A federal lawsuit filed Wednesday alleges Florida’s new “anti-insurgency” law violates several provisions of the US Constitution, reports said.
A civil rights attorney in Orlando has filed suit with the US District Court in Orlando on behalf of the Lawyers Matter Task Force, a nonprofit advocacy group. Suspects named in the lawsuit include Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Orange County Sheriff John Mina.
“The purpose of these laws is nothing more than an attempt to silence the Black Lives Matter movement and other civil society organizations by limiting the opportunity to protest,” the lawyer, Aaron Carter Bates, said in a statement. according to the Orlando Sentinel. “The First Amendment is a pillar of American democracy, and the ‘anti-insurgency laws’ are clearly depriving Floridians of their freedom of expression and the right to assemble.”
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DeSantis signed the “anti-insurgency” bill into law this week. It increases penalties for crimes committed during riots and aims to “combat public disorder”.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is seen on March 2, 2021.
The Florida Senate passed the bill last week 23-17. It was seen as a response to protests across the country due to police brutality against African Americans.
“If you look at the breadth of this particular piece of legislation, it is the most powerful piece of anti-insurgency and law enforcement legislation in the country,” DeSantis said. “There’s just nothing around.”
The law, which took effect immediately, grants civil legal immunity to people who drive through protesters blocking a road and allows authorities to hold detained protesters from bail until after their first court date. The legislation increases a police officer’s battery charge during a riot and adds language that could force local governments to justify a cut in law enforcement budgets.
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The law allows people to sue local governments for personal or property damage if they were determined to interfere with law enforcement’s response during civil unrest. It also increases penalties for protesters blocking roads or damaging public monuments and creates a new crime called “mob intimidation”.
“These statutes appear to be unconstitutional,” the lawsuit claims, the paper said. “They focus on protected speech under the First Amendment [and] they are written with the intention of defining such a protest as a ‘riot’ or participation in such a protest as ‘inciting a riot’. ‘
The lawsuit alleges that the law would subject those arrested to “excessive bail, fines, or cruel and unusual punishment as a means of hindering dissent,” in violation of the Eighth Amendment. It also violates the fair trial provision of the Fourteenth Amendment, the lawsuit claims.
A spokesman for the governor told the Orlando Sentinel that his office had not yet been served with the lawsuit, “but we will review the legal merits of [the bill], which protects businesses, supports law enforcement and secures penalties for those who cause violence in our communities. “
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Meanwhile, an Orange County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said, “As it pertains to Sheriff Mina, this lawsuit is unfounded … Accordingly, we intend to file a motion of rejection.”