Arguments set in State Supreme Court fight over Florida’s law targeting protesters

Share
George Floyd rally sign
Black Lives Matter march in Tampa, 31 May 2020. By Blannie Whelan/WMNF.

The Florida Supreme Court said Wednesday it will hear arguments Oct. 4 in a challenge to the constitutionality of a 2021 state law that enhanced penalties and created new crimes in protests that turn violent.

Justices are taking up the case after a panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in January sought the state court’s opinion about how to determine the meaning of the word “riot” in the law.

The federal court panel made the move as it considered a state appeal of a 2021 decision by Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker to issue a preliminary injunction against the law.

Walker described the law as unconstitutionally “vague and overbroad.”

The appeals court said it was deferring a ruling on the preliminary injunction until after the Florida Supreme Court could weigh in on the definition of riot.

“The proper interpretation of the statutory definition is a novel issue of state law that the Florida Supreme Court has yet to address,” the panel said. “After careful consideration, we exercise our discretion to certify a question to that (Supreme) Court to determine precisely what conduct the definition prohibits.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis led efforts to pass the law after nationwide protests following the 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer.

Dubbed the “Combating Public Disorder” law, the measure included a series of steps aimed at cracking down on protests that become violent.

But groups such as the Dream Defenders and the Florida State Conference of the NAACP challenged the law, arguing that it would have a chilling effect on First Amendment rights.

©2023 The News Service of Florida

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Is Trump Karmic Payback? The Unlikely Record Label

Before and during the first Trump presidency, scholars, experts and...

A photo of two white men (the one of the left bearded) both holding thumbs up signs on their right hands.
Joe Gruters and Ashley Gant talk DeSantis, immigration, as Florida legislature and governor square off

Led by its Republican supermajority, Florida’s state legislature gaveled in...

stethoscope on money
Medicaid changes will take effect in Florida

Florida Lawmakers in 2011 created a system in which most...

The Scoop: Fri. Jan. 31, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

Energy companies want to remove some pollution regulations Duke Energy...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Da' Soul Kitchen
Da' Soul Kitchen