Democrats Warn Of Overreach as DeSantis Signs Bill Conflating Terrorism with Muslims

What are you afraid of? (Unsplash)Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday that will allow just a handful of government officials to designate domestic terrorist organizations in Florida and expel college students who “promote” them.

The law (HB 1471), sponsored by Rep. Hillary Cassel, R-Dania Beach, also bans state funds from being issued to schools with affiliations to designated foreign or domestic terrorist organizations.

And it bans Florida courts from enforcing any part of Sharia law. That’s a set of principles that govern the moral and religious lives of Muslims, ranging from dietary laws to marriage, divorce, inheritance, the rights of women, and punishment for criminal offenses.

“We’ll do millions for public safety. Millions for education. But never one red cent for jihad,” DeSantis said during a news conference on the University of South Florida campus.

It certainly wasn’t a surprise that the governor signed the bill. The Tampa Bay Times reported last month that staffers in his office wrote an original draft of SB 1632, the companion bill filed by Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach.

The law says that the terrorism label could be applied if the state’s chief of domestic security finds the group is engaging in terrorist activity as defined in Florida Statute 775.30: that the group that “is intended to intimidate, injure, or coerce a civilian population; Influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or Affect the conduct of government through destruction of property, assassination, murder, kidnapping, or aircraft piracy.”

That recommendation would be put in written form by the state’s chief of domestic security, which would be the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It would then have to be approved or rejected by the governor and the three members of the Florida Cabinet (the agriculture commissioner, the chief financial officer, and attorney general).

Within seven days after the terrorist designation is approved by the governor and Cabinet, the chief of domestic security must publish notice of that designation in the Florida Administrative Register. Within 30 days after that, the organization or any member may challenge such designation in the state Circuit Court in Leon County.

“We have got to stop as a country importing people that reject the values of this country,” DeSantis said. “And that’s been going on for a long time.”

Sharia Law provision

Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, now running to succeed DeSantis in the governor’s mansion, attended the press event.

“Let’s talk about Sharia law,” he said. “It is not some personal spiritual guide. Simply put, it is not consistent with our values of our Constitution. Rather, it is a complete legal and political code drawn straight from the Koran and the words of Muhammed himself. That is primary facts, from primary sources.”

The legislation comes four months after DeSantis signed an executive order designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the Muslim Brotherhood to be “terrorist” organizations. After CAIR Florida legally challenged that designation, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking that order last month.

‘Unjustly targeted’

CAIR Florida announced shortly after the bill signing that it would reply to the governor in press conferences in their Tampa and Broward County offices on Tuesday.

“We have already been unjustly targeted — most notably when Governor DeSantis falsely labelled CAIR as terrorists without lawful authority or evidence,” said CAIR-Florida executive director Hiba Rahim said on Monday in a written statement.

“This is not just about CAIR. This expanded and deeply-flawed framework can attack any organization that dares to dissent. As Floridians, together, we’ll watch how this unprecedented law is enforced, and whether it is used or abused.”

The bill was fiercely opposed by Democrats as it moved its was through both chambers during the session.

During a debate on the legislation on the House floor, Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando, said the bill places “an extraordinary concentration of power” in the hands of just a few government officials.

“There is no requirement for legislative approval,” she said. “There is no independent judicial finding before the designation takes effect. There is no  built-in meaningful oversight mechanism to ensure transparency or review. In our system of government, we do not place sweeping, labeling authority in the hands of a few executive officials without guardrails.”

Rep. Robin Bartleman, D-Weston, said she worried about who could be classified as a terrorist organization.

“Does the governor and his Cabinet have the ability to designate NOW [the National Organization for Women] or Planned Parenthood as a domestic terrorist organization? Many would characterize them as a danger to unborn fetuses. So, it is not out of the realm of possibility without tighter guardrails,” she said.

DeSantis predicted the bill will likely be legally challenged, but said he is confident the state would ultimately prevail.

–Mitch Perry, Florida Phoenix