ACLU of Florida Urges Veto of Proposal Expanding State Power Granted in the “Guilt by Designation” Bill After Legislative Passage

TALLAHASSEE, FL – The Florida Legislature has passed HB 1471, legislation that would allow state officials to designate organizations as “domestic terrorist organizations” and impose sweeping penalties under vague standards. The ACLU of Florida is urging every Floridian to reach out to Governor Ron DeSantis and demand that he veto the bill, warning that no government should have the power to label its critics as terrorists and punish people for exercising their constitutional rights.

Bacardi Jackson, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida, shared the following statement:

“This legislation attempts to create a system where the government can unilaterally label individuals and organizations as ‘domestic terrorists’ and trigger sweeping consequences without meaningful standards, transparency, or constitutional guardrails. That kind of authority is dangerous in a democracy because it allows the government to attach one of the most stigmatizing labels imaginable to individuals and organizations while bypassing constitutional safeguards and procedural protections.

 

“It is especially troubling that reporting has revealed the Governor’s office helped author this legislation in the first place. The separation of powers exists to ensure that no single branch of government can quietly design and execute laws that expand its own authority. When the executive branch helps draft legislation that ultimately grants itself sweeping power to designate groups as ‘domestic terrorists,’ it erodes one of the most fundamental guardrails in our constitutional system.

 

“When a designation carries the potential for criminal penalties, loss of funding, and broad social stigma, the Constitution requires clear limits and due process. Instead, this proposal invites political actors to wield extraordinary power over who is allowed to participate in civic life. The First Amendment was written precisely to prevent government officials from deciding which advocacy is legitimate and which voices should be silenced and punished.

 

“Courts have already made clear that ‘the government cannot do indirectly what it is barred from doing directly.’ Public officials cannot threaten consequences for those who work with, platform, or associate with a group of people who are targeted by the government for speech with which the government disagrees. When this happens, the result is predictable: people withdraw, partnerships collapse, and lawful advocacy disappears from the public square. Advocacy disappears not because it was unlawful, but because the government has created a climate of intimidation around it. That kind of coercion strikes at the heart of the First Amendment and undermines the basic democratic principle that advocacy and dissent must remain free from government retaliation.

 

“If dissent can be labeled terrorism, democracy cannot survive. The Constitution places a heavy presumption against systems that allow government officials to silence expression. Our democracy depends on the freedom to criticize those in power, to organize around shared values, and to advocate for change without fear that the government will label those efforts a security threat.

 

“Floridians deserve leaders who respect the limits of their power – not officials who blur those lines to consolidate it. We urge the Governor to uphold his oath to support and defend the Constitution, listen to his constituents and veto this bill.”