New law bans protests outside private homes

DeSantis signs bill critics say violates First Amendment

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a bill that will allow officers to arrest protesters who are strategically organizing outside of a person’s home.

On Monday, the governor signed HB 1571 making it a second-degree misdemeanor crime to picket or protest outside a Floridian’s place of living with the intent to harass or disturb that person.

“Sending unruly mobs to private residences, like we have seen with the angry crowds in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, is inappropriate,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement. “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities, and I am glad to sign it into law.”

Critics of the bill say it violates the First Amendment’s constitutionally protected right to assemble and protest.

Francesca Menes, co-founder and board chair of The Black Collective, said Florida’s anti-protests laws, including the “Combating Public Disorder Act” that went into effect last year, are a response to the demonstrations against the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020.

She said she worries the recently enacted law is vaguely written and can easily criminalize protests taking place on otherwise lawful places to demonstrate, like public sidewalks and publicly-funded buildings.

“The right to peaceful protest is a bedrock American principle that should never be undermined. That’s not the case here in Florida, where we have seen legislation the last two sessions undermining this vital right and attacking the Black communities that have relied on it to bring about meaningful change for generations,” she said in a prepared statement.

Officers must warn protesters before making an arrest, according to the law. The officer must also attempt to go as near to the protest as safely possible.

Protesting in front of homes became a prevalent issue to Orange County Sheriff John Mina in May 2020 when several hundred people protested outside a Windermere townhouse owned by Derek Chauvin, the ex-Minneapolis police officer since convicted of murdering Floyd.

Chauvin wasn’t there, but protests lasted for eight days, according to the Sheriff ’s Office. Protesters yelled “no justice, no peace, no racist police,” waved signs and honked car horns until 3:30 a.m., a neighbor said. Dozens of deputies had to be dispatched for crowd control, according to the agency.

As a response, Mina attempted to get county commissioners to pass a local ban on targeted residential protests last year, but the ordinance was withdrawn. The agency has been vocal in its support for the new law.

A legislative bill analysis also references recent protests at the homes of U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott.

Last year, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, ACLU of Florida, and Community Justice Project filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida challenging the state’s “Combating Public Disorder Act,” saying it targets Black protesters and their allies.

“Our First Amendment right to peacefully assemble is essential to our democracy,” Anya Marino, deputy legal director of the ACLU of Florida said last year. “[The bill] harkens back to the Jim Crow era, which sought to intimidate people for exercising their rights. The provisions in this law are clearly unconstitutional, and we cannot let them stand.”

DeSantis