The bill, called HB1: Combating Public Disorder, requires felony-level penalties for practicing violent or unlawful assemblies, stopping traffic during unpermitted protests, and for destroying or toppling monuments, according to a fact sheet from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. It also ramps up criminal punishments for attacking police officers during riots, increases liability for anyone who organizes or funds a violent or disorderly assembly, and makes it easier for victims of riots to sue local governments for damages. The bill also says that local governments cannot cut their police budget without approval from the state.
It now heads to the desk of DeSantis, who is expected to pass it into law. “This legislation strikes the appropriate balance of safeguarding every Floridian’s constitutional right to peacefully assemble, while ensuring that those who hide behind peaceful protest to cause violence in our communities will be punished,” DeSantis said in a statement.
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The measure has drawn strong emotions, with proponents seeing it as a welcome step toward asserting law and order and supporting law enforcement in answering to protest-related violence. Opposers see it as an action meant to suppress dissent that would have a harsh effect on legitimate protests.
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Micah Kubic, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida, called the bill “racist, unconstitutional, and anti-democratic, plain and simple.”
“It is clear that Gov. DeSantis and certain legislative members are aiming to shut down political speech they disagree with in a direct attack on the First Amendment and at the cost of Black and Brown people. This bill is a disgrace to our state,” Kubic added.
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“Rights have limits, and violence is where the line is drawn,” said Republican state Sen. Danny Burgess, who carried the bill in the state Senate. “This bill is about preventing violence.”
HB1: "Combating Public Disorder; Authorizing specified elected officials to file an appeal to the Administration Commission if the governing body of a municipality makes a specified reduction to the operating budget of the municipal law enforcement agency; providing that a municipality has a duty to allow the municipal law enforcement agency to respond to a riot or unlawful assembly in a specified manner based on specified circumstances; reclassifying the penalty for an assault committed in furtherance of a riot or an aggravated riot; prohibiting cyber intimidation by publication; prohibiting a person from willfully participating in a specified violent public disturbance resulting in specified damage or injury; creating an affirmative defense to a civil action where the plaintiff participated in a riot, etc."
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