Maxwell: Gray left legacy of influence, independence and encouragement

Today we're covering a few topics of the normal, nonsensical variety - including a look at the state's ridiculously drawn-out crusade against colorful chalk users and shameful behavior at "Alligator Alcatraz."

But before we address the maddening, I wanted to offer a final toast to a legal titan Central Florida lost last week.

Charlie Gray was best known as the founder of the powerhouse law firm, GrayRobinson, and has been appropriately feted for his long list of civic accomplishments.

But I wanted to recognize Gray for two things he did later in life - lifting up others and raising his voice when others in power remained silent.

Back in 2018, after a shooter slaughtered and maimed dozens of students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Gray wanted to do more than offer thoughts and prayers. So he decided to take a stand.

Though Gray was a proud gun owner and long-time member of the NRA, the Republican attorney said he could no longer sit idly by and watch the gun group lobby for the world to have more high-capacity weapons meant for human slaughter.

So he marched down to the Orange County Sheriff's Office and not only surrendered his own AR-15, but also his membership in the NRA.

"I am returning my membership card, and you can consider this letter my resignation from the NRA," Gray wrote. "Your organization is a major stumbling block to passing reasonable legislation to stop the killing of innocent people by military assault weapons."

Gray's actions, which he took alongside his wife and fellow gun owner, Saundra, made statewide news. And it meant much more than the shallow tweets posted by lickspittle lawmakers who continued doing the gun lobby's bidding.

Orlando attorney blasts the NRA, turns in AR-15

That was a high-profile move. Yet in retirement, Gray also acted behind the scenes.

Three years ago, when I asked readers to nominate people for that year's list of "10 People Who Make Central Florida a Better Place to Live," Gray was one of the first to respond.

He wanted to recognize Eddy Moratin, the CEO of LIFT Orlando, a nonprofit that provides affordable housing for Central Florida's working class and generally tries to strengthen neglected neighborhoods. Gray knew the well-heeled in this town had plenty of advocates. He wanted to celebrate someone fighting for those in need.

I thought it was a fine suggestion and highlighted Moratin - who went on to be named the Orlando Sentinel's "Central Floridian of the Year" just a few weeks ago.

Combined, those two vignettes help show that true leaders aren't remembered for the easy decisions they make to appease the powerful, but for their courageous stances that sometimes shatter the peace and the quiet moves they make when no one's watching.

Civic and legal titan Charles Gray, 94, helped shape Central Florida

‘Alcatraz' injustices

Speaking of so-called "leaders" who duck tough issues, let's talk about "Alligator Alcatraz."

Story after story has been written about people who were whisked away to this detention center in the Everglades and then denied due process - everything from access to attorneys to stated charges for which they were supposedly being imprisoned.

Well, when it comes to legacies, history will not be kind to those in power who have sat idly by while these list of injustices mounted.

Let's be clear: One can obviously oppose illegal immigration. Most people do. You can not, however, oppose due process and basic constitutional rights … not while calling yourself a patriot anyway.

In the Miami Herald's latest story - "Florida doesn't want to pay $180,000 for court-ordered phones at Alligator Alcatraz" - the state gave all sorts of whiny excuses about why it hadn't installed pay phones that a court specifically ordered, so that detainees can reach their attorneys.

First of all, court orders aren't optional. Neither is honoring constitutional rights.

Second, this whining about $180,000 comes from an administration run by Gov. Ron DeSantis that has blown through hundreds of millions of tax-dollars on this makeshift prison, including $92 million for a single porta-potty company.

Maxwell: $92 million for porta-potties? Big spending at ‘Alligator Alcatraz'

The Herald noted the $180,000 cost for pay phones was "less than a third of what the state has paid a private law firm to argue against expanded phone access at the site…”

Maybe this is all just one big joke to the crony contractors and political profiteers. But the full story will ultimately be told about both the money spent and rights denied. And the politicians in charge would do well to consider how they’ll be remembered.

Chalk ‘crimes'

Speaking of wasted money and trampled rights, the Orlando Sentinel also reported that State Attorney Monique Worrell dropped charges against six people who’d been accused of criminal chalking, saying the cases lacked merit.

You probably remember the story. DeSantis was waging his war against rainbow-colored crosswalks last year when his administration decided to stage a middle-of-the-night erasure of the crosswalk meant to honor 49 slaughtered souls near the former Pulse nightclub.

Well, after the state blacked-out the rainbows, a handful of Central Floridians used chalk - water soluble, easy-to-remove chalk - to put color back on the street. And state troopers arrested them for it.

One of the more suspicious things about the arrests was that, to make the charges seem more serious - felonious even - the Florida Department of Transportation claimed it had to spend $1,562 to remove the chalk.

If you claim you can’t clean up chalk for less than $1,500, you're either incompetent or a liar. Most parents have done it with nothing more than a garden hose … and never saw their kids arrested.

In fact, the Sentinel reported that Worrell noted a heavy rainfall dissolved the chalk in one instance. She also cited flimsy evidence, selective law enforcement and First Amendment rights as reasons her office couldn't prosecute the cases.

The charges were dumb from the get-go. But they were also nefarious. This was the state trying to use the strong-arm of law enforcement to literally imprison citizens who didn't support the governor's attempts to erase a tribute to murder victims.

The legacies left on this one will be very clear as well.

DeSantis defends Pulse crosswalk arrests

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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 3:19 PM.