Hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Wednesday that the state would soon designate the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) a domestic terrorist organization, the Muslim civil rights advocacy group filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging that designation as unconstitutional and are calling for an injunction to halt its enforcement.
DeSantis made the announced on the day a new law (HB 1471) went into effect allowing the move. It empowers the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to label organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist groups on evidence of specific criteria, including engagement in terrorist activity as defined by Florida law.
Targeted organizations must be based in Florida and pose an ongoing threat to the security of Florida or the United States. The governor and Cabinet would have to ratify the declaration.
The governor also announced that Antifa and the Muslim Brotherhood had also been recommended by FDLE head Mark Glass to be designated domestic terrorist groups, as well as more than 90 groups to be designated foreign terrorist organizations.
The ACLU, the ACLU of Florida, and the Southern Poverty Law Center are among the legal groups acting as counsel for CAIR and CAIR Florida in the case, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee.
“There are practically no safeguards,” the lawsuit states. “Florida officials may designate an organization without giving it meaningful notice or a meaningful opportunity to challenge the designation before a neutral decisionmaker. In effect, the state’s new designation regime empowers Governor DeSantis, the Chief of Domestic Security, and the Cabinet to play judge, jury, and nonprofit executioner.” The impending designation “has no basis,” the lawsuit continues, targeting as it does the country’s largest Muslim advocacy and civil rights organization through its Florida chapter, both of which “serve and employ Floridians.”
“The DTO [Domestic Terrorist Organization] regime contains no meaningful pre-designation, notice requirement, no evidentiary requirements, no standard of proof, and no requirement of a meaningful hearing before a neutral decisionmaker,” the lawsuit alleges. “It vests unbridled discretion in Florida’s executive branch to punish, ostracize, and silence civil society organizations with which it disagrees, based on nothing more than allegations of wrongdoing.”
DeSantis said Wednesday that he anticipated a lawsuit challenging the designation.
He’d attempted to designate CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist organizations through an executive order in December. After CAIR legally challenged that in court, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking that designation, which the DeSantis administration has appealed.
The suit notes that “Immediately after a designation becomes effective, the designated organization—as well as its employees, officers, board members, and third parties —are subject to a staggering array of criminal, civil, and administrative penalties. In the case of a mission-driven nonprofit, these penalties effectively criminalize virtually all of the designated group’s activities to advance its mission, including its speech. ley also criminalize a wide array of third-party interactions with the designated group, which in turn limit the organization’s ability to speak, to receive information, and to function. In short, the far-reaching and severe penalties make it impossible for the organization to continue operating.”
–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix, and FlaglerLive
Deborah Coffey says
The hatred being spewed and enacted from the entire right wing in America is exhausting and just so sad for all of us that truly love our country. If it is true that “love conquers all,” then the end of this Fascist, MAGA movement is close to coming to an end. We do know for sure that light extinguishes darkness…and, eyes are being opened left and right.
Pogo says
Sowing, and reaping…
Stein and Trump gain surprising support among Muslim voters — CAIR poll
Muslim voters boosted Jill Stein with 53.2% support, Donald Trump with 21% and Harris with mere 20.3% vote, says Council on American-Islamic Relations.
https://www.trtworld.com/article/18230222
Presidents McGovern, Nader, and Stein — weren’t.
EC: File
Ed P says
Remember when…we believed the United States was a melting pot?
The difference 100 years makes.
Once upon a time we even believed “United We Stand”
Jim says
Having a president who is only interested in his followers might have something to do with that. Hard to unite behind constant division.
Of course, maybe in November we’ll all unite against that kind of “leader”.
Ed P says
Hello Jim,
Sometimes there’s more to lose voting against rather than for something.
The Dems are welcoming the Democratic Socialists into their camp. It might already be too late to roll the Trojan horse back out the gates.
I encourage you and anyone with any common sense to read the Democratic Socialists of America platform. They are not shy about their intentions. It’s in print.
Pay close attention to all their listed caucuses. Carefully read after tapping the red icon- learn more about Democratic Socialism. Read their 6 top priorities.
One caucus even supports revolution as a solution.
The leaders of the Democratic Party are blinded by their desire for power and to gain the youth vote.
It’s probably too late to save the party.
R.S. says
The U.S. Declaration of Independence outlines that when a government persistently fails to secure the unalienable rights of its people, it is the right and duty of the citizens to alter, abolish, or throw off that government and institute a new one. In practice, this is achieved through established legal and civic processes, but if need be . . . . . The people deserve socialized fire protection, socialized police protection, and socialized medical protection. If the government fails to provide those, the US Declaration of Independence outlines an appropriate course of action. Finally, we get options into this amalgam of self- and oligarch-serving two parties.
Mike Cocchiola says
First, Floriduh’a MAGA Republicans are racist to their bone marrow. Second, this law is, to me, flagrantly unconstitutional. There is no proof that these Muslim organizations have ever conducted a terrorist act. Then there’s the 1st amendment freedom of speech issue, as well as the right to assemble peacefully.
I think DeSantis will lose this one in the courts.
R.S. says
One religious mythology condemning another religious mythology! What a wasteful government we have! Or is this another way of trying to throw a bone to the public that they’ll fight over while not noticing how they’re getting exploited and suppressed by the oligarchs?
Koyote says
“Or is this another way of trying to throw a bone to the public that they’ll fight over while not noticing how they’re getting exploited and suppressed by the oligarchs?”
Yes. It is.
Notice how much “politics” nowadays seem to be about loudly diverting attention (when just flat out lying wouldn’t cut it)?
They wouldn’t keep doing it unless it worked .
Tony Mack says
Next, they will declare the Democratic Party a terrorist organization and all those registered as such will be considered terrorists. Think Germany in the Thirties, folks…
Dennis C Rathsam says
911 wasnt done by Christians! They killed thousands of Americans that day! America will never forget! They complain about our way of life, our love of bacon they hate mans best friend the dog! Nobodys coming here & telling me what to eat, & Ive has a dog all my life. Wake up America, these people marry little girls, 12 & 13 yrs old….. We don’t want that here in our country trying to take it over. Look at the mess NY is in Mandani tells NYers to keep there house temp at 78, while Mandanis city hall was 63 degrees Do as I say not as I do. They hate America yet they still come here WHY??????? They chant death to Americans….. Just look what they did in Minn……Wake Up America!
Kennan says
You know, Dennis. Every time I see your name in one of these comment runs, I know the simplicity, ignorance, depravity, and racism that it’s gonna come out of the complete dumpster fire of a brain that you have will not disappoint. You’ve got that going for you. I will not attempt to psycho analyze someone like you or humiliate you with a history lesson on the Middle East, human rights, genocide, etc.. Take comfort in the fact that you can sail into the sunset, knowing no more or no less about the human condition while you show little or no empathy for said condition.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.
R.S. says
A moment of musing with the AI: The word you are looking for is likely the German adjective “ratsam” (often misspelled as rathsam). In English, it translates to advisable, recommended, or prudent. It is used to describe an action that is a good idea or wise to do in a specific situation.
Dennis, you may have been misnamed. ;-)
Skibum says
The American Taliban, blindly condemning one specific religion and also completely unrelated community groups of U.S. citizens who happen to be of that religious belief. Then turning on their heels, totally unperturbed by the audacity of their own extremist religiosity mandates in American law… 10 Commandments SHALL be displayed in schools! Public prayer, even over loudspeakers at school sporting events and in endzones with coaches officiating to student players SHALL be approved! Select, approved Bible verses (probably from the St. James version ONLY) SHALL be taught and repeated to memory by all students!
And these extremist maga-centric, political hacks who spout all of this nonsense and attempt at every turn to mix our nation’s educational systems with religion… but only their un-christian nationalist hyper religiosity version… always gives a total pass and makes excuses for the current head of the most un-christian nationalist maga mush brained fools! He has violated, intentionally, every single one of the 10 Commandments they hold so dear, but they all look the other way and bow down to his cankled feet anyway. They ignore his vulgarities, his con jobs, his openly fraudulent schemes to take what isn’t his to take, his sexual predator behavior, his disgust for and rebellion against honesty, integrity and morality.
Yes, HE is their lord and master, they one they lay hands on and pray over, and vow to obey and worship at every opportunity, and they somehow believe or fantasize that all the rest of America should be forced to do the same just because they mandate obscenities like these laws, thinking wrongly that our young people are so stupid they will be like robots and just comply without first thinking it is wrong to adhere to such radical nonsense!
America’s young people are much smarter than the maga sycophants and mush brains, and your blatant attempts at indoctrination into extremist maga religiosity that mainly teaches hatred toward other religions, other cultures, other ethnicities, toward minorities, toward immigrants, to the disabled, toward gay people and all others the maga cult despises will NOT succeed in America. After 250 years of rising above adversity, America will continue to thrive… WE SHALL OVERCOME!