Gov. DeSantis signs law cracking down on hate speech

 

TPS

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addresses a conference in Israel organized by The Jerusalem Post and the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance, April 27, 2023.

While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in Israel, he signed a bill to strengthen Florida's ability to combat antisemitism. The bill HB 269, titled "Public Nuisances," was co-sponsored by Republican Representatives Mike Caruso and Randy Fine and makes it a felony to harass people for their religion or ethnicity. It also penalizes leaving flyers with hateful images, messages or any other 'credible threat" on a person's private property.

"We are doing what we can do in Florida to enhance the ability to hold people accountable when that really crosses the line into threatening conduct. We are fighting back," DeSantis said about the bill during his keynote speech at the Celebrate the Faces of Israel event, a project of the Jerusalem Post and the Museum of Tolerance Jerusalem.

The bill's aim is to curb the rise of antisemitism in the Sunshine State by deeming hate speech, antisemitic graffiti on buildings, littering property with hate fliers, etc., as punishable offenses and classifying them as a third-degree felony.

Despite arguments from the public that the bill hampers people's First Amendment Rights, it ultimately cleared both chambers of the Legislature this month with unanimous support.

"Everyone in Tallahassee came together to battle this," Michael Igel, board chair of the Florida Holocaust Museum, told WPBF 25 News.

"This is a day that we are thankful for the upstanders in the world," Igel said. "I'm an example of when non-Jews stand up as upstanders to do the right thing."

The bill states that anyone who intentionally throws "litter onto private property for the purpose of intimidating or threatening the owner, resident, or invitee of such property, the person commits a misdemeanor of the first degree..."

The bill states that if a person who violates the law makes "a credible threat to the person who is the subject of the harassment or intimidation," then it would become a third-degree felony.

Furthermore, the court may require the person who violates the law to "pick up litter or perform other labor commensurate with the offense committed."

The legislation also states that "a person may not willfully and maliciously harass or intimidate another person based on the person's wearing or displaying of any indicia relating to any religious or ethnic heritage."

Similarly, if a person displays or projects "an image that contains a credible threat..." without the written consent of the owner, then the person "commits a felony of the third degree."

The bill also states that if someone enters a state university or Florida College System institution to threaten or intimidate, it would be a first-degree misdemeanor. It also mentions that whoever "willfully and maliciously interrupts or disturbs any school or any assembly of people met for the worship of God, any assembly of people met for the purpose of acknowledging the death of an individual, or for any other lawful purpose commits a misdemeanor of the first degree..."

There has been a 43 percent rise in antisemitic incidences in Florida this past year. Florida ranks fourth in the number of antisemitic incidences.

Information for this article came from an article by Sooji Nam on MSN.com, and WPBF 25 News, and Florida Politics.

 

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