Florida’s new “anti-riot” law that was championed by Governor DeSantis as a means to quell violent protests was ruled unconstitutional and cannot be enforced, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
US District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee released a 90-page decision, saying the recently-enacted law was “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, reported the Associated Press.
The judge said people engaged in peaceful protest or who were innocently in the same area when a demonstration turned violent could face criminal charges and stiff penalties under the ‘anti-riot’ law.
“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.
A lawsuit was filed against the governor and other state officials by the NAACP Florida conference, Dream Defenders, Black Lives Matter Alliance Broward, and other groups who argued the law appeared to specifically target and stop protests by Black people and other minorities.