Silencing speech at Capitol latest sign of extremism
TALLAHASSEE — One of the largest and most impressive citizen mobilizations in the history of the Florida Capitol occurred five years ago, just a week after the devastating shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Thousands of people, many high school students from South Florida, made an eight-hour bus ride to Tallahassee to demand action on gun control. Their rally in Tallahassee would give rise a few weeks later to the March for Our Lives movement with hundreds of events in Washington and across the country.
Could a similar event happen today at the state Capitol?
Not under this governor.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has implemented unprecedented restrictions on free speech and public assembly on the Capitol grounds, just in time for the legislative session that opens next Tuesday.
The most glaring contradiction of this governor is his compulsion to control virtually every aspect of our lives — including what we can say and how and where we can say it — while claiming, with a straight face, that Florida is “the freest state” in America. On its face, the new rule seems intended to drive people away from the Capitol where the public’s business is done — often to their detriment.
As DeSantis charts a path to the White House, Florida’s Capitol is the ideal place for people to march in opposition to his policies as Black leaders did in mid-February to protest cancellation of an advanced placement high school course in African American studies. A protest that makes good TV does not make DeSantis look good.
It’s no coincidence that there are more reasons than ever for Floridians to organize and speak out over laws on immigration, universal school vouchers, guns without permits, changes to the death penalty and an expanded “don’t say gay” law. But under the new rules, it’s going to be harder than ever for people to assemble and make their voices heard.
“At the same time we’re seeing all these legislative assaults, we’re also seeing a crackdown on the ability of the people to voice their opposition to these very assaults,” said Kara Gross of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. “These new rules empower law enforcement to remove individuals participating in peaceful protests and exercising their rights to free speech and assembly.”
The restrictions took effect March 1 through the Department of Management Services, an agency under DeSantis’ control. They regulate “demonstration activity,” which is defined as “any demonstrating, parading, picketing, speech making, holding of vigils, sit-ins, or other similar activities conducted for the purpose of demonstrating approval or disapproval of government policies … “
Groups that want to stage events inside or outside the state Capitol must first find a state agency willing to sponsor their request, but there’s a catch. One condition is that “the requested use is consistent with the agency’s official purposes.” So if your group wants to protest a controversial state road project, you had best not ask the Department of Transportation for help.
Under the rule, groups can also ask the Senate president or House speaker to approve a gathering. Legislators, frequently the targets of protests, are the last ones who should have any say over speech. The Capitol is a public building that belongs to us, not to state politicians or bureaucrats.
Asked about the new rules recently, DeSantis distanced himself from them and said: “That actually was not something that I was involved with. It didn’t necessarily come down from me.” He added: “You don’t have a right to hijack and do like a heckler’s veto to stop the functioning of government.”
The outdoor brick courtyard between the old and new Capitol buildings, and various locations inside them, have long been safe spaces for almost every group imaginable to attract attention: Police, firefighters, nurses, seniors, students, teachers, motorcyclists, farm workers, cities, counties, you name it.
People make the long journey to Tallahassee to get attention, to demand action, to rally in support or in opposition to a cause. When the crushing power of the state is used to stifle or silence speech, it’s inherently un-American.
It is true, by the way, that a couple of protests became more unruly in the past couple of legislative sessions, amid a steadily rising tide of public frustration over the cascade of controversial legislation from the governor’s office.
The chants of a small group of protesters in the visitors’ gallery in the House of Representatives forced a brief suspension of debate on a bill to restrict abortion last year. Capitol police evacuated the demonstrators, most of whom were young women. Some of them were barred from even entering the Capitol for a full year.
That was a grotesquely unjustified overreaction, but the point is, there were already procedures in place for authorities to deal with disruptions of the Legislature’s business. A heavy-handed police state-style regulation of “demonstration activity” is frightening in a free society, and it will only lead to trouble.