Florida Legislators Consider Vote on Free Speech Bill
By Tyler Childress
The summer of 2020 saw nationwide civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. Largely peaceful demonstrations against police brutality gave way to violence and rioting as tensions increased between protesters, extremist groups, and police. But while cities like Portland, Ore., were embroiled in conflict, a controversial new bill was being introduced in Florida that would throw into question the future of free assembly.
In September 2020, Gov. Ron DeSantis introduced House Bill 1, known as the Combating Violence, Disorder, and Looting and Law Enforcement Protection Act. This legislation would increase the penalties for crimes committed during protests and would also lower funding to Florida cities that attempt to defund police precincts. The bill has drawn large support from Republican legislators in Florida, while drawing the ire of Democrats and advocacy groups as similar bills are being considered, and in some cases passed, in states around the country.
Republicans in the Florida state legislature are largely in favor of the bill, arguing that it would better protect citizens who are exercising their First Amendment right to free assembly by imposing harsher penalties on those who would initiate violence at protests. Democrats are largely in opposition of the bill, including Rep. Michael Grieco, a ranking Democrat in the Criminal Justice Subcommittee. For Grieco, the bill introduced by Gov. Ron DeSantis is an entirely partisan piece of legislation.
“It’s pure red meat for Republicans in Florida”, argues Grieco, explaining that the bill is just a tool for Republicans to criminalize protesting by imposing harsher penalties on what are already punishable crimes.
The text of the bill supports this theory, with some sections outlining punishments for those who don’t engage in any sort of destruction but are merely in attendance at a protest that turns violent.
“It [the bill] creates a scenario where one bad actor, who can be a plant, can take a peaceful protest and turn it into a riot”, says Grieco.
There are in fact documented cases of agent provocateurs who have sparked destruction at otherwise peaceful protests. In some cases, these outside agitators have been police. Grieco also explains the chilling effect that this bill will have on future protests.
“The whole point of the bill is to prevent free speech”, says Grieco, adding that he has been meeting weekly with members of the ACLU and other organizations that are concerned with H.B. 1’s passage.
Among the advocacy groups that have come out in opposition of H.B. 1 is the Center for Biological Diversity, a national organization concerned with environmental and wildlife protection.
“The bill, the way that it’s drafted, would undermine folks that are trying to exercise their First Amendment rights”, says CBD Director Jaclyn Lopez, who emphasizes that this bill will affect all social groups who want to gather in protest.
While it is true that the bill’s draft that can be found on the Florida Senate website does not show enforcement preference to any specific group, there is other language in the text that would allow prevent any sort of avenue of assembly for would-be protesters within municipalities.
“Your local government would be stripped of the ability to even allow you to peacefully assemble”, says Lopez.
Section 2, subsection 3 of the bill supports this assertion by striking out a provision which would have allowed “permits for the use of any street, road, or right-of way not maintained by the state” to be issued by local governments. To Lopez, imposing these types of restraints on local governments which impede peaceful assembly is fundamentally anti-American.
“When people talk about the freedoms that our soldiers die for, that’s what they’re talking about, our ability to communicate back to our government when we want change”, says Lopez.
Despite the opposition from Democrats and advocacy groups, the bill’s support within the Republican-controlled state legislature remains the dominant force, with Rep. Michael Grieco believing that that there is a “100 percent chance” it will be passed into law. Republican supporters of the legislation maintain that it will have an overall positive effect on protesting. Law enforcement organizations across the state have also come out in support of the bill, including the Florida Fraternal Order of Police.
“It’s meant to create protections”, says FOP Lobbyist Lisa Henning, explaining that, “Concepts and ideas that make it a deterrent for people to become violent in the midst of a protest is not only safer for the cops, but it’s safer for the protesters”.
While Henning affirms that the FOP is supportive of the bill, she says that the overall effect that the legislation will have on the right to free assembly is not within police officers’ purview to determine.
“You cannot have the officer make those type of decisions, they just have to follow what the law is”, explains Henning, and insists that the enforcement of this law won’t damage the right to peaceful assembly.
“I think that people are still going to have a voice, they’re still going to have the ability to protest, they’re just going to have to do it within the terms of the law”, says Henning.
H.B. 1 is currently making its way through the Florida House subcommittees and, if sent through, will be voted on by the state senate before being presented to Gov. DeSantis for passage. The passage of this bill makes has Florida Democrats, citizens, and advocacy groups concerned about the future of the right to free assembly, with many worried that this fundamental right will be stifled by the new legislation.
“It’s not clear to me yet, how it will be affected, but I think it will have the effect of making people not wanting to participate in protests”, says Jaclyn Lopez.
