Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill today that will prohibit bystanders from getting too close to police and other first responders.
The legislation, Senate Bill 184, makes it a second-degree misdemeanor to come within 25 feet of a first responder after receiving a verbal warning to stay away. The law includes the requirement of intent to interfere with, threaten or harass the first responder who is performing his duties.
It also prohibits harassment of first responders. The law defines harassment as behavior “that intentionally causes significant emotional distress to the first responder and serves no legitimate purpose.”
Similar laws with smaller buffer zones have been struck down by courts in other states, but DeSantis described the law as part of Florida’s law enforcement-friendly atmosphere.
“I am proud to support the men and women of law enforcement across the state,” DeSantis She said at the signing of the bill, where he also signed legislation limiting the power of civilian police oversight bodies. “Today’s legislation will ensure that law enforcement can do their jobs without the threat of harassment. While blue states vilify and defund the police, Florida will continue to be the friendliest state in the nation to our community of law enforcement”.
State lawmakers have begun introducing bills that would limit the ability to film police in such locations South Carolina AND Florida as a reaction to the 2020 George Floyd protests. Supporters of the legislation, such as police unions, argue that officers should not have to deal with bystanders bumping into them when making arrests or investigations.
However, the right to observe and film police has been upheld by numerous federal appeals courts as a core First Amendment right, and civil liberties groups and news organizations argue that such laws are overly broad and undermine rights of freedom of speech for citizens and journalists.
Last July, a federal judge struck down an Arizona law limiting the distance at which people can film police, ruling that the law violates a fundamental First Amendment right to record law enforcement officers.
U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona John J. Tuchi wrote that Arizona’s law, which makes it a misdemeanor to film a police officer within 8 feet after receiving a verbal warning, “prohibits or chills a significant amount of activity protected by the First Amendment and is not necessary to prevent interference with law enforcement officers under other applicable Arizona laws.”
Florida press freedom groups find similar flaws in the new law.
“These are highly subjective terms that we believe will have a chilling effect on the First Amendment rights of journalists and citizens to observe and record the activities of operatives in the workplace,” said Bobby Block, executive director of the First Amendment Foundation of Florida . said THE Orlando Sentinel. “Similar laws have been declared unconstitutional by courts for this reason.”