TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A federal judge temporarily blocked enforcement of Florida’s new anti-riot law Thursday, saying it is too vague and could lead to selective enforcement by police.
The law’s “new definition of ‘riot’ both fails to put Floridians of ordinary intelligence on notice of what acts it criminalizes, and encourages arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement, making this provision vague to the point of unconstitutionality,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker of Tallahassee wrote.
Walker’s order is a temporary injunction preventing police from enforcing the law while the underlying case is tried in the courts.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has touted the new law as evidence of his support for law enforcement, particularly in light of the riots that occurred in some cities throughout the country last year amid protests against police bias and brutality against African-Americans.
Those protests were spurred by the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.
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