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Federal Judge Issues Order Blocking Key Portion Of Florida’s Anti-riot Law

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signs a law that immediately enhances criminal penalties for crimes committed during protests that turn violent.
Miami Herald/The Florida Channel
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday signs a law that immediately enhances criminal penalties for crimes committed during protests that turn violent.

TALLAHASSEE

A federal judge on Thursday said a key portion of Florida’s so-called anti-riot law is too vague “to the point of unconstitutionality” and temporarily blocked law enforcement officers from enforcing it.

The definition of what constitutes a riot under current state law “encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, making this provision vague to the point of unconstitutionality,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee wrote in his order.

Under the law, a person commits a riot if “he or she willfully participates in a violent disturbance involving an assembly of three or more persons, acting with a common intent to assist in violent and disorderly conduct” that results in an injury, damage of property or “imminent danger of injury.”

Read more at our news partner the Miami Herald.

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