DeSantis expands Marsy’s Law to protect police officers
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed legislation further protect the identities of police officers and crime victims, more than two years after the state Supreme Court struck down portions of what is known as “Marsy’s Law.”
Legislative records show the governor signed the bill (HB 1113) on April 14; there was no bill signing ceremony.
Marsy’s Law is part of a constitutional amendment that Florida voters approved in 2018, intended to protect crime victims from having their identities revealed under Florida’s public records law. Some police agencies, however, began invoking Marsy’s Law for officers who used lethal force in the field, saying the officers were victims as well.
In a legal challenge over those practices, the Supreme Court struck down the portion of the amendment that protected the identities of victims but left the door open for the Legislature to expand the law.
If officers are the victim of assault or threatened while on the job, their identity would be confidential for 72 hours after the incident and exempt from disclosures in public records for 60 days. Identifying details about other crime victims – including any information that could be used to locate, intimidate, harass or abuse a victim – would be exempt indefinitely.
The Supreme Court struck down Marsy’s Law after the City of Tallahassee, in 2020, challenged the notion that officers’ names could be withheld from public disclosure. In one case, an officer was rushed at with a hunting knife, and, in the second case, an officer shot a murder suspect who was pointing a gun at him.
In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Marsy’s Law does not categorically protect a victim’s name, and it does not exempt the names of on-duty law enforcement officers from disclosure. The Leon County Clerk of Court subsequently released unredacted grand jury reports identifying both officers, after a public records request from the Tallahassee Democrat.
The Supreme Court also said the law conflicted with the constitutional right criminal defendants have to confront their accusers and the public’s right to inspect public records.
This story contains previously published material, including from Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Jim Rosica is a member of the USA TODAY Network – Florida Capital Bureau. Reach him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter/X: @JimRosicaFL.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida expands Marsy’s Law for police and victims
