Federal lawsuit: Florida’s ‘anti-rioting law’ is unconstitutional

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Lawyers Matter Task Force advocacy group filed a federal lawsuit in the US District Court in Orlando Wednesday, claiming Florida’s new “anti-rioting” legislation is unconstitutional on several levels, Fox News reports. The lawsuit names the Defendants as Gov. DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Orange County Sheriff John Mina.

The law passed 23-17 in the state Senate last week and took immediate effect. Among numerous other provisions, the legislation allows citizens to drive through protestors blocking roads, prevents demonstrators from posting bail until their first court date, and increases the charge for assaulting police officers. Florida governor Ron DeSantis has described the law as the “strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country.”

The Task Force is being represented by civil right attorney, Aaron Carter Bates, who said in a statement: “The purpose of these laws are nothing more than an attempt to silence the Black Lives Matter movement and other civil organizations by limiting the ability to protest. The First Amendment is a pillar of American democracy, and the ‘anti-riot’ laws clearly strip Floridians of their freedom of speech and right to assemble.”

The lawsuit states that the legislation violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, subjecting arrested protesters to “excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment as a means of hindering the speech of dissenting opinions.” The lawsuit also claims the provisions “target protected speech under the First Amendment [and] they are written with the intent of defining any such protest as a ‘riot’ or participation in such protest as ‘inciting a riot.’”

A spokesperson for DeSantis told the Orlando Sentinel that the Governor would “firmly defend the legal merits of [the bill], which protects businesses, supports law enforcement and ensures punishment for those who cause violence in our communities.”

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