The ACLU of Florida is expecting to file more lawsuits after this legislative session if several controversial bills are passed.
During a press conference Friday, leaders of the organization said they believe legislators and Governor Ron DeSantis are continuing a coordinated attack against civil rights in the Sunshine State.
The group’s interim Executive Director, Howard Simon, said Republican lawmakers are in lockstep with the governor. He categorizes their efforts as not just a conservative movement, but instead a counter revolution against decades of civil rights improvements.
“This is an effort to reverse all of the progressive policies that have been adopted in this country and in this state. Maybe the last 80 years or so since the civil rights movement of the 1960’s,” Simon said.
This year, the organization is lobbying against a host of bills, including policies affecting transgender people, opening the door for penalties against abortion providers, and restricting kids’ access to social media. The ACLU’s legislative council, Pamela Burch Fort, said she’s expecting an uphill battle in Tallahassee because Republicans hold a super majority in both legislative chambers.
“Our job is to get the legislature to focus on what we the people want. And that is a challenging to impossible task. What we’ve seen under the DeSantis administration is the legislature following the governor down the yellow brick road,” Fort said.
But when the ACLU of Florida can’t win in the capitol building, they try to win in the courts. The group is currently mounting several lawsuits against the state, including challenging the state’s 15-week abortion ban and its abolition of the college student group Students for Justice in Palestine. Simon said more lawsuits against the state can be expected after this session.
“We are not going to stand by and let the legislature run roughshod over the rights of parents and over the, over the people of Florida,” he said.
The ACLU of Florida has been embattled in recent years as former board members, staff and the national branch clashed over whether the organization should go in a more progressive direction or follow the non-partisan civil rights origins of the organization. For now, the organization is taking a firm stance against DeSantis and the Republicans that run Florida.
