Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law into effect making it illegal to protest outside of someone’s home in the state.
DeSantis signed Florida House Bill 1571 into law Monday and it will go into effect in October.
“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 in a statement. “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities and I am glad to sign it into law.”
According to The Daily Wire:
In the preamble to the law, the Florida legislature states that “the state has a significant interest in protecting the tranquility and privacy of the home and protecting citizens from the detrimental effect of targeted picketing.” The text of the law reads:
It is unlawful for a person to picket or protest before or about the dwelling of any person with the intent to harass or disturb that person in his or her dwelling.
And further, the text of the law describes the procedure for law enforcement officers to follow when enforcing violations:
Before a person may be arrested for a violation of this section, a law enforcement officer… or a local, state, federal, or military law enforcement agency must go as near to the person as may be done with safety and shall command any person picketing or protesting before or about the dwelling of a person to immediately and peaceably disperse. If any such person does not thereupon immediately and peaceably disperse, he or she may be arrested for a violation of this section.
The new law comes in the wake of large groups of protestors congregating outside of Supreme Court justices’ homes following a bombshell leak of an opinion draft which indicated the Cout is poised to overturn Roe v. Wade.