Governor Rick Scott and protesters camped outside his Capitol office continued their impasse Monday. Scott repeated there will be no special session to review the state's controversial "stand your ground" law, a view supported by Republicans in the GOP-dominated Legislature.
Meanwhile, members of the Dream Defenders, a student-led group that has protested at the Capitol since last Tuesday, said they're busy making plans for the rest of this week and beyond. That was after Scott sent Department of Juvenile Justice Secretary Wansley Walters to chat with students for several hours Monday.
"Many of the concerns you all brought to him are concerns that he feels very strongly about, that he shares", Walters said.
The protesters, many of them students, started 100 strong last Tuesday. Over the weekend, 24 remained in a first-floor hallway of the Capitol, outside Scott's office, under the watch of Capitol police.
Jacksonville resident Ciara Taylor of the Dream Defenders says calling a special session should not be a partisan issue.
"What we need to really do to sort of bring in more support from the right, is to let them know that it isn’t a party thing; it’s a people thing", Taylor said. "It’s protecting our children and protecting our future here in Florida."
In addition to their opposition to the "stand your ground" law, the students have tried to leverage the attention they're getting to discuss other juvenile justice laws, such as a zero-tolerance policy in schools.