Judge blocks GOP-backed ‘anti-riot’ law as overbroad

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida’s new “anti-riot” law championed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis as a way to quell violent protests is unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled.

The 90-page decision Thursday by U.S. District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee found the law “vague and overbroad” and amounted to an assault on First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly as well as the Constitution’s due process protections.

People engaged in peaceful protest or innocently in the same area when a demonstration turned violent could face criminal charges and penalties under the law, the judge said.

A key issue is defining what the word “riot” means in the statute. Walker noted that past Florida laws sought to prevent demonstrations that could threaten segregationist Jim Crow-era practices.

“If this court does not enjoin the statute’s enforcement, the lawless actions of a few rogue individuals could effectively criminalize the protected speech of hundreds, if not thousands, of law-abiding Floridians,” Walker wrote.

“It unfortunately takes only a handful of bad actors to transform a peaceful protest into a violent public disturbance,” the judge added.

DeSantis said during an appearance in New Port Richey that the state will appeal the ruling to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The lawsuit was filed against DeSantis and other state officials by the NAACP Florida conference, Black Lives Matter Alliance Broward and other groups who argue the law appears specifically aimed to halt protests by Black people and other minorities.

The measure was passed earlier this year by the GOP-led state legislature and signed into law in April by the governor. It was a reaction to demonstrations around the country following last year’s killing by Minneapolis police of George Floyd, a Black man, that stirred passions nationwide under the banner of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The plaintiff groups and the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida issued a joint statement praising the decision, saying the law “appears designed to target those who protest police violence.”

State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, a Democrat who is running for governor, called the law “dangerous and discriminatory.”