DeSantis signs bill prohibiting protests outside of homes

HB 1571 comes after protests were held outside of the homes of U.S. Supreme Court justices.

By Michael Eng
| 2:48 p.m. May 17, 2022

West Orange Times & Observer
News

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, May 16, signed into a law that prohibits picketing and protesting outside of a person’s place of residence.

“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,” DeSantis said . “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities, and I am glad to sign it into law.”

HB 1571 cites Frisby v. Schultz, a 1998 Supreme Court case that upheld an ordinance by the town of Brookfield, Wisconsin, that prevented protest outside of a residential home. The court, in a 6-3 ruling, concluded the ordinance did not violate First Amendment rights to freedom of assembly and speech.

Once the Florida law takes effect, law-enforcement officers will provide a warning to any person picketing or protesting outside of a dwelling and will make arrests for residential picketing only if the person does not peaceably disperse after the warning.

Residential picketing will be punishable as a second-degree misdemeanor.

author

Michael Eng

As a child, Editor and Publisher Michael Eng collected front pages of the Kansas City Star during Operation Desert Storm, so it was a foregone conclusion that he would pursue a career in journalism. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Missouri — Columbia School of Journalism. When he’s not working, you can find him spending time with his wife and three children, or playing drums around town. He’s also a sucker for dad jokes.