Citing free speech and due-process concerns, the nonprofit First Amendment Foundation is drafting a potential legal action challenging a new Florida law authorizing state officials to label groups as “domestic terrorist organizations.”
The Tallahassee-based foundation’s executive director, Bobby Block, said in a public statement that House Bill 1471, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis in April, raises troubling First Amendment issues and could potentially lead to the punishment of individuals and groups for expressing their rights to free speech and free association.
“If someone commits a crime, prosecute them,” Block said in the statement. “We already have laws to address criminal conduct and material support for violent acts. What we should not tolerate is government creating vague and expansive powers that can be weaponized against lawful speech, association and dissent.”
On the day he signed the measure into law, DeSantis said HB 1471 would empower the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s chief of domestic security to recommend certain groups be designated “domestic terrorists.” The measure gives the governor and his Cabinet – which consists of the attorney general, chief financial officer and agriculture commissioner – the power to approve or reject the chief’s recommendations.
In March, a federal judge enjoined a DeSantis executive order that declared the Council on American-Islamic Relations, orCAIR, a terrorist group. Now state officials are attempting to accomplish the same result through another means, according to Block.
“Anyone who promotes the activities of these (so-designated) organizations can be charged with felonies,” he told the Florida Record, adding that the law provides a dramatic way to chill free speech. “… Is this a way of punishing acts or punishing ideas? It looks to me like the desire is to punish ideas.”
The new law takes effect on July 1, and the foundation is considering filing a constitutional challenge sometime close to that date. Block said the foundation is currently stress-testing the draft, but he did not say whether it would be filed in federal or state court.
Some states attempted such designations in the 1950s, when they tried to put in place obstacles to deter civil rights groups and labeled the late Martin Luther King Jr. an extremist, he said.
“It wasn’t acceptable then, and I don’t see why it would be now,” Block said.
He emphasized that the foundation’s efforts were nonpartisan and pointed out that the law could allow for a future populist-progressive government to go after conservative groups such as Turning Point USA and their supporters.
Under the provisions of HB 1471, institutions that promote or support terrorist organizations could lose state funding, and students who support such groups can face disciplinary actions. The law will help Florida defend its institutions against terrorist groups, “especially terrorist organizations that seek to infiltrate and subvert our education system,” DeSantis said last month.
The foundation has also launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for the anticipated lawsuit. As of May 19, the crowdfunding campaign has raised $2,835.
“We expect criticism,” Block said in his recent public statement about the group’s new campaign. “We expect misunderstanding. We are also braced for possible retaliation from the state. But we also believe there are people across the political spectrum who understand how dangerous unchecked government power can be.”
