Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill into law on Monday that will make it illegal to protest in front of a person’s private residence.
The new law makes demonstrating in front of a private residence illegal, even if the protest is happening in a public space, like a sidewalk. Those in violation of the law will be asked by law enforcement to disperse. If they do not do so willingly, they can be jailed for up to 60 days and fined up to $500.
The law, which goes into effect on October 1 of this year, will undoubtedly be challenged by free speech advocates for violating their First Amendment protections.
DeSantis justified his signing of the bill by noting that protesters were gathering in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices who support removing abortion protections established in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision — but the bill was filed in the state legislature back in January, long before such protests were taking place.
“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,” he said in an email to reporters.
Despite DeSantis’s false characterization of the protests, however, the demonstrations in front of justices’ homes have been peaceful.
This isn’t the first bill DeSantis has signed in recent years to suppress free speech and criminalize protesting for Floridians. Last year, DeSantis signed a bill into law that increased civil penalties for protesting, and created new crimes such as “aggravated rioting” and “mob intimidation” — the latter of which makes it illegal for a group of three or more individuals to confront someone else to try to make them change their views. The law also made it illegal to block traffic on highways, and granted civil immunity protections to people who drive their vehicles into crowds of protesters.
Notably, the law only seems to be enforced against protestors who the Florida governor disagrees with; his administration did nothing after a protest that DeSantis favored politically blocked traffic on a highway.
Truthout Is Preparing to Meet Trump’s Agenda With Resistance at Every Turn
Dear Truthout Community,
If you feel rage, despondency, confusion and deep fear today, you are not alone. We’re feeling it too. We are heartsick. Facing down Trump’s fascist agenda, we are desperately worried about the most vulnerable people among us, including our loved ones and everyone in the Truthout community, and our minds are racing a million miles a minute to try to map out all that needs to be done.
We must give ourselves space to grieve and feel our fear, feel our rage, and keep in the forefront of our mind the stark truth that millions of real human lives are on the line. And simultaneously, we’ve got to get to work, take stock of our resources, and prepare to throw ourselves full force into the movement.
Journalism is a linchpin of that movement. Even as we are reeling, we’re summoning up all the energy we can to face down what’s coming, because we know that one of the sharpest weapons against fascism is publishing the truth.
There are many terrifying planks to the Trump agenda, and we plan to devote ourselves to reporting thoroughly on each one and, crucially, covering the movements resisting them. We also recognize that Trump is a dire threat to journalism itself, and that we must take this seriously from the outset.
After the election, the four of us sat down to have some hard but necessary conversations about Truthout under a Trump presidency. How would we defend our publication from an avalanche of far right lawsuits that seek to bankrupt us? How would we keep our reporters safe if they need to cover outbreaks of political violence, or if they are targeted by authorities? How will we urgently produce the practical analysis, tools and movement coverage that you need right now — breaking through our normal routines to meet a terrifying moment in ways that best serve you?
It will be a tough, scary four years to produce social justice-driven journalism. We need to deliver news, strategy, liberatory ideas, tools and movement-sparking solutions with a force that we never have had to before. And at the same time, we desperately need to protect our ability to do so.
We know this is such a painful moment and donations may understandably be the last thing on your mind. But we must ask for your support, which is needed in a new and urgent way.
We promise we will kick into an even higher gear to give you truthful news that cuts against the disinformation and vitriol and hate and violence. We promise to publish analyses that will serve the needs of the movements we all rely on to survive the next four years, and even build for the future. We promise to be responsive, to recognize you as members of our community with a vital stake and voice in this work.
Please dig deep if you can, but a donation of any amount will be a truly meaningful and tangible action in this cataclysmic historical moment.
We’re with you. Let’s do all we can to move forward together.
With love, rage, and solidarity,
Maya, Negin, Saima, and Ziggy