City of Weston et al. v. Florida Governor et al.: Opposing Extreme Preemption in Florida
Update — On July 26, 2019, the trial court struck down all the penalty provisions in Florida’s extreme preemption law, siding with the position Giffords Law Center argued for in our amicus brief.
Case information: City of Weston et al. v. Hon. Richard “Rick” Scott et al., Case No. 2018 CA 000699 (Leon County Circuit Court, filed March 4, 2019).
At Issue: This case involves a Florida preemption law that limits local regulation in the field of firearms and purports to impose harsh penalties, including fines and removal from office, on local officials found to violate the law. Officials from the City of Weston, the City of Coral Springs, and Broward County filed separate lawsuits (now consolidated before the same judge) against the Governor and the State of Florida to overturn the preemption law. The cities and county argue that the court should strike down Florida’s preemption law because it impermissibly expands the Governor’s authority to remove elected officials from office, contravenes municipal governments’ authority to enact laws without fear of legal penalties, and is an unconstitutional restriction of local democracy.
Giffords Law Center’s Brief: Our brief in support of the plaintiff cities and county explains that under Florida’s dangerous law, local legislators can be personally punished if they vote for a local ordinance that impinges upon the field of firearms regulation. We argue that this unprecedented approach to enforcing a preemption law, since followed by other states, is unconstitutional because it deprives legislators of constitutionally-guaranteed immunity from civil liability for their legislative activities. Further, we argue that fining and removing legislators from office for voting will discourage people from seeking elected office in Florida, chill democratic participation, and deter enactment of non-preempted laws.