This past Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has officially put pen to paper on a new piece of legislation that makes it illegal to protest or picket directly outside of an individual’s private home.
Known as Florida House Bill 1571, the law that DeSantis signed institutes a ban on protests outside someone’s house. Under this new law, law enforcement officials will be required to issue a warning to groups of protesters to disperse and vacate the area, and if they do not abide by the warning the officers will ground leave to make arrests. All violations of this newly signed law will be prosecuted and subsequently punished as a second-degree misdemeanor. This new law is slated to go into effect on the first of October 2022.
“Sending unruly mobs to private residences, like we have seen with the angry crowds in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, is inappropriate,” exclaimed DeSantis in comments early Tuesday morning. “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities and I am glad to sign it into law.”
As part of the preamble to the new law, the legislature of Florida stated 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 actual text of the law itself states:
It is unlawful for a person to picket or protest before or about the dwelling of any person with the intent to harass or disturb that person in his or her dwelling.
Going further, the text of this new law describes the process needed for law enforcement officials in order to enforce any violations:
Before a person may be arrested for a violation of this section, a law enforcement officer… or a local, state, federal, or military law enforcement agency must go as near to the person as may be done with safety and shall command any person picketing or protesting before or about the dwelling of a person to immediately and peaceably disperse. If any such person does not thereupon immediately and peaceably disperse, he or she may be arrested for a violation of this section.
This new law was put forth in direct response to the recent mass protests being carried out by pro-abortion activists around the personal residences of the Supreme COurt justices, in response to a recently leaked draft opinion for the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization which might indicate that the Court may be in a position to overturn Roe v. Wade.