Florida governor signs bill prohibiting protests outside of private residences News
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Florida governor signs bill prohibiting protests outside of private residences

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Monday signed House Bill 1571 into law, which prohibits protestors from demonstrating outside of private residences. Protestors now face second degree misdemeanor charges with the possible punishment of 60 days in jail and fines of up to $500.

The Florida House of Representatives first introduced the bill in January. It then passed in March. A majority of the Florida Senate quickly approved the bill in March.

HB 1571 states that the state “has a significant interest in protecting the tranquility and privacy of the home and protecting citizens from the detrimental effect of targeted picketing.” The bill outlaws protesting or picketing before or around the dwelling of any person with the intent to harass or disturb that person. Florida law enforcement, under the new law, must give protestors a warning and ask them to “immediately and peacefully” disperse. Should protestors not disperse, however, the bill makes any violation a misdemeanor in the second degree. That means violators face a penalty of 60 days in jail and fines of up to $500.

At the signing of the bill, DeSantis referenced recent protests outside of Supreme Court justices’ homes as support for the Florida bill. Following the leak of the Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, protestors gathered outside the private residences of Samuel Alito, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas. DeSantis stated: “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities and I am glad to sign it into law.”