Florida Sentinel Bulletin

A gifted Florida teenager has made history across the pond.

Gabrielle Turnquest, from Windermere, has demonstrated superior academic prowess to become the youngest person to qualify as a barrister in the U.K.

She was called to the Bar of England and Wales after passing her exams with flying colors at just 18.

What makes this achievement even more extraordinary is that the average lawyer undertakes the notoriously rigorous Bar Professional Training Course when they are 27, according to The University of Law records.

“I am honored to be the youngest person to pass the Bar exams but, really, I was not aware at the time what the average age was,” the 18-year-old said in an interview. “I didn’t fully realize the impact of it.”

The high-flying teen, who aspires to be a fashion law specialist, took the course at the University of Law, along with her older sister Kandi, who also passed the exams at the age of 22

Folding to revolutionary pressure, Florida lawmakers announced last Friday that they will hold hearings this fall on the state’s controversial and racially biased “Stand Your Ground”  laws.

Will Weatherford, the speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives, made the announcement, which marks the largest victory to date for the bold and courageous ‘Dream Defenders.’

“Across Florida, representatives are receiving calls, letters, visits and emails from constituents with diverse opinions on ‘Stand Your Ground,’” Weatherford said. “Passions are high, but every person has the right to express their views on this matter of great importance.”

STARKE, Fla. — A man convicted of murdering eight people in Miami-Dade County in the late 1970s was executed Monday night, despite his lawyers’ pleas that he was too mentally ill to be put to death.

John Errol Ferguson, 65, died following a lethal injection.

The execution came less than two hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a final request for a stay.

Ferguson made a brief statement before 25 witnesses, including family members of the victims.

“I just want everyone to know that I am the prince of God and will rise again,” he said calmly.

His lawyer Christopher Handman said Monday that Ferguson “is insane and incompetent for execution by any measure.”

President Barack Hussein Obama was born August 4, 1961 and is celebrated his 52nd birthday Sunday.

President Obama has met many challenges during his tenure in the White House, but he has accomplished a lot for Americans as well.

The White House Commemmorates 50-Year Anniversary Of Lawyers’ Committee For Civil Rights

Last Friday was the 50th anniversary of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.

The Lawyers’ Committee is a non-profit organization that has made efforts to use bar-certified lawyers to do pro bono work to help combat racial discrimination in the courtroom.

President John F. Kennedy urged people to support equality under the law, and commissioned the group in 1963.

Since then, the Lawyers’ Committee has achieved significant results in providing disadvantaged people and issues affecting them with meaningful representation.

President Kennedy was not the only president to recognize the achievements of this organization. The White House released a statement that said President Obama will commemorate the anniversary by holding a reception in the East Room.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  — John Edward Allen, a New Mexico veteran who served as a Tuskegee Airman during World War II and later earned honors for his Air Force service during the Vietnam War, died last Tuesday after a long battle with cancer.

The NAACP Albuquerque Chapter President Harold Bailey said Allen died from multiple myeloma. He was 84.

A long-time resident of New Mexico after retiring, Allen was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Forces right out of high school in Live Oak, Fla., in 1945.

At 17, he was assigned to the 332nd Fighter Wing of the Tuskegee Airmen — a group that broke racial barriers in World War II by becoming the first black aviators in the U.S. military.

He did not see combat in World War II, but he later received the Air Force Commendation Medal for assisting in de-arming two dozen 500-pound bombs that were dropped from the wing of a B-52 being prepared for a Vietnam War mission.

Pictured: In a Feb. 21, 2013 photo, Tuskegee Airman John Allen, right, of Rio Rancho, N.M. during is applauded by World War II veteran Tom Dailey at the Capitol Rotunda in Santa Fe, N.M, on Thursday February 21, 2013. Allen died Tuesday, July 30, 2013, of multiple myeloma. He was 84. 

The bus driver accused of losing control while he was on the phone, causing him to crash into a light pole that fell and killed a baby girl in New Jersey is also a full-time bus operator for the MTA in New York City.

Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the MTA, confirmed on Friday that Idowu Daramola, 48, is a probationary bus operator who had been reporting to an NYC Transit depot. All MTA bus drivers are probationary for their first year of service.

Daramola was driving a jitney bus in West New York on Tuesday when, according to the Hudson County Sheriff’s Office, he was using his phone behind the wheel and hit a light pole.

The pole crashed down on top of a baby stroller, killing 8-month-old Angelie Paredes.

Dominican man Geraldo Ramos hasn’t the slightest clue, but told a TV station that he woke up with no penis after blacking out drunk the night before.

The 64-year-old says he simply cannot recall the point in between being very inebriated and getting rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery on his dismembered “member.”

Neighbors offered a little clarity, and claim that a drunken, naked Ramos was attacked by a dog.

ission.

AL SHARPTON AND PRES. BARACK OBAMA

Politics Nation host and National Action Network founder, Rev. Al Sharpton, released the following statement after meeting with President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder regarding the recent dismantling of the historic — and still necessary — Voting Rights Act of 1965:

The United States President and Attorney General met with a broad coalition of civil rights and voting rights leaders to assure us that they will continue to work with us to protect every American’s right to vote.

ATTY. GEN. ERIC HOLDER

On Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder referenced the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in a speech to the National Urban League at the organization’s annual convention in Philadelphia.

Speaking indirectly to Texas lawmakers, AG Holder is turning his attention on the state and asking it to approve any changes to voting rules with the Justice Department via the “preclearance” rule.

Holder is clear that