By Paul Waldmiller
Did you know the Florida Legislature begins their annual session this week and a little-known bill in both the Florida House and Senate will impact on domestic violence abusers if passed?
When Ron DeSantis became governor, he and the Florida Legislature moved Batterers Intervention Program to be overseen by the Florida Department of Children and Families where all faith programs that utilized the Bible to help teach abusers how to end their cycle of violence, were stopped. Governor DeSantis and DCF administration informed all faith programs throughout Florida that they were no longer allowed to use the Bible, although it’s use had the highest rate of ending the perpetrator’s abusive behaviors.
Faith programs were told that they must only use “government speech” when teaching batterers how to stop abusing, and “free speech” including anything from the Bible, was not allowed. In 2024, a federal judge agreed with the state of Florida that faith groups and Christians do not have the right to free speech and use the Bible when engaging in the Batterers Intervention Program. Some in the faith community contacted the Florida Legislature to have this changed, so now, Florida House bill HB 391 and Florida Senate bill 894, change the law so that once again the faith community can use the Bible as part of the curriculum to teach abusers how to end their cycle of abusing others.