Of all the states that have passed laws restricting the rights of its people, Florida appears to be leading the pack with the following laws. Note that these are not all of the laws that have passed.
The Heartbeat Protection Act
A measure dubbed the Heartbeat Protection Act, signed by DeSantis in a closed-door ceremony last month, prohibits physicians from knowingly performing abortions after six weeks in most cases. Exception for rape, incest and human trafficking exist for up to 15 weeks into a pregnancy, but there is a caveat: Women “must provide a copy of a restraining order, police report, medical record, or other court order of documentation providing evidence.” Additional, after six weeks, two physicians can certify in writing that the abortion is necessary to save the woman’s life or to “avert a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.”
Concealed Carry without a permit Act
In April, DeSantis unceremoniously signed legislation authorizing concealed carry without a permit in Florida. Under the law, which will take effect July1, gun owners are allowed to carry a gun in public without a government-issued permit. “You don’t need a permission slip from the government to be able to exercise your constitutional rights,”: DeSantis said at a March event to promote his new book at a gun store in Georgia.
The law also0 ends an existing state requirement to undergo training before carrying a concealed weapon outside the home. The government-issued permit remains available for those who wish to obtain one. And it would remain illegal to carry a firearm in certain gun-free zones, including schools, courthouses and college campuses. Some gun rights advocates have said that the law doesn’t go far enough while Florida Democrats have criticized DeSantis for signing the public safety bill, arguing that it achieves the opposite.
Eliminating unanimous jury decisions for death penalty
DeSantis in April signed a bill that eliminated unanimous jury decisions for the death penalty, making Florida the state with the lowest threshold for administering capital punishment. Under the new law, “if at least eight jurors determine that the defendant should be sentenced to death, the jury’s recommendation to the court must be a sentence of death.” If fewer than eight jurors recommend the death penalty, the law requires the court to impose a sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.”
In January, DeSantis vowed to rid Florida of unanimous 12-member jury decisions for the death penalty, citing the verdict in the Parkland school shooting as a miscarriage of justice. The shooter was sentenced to life in prison without parole rather than death, due to three jurors recommending against the death penalty. “Today’s change in Florida law will hopefully save other families from the injustices we have suffered,” said Ryan Petty, whose daughter Alaina was killed in the Parkland shooting.
Defunding DEI programs at all state universities
DeSantis signed legislation to defund diversity, equity and inclusion programs at all universities, calling those programs a “distraction from the core mission.” Under the law, Florida state universities are barred from spending state or federal funds promote, support or maintain any programs that “advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, or promote or engage in political, and economic activism.”
The law also says general education courses “my not distort significant historical events or include a curriculum that teaches identity politics” based on “theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege inequities.”
Capital sexual battery
On Monday, DeSantis signed a bill that makes child rapists eligible for the death penalty with the minimum sentence of life in prison without parole. According to the measure, “a person 18 years of age or older who commits sexual battery upon, or in an attempt to commit sexual battery injures the sexual organs of, a person less than 12 years of age commits a capital felony.” “We’re putting pedophiles to death, hopefully,” DeSantis said, before sitting down to sign the bill in Titusville, Florida. The law runs afoul of a 2008 US Supreme Court decision prohibiting states from applying the death penalty for child rape if the victim did not die. “We think that in the worst of the worst cases, the only appropriate punishment is the ultimate punishment, and so this bill sets up a procedure to be able to challenge that precedent,” DeSantis said Monday.
Blocking Florida investments based on ESG factors
DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that expands upon measures to block Florida investments based on environmental, social and governance, or ESG, factors while threatening banks and other financial institutions with sanctions if they deny business to people due to moral or political objections. “ESG is officially DOA in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said as he signed the bill in Jacksonville.
The new law codifies a measure approved last year by the State Board of Administration, which oversees pensions, which prohibits state retirement fund managers from making investment decisions based on reasons other than maximizing the highest rate of return. “It takes what we did last year with Florida’s Pension Fund, and it codifies into law the idea that the fiduciary obligation is to produce the best returns possible for the beneficiaries, not to be diverted in that task by pursuing these ideological agendas,” DeSantis said. Under the law, financial institutions, including banks, credit unions and other lenders, face fines if they refuse to lend to people for reasons other than “an analysis of risk factors unique to each current or prospective customer.” Under the law, banks that operate in Florida could face punishment if they refuse to lend to gun manufacturers, fossil fuel companies or certain far-right groups.
Ron DeSantis government bans new advanced African American history course.
Florida officials have blocked the introduction of a new advanced-level high school course that teaches African American history. Governor Ron DeSantis’ administration said the proposed course “lacks educational value and it is contrary to Florida law”. The course is being rolled out in a pilot program by the US College Board to 60 high schools across the country. Officials did not specify what law the course breaks.
Restricting transgender Floridians’ access to treatments and bathrooms.
DeSantis signed into law new restrictions on gender-affirming treatments for transgender minors, drag shows, bathroom usage and which pronouns can be used in school. “We are going to maintain a refuge of sanity and a citadel of normalcy, and kids should have an upbringing that reflects that, DeSantis said at the time. LGBTQ+ advocates in the state criticized the legislation as a larger effort to erase them from Florida school and society.
He has geared up for a White House bid, and has seized on LGBTQ+ battles, which have included: one measure prohibits transgender children from receiving gender-affirming treatment, including prescriptions that block puberty hormones. Under the law, a court could intervene to temporarily remove a child from their home if they receive gender affirming treatments or procedures, and it treats such health care options, which are supported by the American Medical Association, the same as it would a case of child abuse.
He also signed a provision restricting teachers, faculty and students from using the pronouns of their choice in public schools. That bill declares that it must be the policy of all schools that “a person’s sex is an immutable biological trait” and “it is false” to use a pronoun other than the sex on the person’s birth certificate. It also affirmed that sexual orientation and gender identity cannot be taught in schools through eighth grade, codifying a state Board of Education decision to block such topics in all K-12 grades.
Separate legislation would give the DeSantis administration the power to take away licenses from establishments if they allow children into an “adult live performance,” widely interpreted as a crackdown on drag shows. Another prohibits transgender people from using a bathroom or changing room that matches their gender identity while in government buildings, including in places like public schools, prisons and state universities.
DeSantis signs bill that exempts records related to his travels from public disclosure
DeSantis signed a bill that exempts records related to his travel from the state’s robust public disclosure laws. Under the new law, law enforcement agencies would be barred from sharing any records related to the Governor’s security and travel, as well as “for persons for whom such services are requested by the governor.” The expansive language could allow the DeSantis administration to keep secret trips arranged by the governor’s office even when he wasn’t involved. The law applies retroactively and would cover his extensive use of state planes throughout his time as governor. It would also cover records related to visitors to the governor’s mansion, opponents said. Public access in Florida state records and meetings has been enshrined in the state constitution.
