Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat The ACLU of Florida opposes this bill because it The murders of George Floyd, protesters and the injustices of our is designed to Breonna Taylor, and so many criminal legal system. others at the hands of police further silence, Floridians wishing to exercise their reinvigorated Floridians’ calls for punish, and constitutional rights would have to police reform and accountability. weigh their ability to spend a night criminalize those Millions took to the streets to in jail if the protest is deemed an advocating for exercise their First Amendment “unlawful assembly.” Peaceful racial justice and rights and demand justice. protesters could be arrested and an end to law Under existing law, these peaceful charged with a third-degree felony enforcement’s protests were met with tear gas, for “committing a riot” even if they excessive use of rubber bullets, and mass arrests. didn’t engage in any disorderly and force against Black Under existing law, armed officers violent conduct. in full riot gear repeatedly used and brown people. Floridians need justice – real excessive force against peaceful police accountability and criminal unarmed protesters. justice reform. Florida’s law Florida’s militaristic response enforcement and criminal legal against Black protesters and their system have no shortage of tools to allies demanding racial justice keep the peace and punish violent stands in stark contrast to the actors, and they’ve proven their lackluster, and at times complicit, tendency time and time again to police response we saw to the misapply these tools to punish failed coup by white supremacist Black and brown peaceful terrorists in D.C. protesters. This bill would further exacerbate Vote NO on HB 1/SB 484. the disparate police treatment of 786.363.2700 www.aclufl.org The Bill is Overbroad and Vague and Will Chill Speech and Assembly...................................................................3 The Bill Thwarts Criminal Justice Reform Efforts ...................................................................................................5 Creates Harsher Misdemeanors and Felonies for Existing Offenses ..................................................................6 Creates Several Brand-New Offenses .................................................................................................................7 Raises the Felony Ranking Level and Increases Sentencing Points ....................................................................7 The Bill is Unnecessary: Florida Statutes Already Criminalize Violence and Destruction of Property ...................8 The Bill Protects Confederate Monuments ............................................................................................................9 The Bill Prohibits Release Until First Appearance for Individuals Exercising Their First Amendment Rights ........9 The Bill Usurps Local Control of Policing Decisions and Waives Sovereign Immunity ........................................ 10 The Bill Will Increase Violence Against Protesters .............................................................................................. 10 Section-By-Section Breakdown ............................................................................................................................... 12 Section 1: Prevents Municipalities from Reallocating Funding from Law Enforcement ..................................... 12 Section 2: Makes it Easier for Law Enforcement to Issue Citations to Protesters .............................................. 12 Section 3: Waives Sovereign Immunity for Municipalities and Opens Door to Civil Liability ............................. 13 Section 4: Increases Penalties for Assault ........................................................................................................... 13 Section 5: Increases Penalties for Aggravated Assault ........................................................................................ 14 Section 6: Makes Battery a Felony Instead of a Misdemeanor ........................................................................... 14 Section 7: Increases Penalties for Aggravated Battery ....................................................................................... 15 Section 8: Creates New Crime of “Mob Intimidation” ........................................................................................ 15 Section 9: Creates a New Mandatory Minimum ................................................................................................. 15 Section 10: Creates a Third-Degree Felony for Damaging a Confederate Memorial .......................................... 16 Section 11: Creates a Second-Degree Felony for Destroying a Confederate Memorial ..................................... 16 Sections 12 & 13: Increases Penalties for Burglary and Theft ............................................................................. 17 Section 14: Creates a New Crime of “Cyberintimidation by Publication” ........................................................... 17 Section 15: Broadly Defines “Riot” and Creates New Felony “Aggravated Riot.” ............................................... 18 Section 16 & Section 17: Requires First Appearance Before Release on Bail ..................................................... 18 Section 18: Allows Counter-Protester to Avoid Liability for Civil Damages for Injuring or Killing a Protester ... 19 Section 19: Increases Sentencing Offense Level ................................................................................................. 19 Section 20: Adds the New Crimes Created in SB 484/HB 1 to the Criminal Punishment Code .......................... 19 Resources: ............................................................................................................................................................... 19 2 executing a lawful private enterprise in a violent and turbulent manner, to the terror of the people, or in executing an unlawful enterprise in a violent and turbulent manner.”i (emphasis added). Under current As we have seen over the last year, people’s law, to be guilty of a riot the individual and interpretation of where to draw a line at least three others need to intentionally between protest and riot depends heavily on execute a tumultuous disturbance of the their interpretation of dissenters’ positions. peace by acting in a violent and turbulent Vague and overly broad key definitions in manner to the terror of the people. this bill will only further the discriminatory use of police tactics on protesters and In contrast, under the bill, mere participation unconstitutionally threaten our First in an otherwise peaceful protest where there Amendment rights of free speech and are three other people engaging in disorderly assembly. The bill will chill protected speech and violent conduct would subject all those and result in widespread discretionary present at the protest to a third-degree arrests and prosecutions disproportionately felony, punishable by up to five years in impacting Black Floridians. prison, a $5,000 fine, felony disenfranchisement, and all the lifelong Committing a “Riot” collateral consequences of a felony conviction HB 1/SB 484, Section 15 – including significant barriers to This bill creates a new statutory definition for employment, education, and housing. “riot” that is so broad and unworkable that it Under the bill, once an assembly is deemed a allows for an individual to be arrested for “riot” anyone participating in the assembly, “committing a riot” without any requirement regardless of the individual’s intent or that the individual’s conduct be disorderly conduct, is captured by the bill’s harsh and violent or that they commit any actual consequences. It does not matter whether the damage or injury. assembly was mostly peaceful or peaceful at Under the bill, a person “commits a riot” if he its inception, whether any property damage or she “participates” in a public disturbance or personal injuries actually occurred, or the which involves an assembly of three or more role – or lack thereof – the participant had in people engaging in violent conduct resulting any disorderly and violent conduct. It is in injury or damage or creating a clear and enough that a peaceful protest was infiltrated present danger of personal injury or property by a group of three people intent on creating damage. disorder. This framework applies many of the injustices of the felony murder rule to the It is important to note that the bill’s exercise of First Amendment rights to definition is broader than under current case assemble and dissent, while going even law. As outlined by the Florida Supreme further in not requiring any criminal intent Court, “the term "riot" at common law is at all. defined as a “tumultuous disturbance of the peace by three or more persons, assembled and acting with a common intent, either in 3 The bill would result in the arrest of they be arrested for a second-degree felony? nonviolent individuals lawfully exercising What if they stood firm in the street and their First Amendment rights for refused to let a car pass? Is that preventing “committing a riot” based on the riotous the safe movement of a vehicle? Under the conduct of some others in attendance at the bill, large groups of nonviolent protesters or event. The impact of this is to chill speech ones that block traffic, even temporarily, and discourage individuals from publicly could face up to 15 years in prison. speaking