HOUSE BILL ONE - THE "ANTI-RIOT" LAW

Rumpole notes- there was a picture posted here before and it should not have been posted without the express consent of the person. I removed it.  

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MOVING, MOVING, MOVING .......

The State Attorney’s office, County Court Division, is finally moving out of their current digs located at 1469 NW 13 Terrace.  After years of complaining about broken air conditioning, restrooms that don’t work, broken elevators, and constant flooding in the garage and basement, not to mention the lack of space, the Miami-Dade County Commission approved a 20 year lease, with offices covering 49,000 square feet, including 101 parking spaces, located at RIVER LANDING, located at 1500 NW North River Drive. The cost will be approximately $3.2 million per year and the move will take place as soon as the landlord completes the build-out which is expected to happen before the end of the year.

NOT MOVING, MOVING, MOVING .......

That was the scene on Tuesday as thousands of protesters made their way onto the Palmetto Expressway showing their support for the Cuban citizens still on the Island who have been breaking out in spontaneous protests in cities all over Cuba. (NOTE - as I am writing this post on Wednesday evening, it is being reported that the protesters are out again blocking the highway).

Of course, the actions of the protesters immediately brought out strong opinions on all forms of social media, from Facebook to Instagram to Twitter on why it was that the Florida Highway Patrol chose to ignore House Bill 1 passed this year by the Senate and House and signed by Governor DeSantis in a pomp and circumstance affair.

DeSantis signed the bill, dubbed the ANTI-RIOT bill”, as his priority legislation, on April 19, 2021. The bill was fast-tracked, bypassing the accountability of numerous Senate committees, and took effect immediately. DeSantis boasted that the measure “is the strongest, anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country.”

The new laws provide that: “[a] person commits a riot if he or she willfully participates in a violent public disturbance involving an assembly of three or more persons, acting with a common intent to assist each other in violent and disorderly conduct, resulting in: (a)Injury to another person; (b) Damage to property; or (c) Imminent danger of injury to another person or damage to property. A person who commits a riot commits a felony of the third degree.”

It goes on to state that: “[a] person commits aggravated rioting if, in the course of committing a riot, he or she: (a) Participates with 25 or more other persons; (b) Causes great bodily harm to a person not participating in the riot; (c) Causes property damage in excess of $5,000; (d) Displays, uses, threatens to use, or attempts to use a deadly weapon; or (e) By force, or threat of force, endangers the safe movement of a vehicle traveling on a public street, highway, or road. “

Yet, despite the fact that every one of these protesters were potentially violating several laws, including but not limited to F.S. 316.2045 (Obstructing the Highway), none were cited with any offenses. Other new or amended statutes that were covered in HB 1 concerning Unlawful Assembly include F.S. 784.0495 and F.S. 870.02. It was pointed out, correctly so, by one of our local criminal defense attorneys on his Facebook page, that if a driver happened to strike one of the protesters on the highway they could use the new law as an affirmative defense against any civil lawsuit. See F.S. 870.07. (“In a civil action for damages for a personal injury, wrongful death, or property damage, it is an affirmative defense that such action arose from an injury or damage sustained by a participant acting in furtherance of a riot. The affirmative defenses…shall be established by evidence that the participant has been convicted of a riot or an aggravated riot.”). Under the new laws, any person arrested for unlawful assembly will now be held in custody until their first appearance in a court of law. 

It is only a matter of time before a test case makes it way through the State and/or Federal courts and the Florida Supreme Court or the SCOTUS has to address the issue of the constitutionality of many of the provisions addressed in HB 1.

CAPTAIN OUT .......

Captain4Justice@gmail.com