Florida among first states to create its own terrorist designation system, drawing constitutional challenge

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WINK) — Governor Ron DeSantis says Florida's new law, implemented Wednesday, gives the state another tool to combat terrorism but experts say it also pushes Florida into largely uncharted legal territory by creating one of the nation's first state-level systems to designate terrorist organizations.

Florida isn't alone. Indiana also enacted a similar designation law this year, while Texas has taken related executive actions.

Historically, terrorist designations have been handled by the federal government. The U.S. Department of State maintains the nation's list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations, while the U.S. Department of the Treasury administers sanctions against designated individuals and entities.

Florida's new law, which took effect July 1, creates a separate state process allowing the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to recommend organizations for designation. The Governor and Cabinet must approve those recommendations before they take effect.

On Wednesday, DeSantis announced his intent to designate the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the Muslim Brotherhood, Antifa, and more than 90 federally recognized Foreign Terrorist Organizations under the new law.

See the Governor's press release here.

Political scientist Aubrey Jewett, a professor at the University of Central Florida, said the law represents a significant shift in how states approach terrorism.

"To my knowledge, states never did this," Jewett said. "There certainly has been coordination to battle terrorism between the federal government and state and local governments... but that's a little different than saying states will actually have their own laws that allow them to designate groups as terrorists and have punishments for those groups. In that sense, it's unprecedented."

Jewett said the federal government has traditionally taken the lead. Florida argues the law falls within the state's police powers to protect residents and determine how state resources are used.

"It's new. It's different. It hasn't, to my knowledge, been tried before," Jewett said. "It's at least somewhat questionable legally and constitutionally. We'll have lawsuits, and we'll have judges that will, you know, make those decisions."

Within hours of the governor's announcement, CAIR and CAIR-Florida filed a federal lawsuit challenging the new law.

See the lawsuit here.

The complaint calls Florida's new system an "unprecedented" domestic terrorist organization designation regime and argues it violates the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The lawsuit alleges the law lacks meaningful procedural safeguards and gives state officials broad authority to designate domestic organizations as terrorist groups before they have a meaningful opportunity to challenge the decision.

If approved by the Governor and Cabinet, organizations designated under Florida law could face significant consequences. State agencies, school districts and public colleges and universities would be prohibited from providing taxpayer funding, contracts or other support to designated organizations.

The law also creates criminal penalties for knowingly providing material support to designated organizations and allows the state to pursue administrative dissolution of certain entities. Florida law defines “material support” as “any property… or service,” including “expert advice or assistance.”

The Governor's Office says the law is intended to protect Floridians, prevent taxpayer resources from supporting terrorist organizations, and strengthen the state's ability to combat terrorism.