by creating songs others can enjoy. Creators frequently take artistic liberty with lyrics, keeping people guessing as to the real meaning behind the song, like “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, while simultaneously generating a lot of buzz.

Lyrics that refer to criminal activity are certainly nothing new to the industry, with some referencing true events. Others, however, are simply tongue in cheek and have no basis in reality.

California became the first state in the nation to restrict the use of rap lyrics in court when Assembly Bill 2799 unanimously passed and was signed into law by Governor Newsom in late 2022. The law states “[i]n any criminal proceeding where a party seeks to admit as evidence a form of creative expression, the court, while balancing the probative value of that evidence against the substantial danger of undue prejudice” must consider specific factors. The court must also make this determination “outside the presence and hearing of the jury.”

Rap music has impacted racial bias already existing in the judicial system, as the primary producers of this genre are Black men. Many lyrics are told from a first-person perspective, leading prosecutors to argue that the words are self-incriminating, using them as evidence against the accused. Rapper Young Thug’s 2022 Georgia RICO indictment included his and other defendants’ social media postings, images and song lyrics.

The law applies to multiple forms of creative expression, including music videos, offering artists broader protection. The goal is to reduce racial bias in California’s criminal courts, and frankly this is something needed in all 50 states. New York proposed a similar bill, but it did not receive approval by the State Assembly.

Racial bias and prejudice in the court system is a serious and long-standing issue. By passing laws like this, the hope is that other states follow suit and thoroughly investigate how it can take action. Doing so would be music to all of our ears.