Governor DeSantis Signs Historic Hate Crime Bill in Israel

Governor DeSantis and the state of Florida have taken a stand by passing a hate crime bill sponsored by Republican State Representatives Mike Caruso and Randy Fine in the House and Republican Senator Alexis Calatayud in the Senate. Caruso and Fine joined the Governor in Israel to sign this historic legislation at the new Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem.

Republican State Representative Randy Fine, Governor Ron DeSantis, and Republican State Representative Mike Caruso in Israel for a historic bill signing.

The rise in antisemitism in Florida motivated Caruso to sponsor this legislation; it protects all Floridians, including those of the Jewish Faith, from all acts of religious and ethnic animus. 

Caruso gave an impassioned speech on the House floor. Every member there that day, one hundred and fourteen members, cosponsored this bill in bipartisan unity. As of today, all 119 House members have cosponsored HB 269.

The bill was signed in Jerusalem at the Museum of Tolerance.

We were at Yad Vashem (Holocaust Museum of Remembrance) last year, and I remember my wife Tracy turning to me and saying, “Next session, you should sponsor a hate crime bill that includes antisemitism.” Now we have, and we are signing where it was conceived, in Israel.~Mike Caruso

 

114 House Members Cosponsored, all who were present, Florida’s Hate Crime Bill HB 269. It passed unanimously.

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Members, we were called to stand for the six million Jews murdered by Hitler’s Nazis in World War II.

Today, we are called today to stand for the 672,000 Jews who now call Florida home.

And I, for one,

Will not sit around,

Will not be complacent,

And will not do nothing.

Enough is enough.

All Floridians, including those of the Jewish faith, should have the right

to quiet enjoyment in their communities & the right to practice their

Faith without reprisal or fear of harm. When we said ‘Never

Again,’ we mean ‘Never Again.’

Yet here we are………… again. -State Representative Mike Caruso

The summary analysis from the House explains HB 269 as such:

HB 269 prohibits a person from intentionally dumping litter onto private property to intimidate or threaten the owner, resident, or invitee of such property, a violation of which is punishable as a first-degree misdemeanor. If such litter contains a credible threat, a person commits a third-degree felony.

State Rep Randy Fine, Secretary of State Cord Byrd, and State Rep Mike Caruso in Israel.

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It prohibits a person from willfully and maliciously harassing, threatening, or intimidating another person based on the person’s wearing or displaying of any indicia relating to any religious or ethnic heritage, a violation that is punishable as a first-degree misdemeanor. If a  person commits such a violation and, in doing so, makes a credible threat, the person commits a third-degree felony.

State Representatives support HB 269 as State Representatives Mike Caruso and Randy Fine were presenting it.

It creates a new prohibition against displaying or projecting, using any medium, an image onto a building, structure, or other property without the owner’s written consent, a violation of which is punishable as a first-degree misdemeanor. If a person displays or projects such an image containing a credible threat, the person commits a third-degree felony.

Additionally, it creates a new trespass offense if a person who is not authorized, licensed,  or invited willfully enters the campus of a state university or Florida College System institution to threaten or intimidate another person and is warned by the state university or Florida College System institution to depart and refuses to do so. A violation is punishable as a first-degree misdemeanor.

The motivation for this bill was the rise in antisemitism in Florida in recent years. Florida has the third largest population of Jewish people in America, but the law does not protect one group over another. It protects against all religious and ethnic animus. For example, if you are white and Christian, wearing a MAGA hat, and are harassed at an event for being a white/Christian, you will be offered the same protections as any other group. 

Florida has taken the lead once again. The bill provides an effective date upon becoming law.


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