- A local group has concerns over the impacts a Florida Supreme Court ruling on Marsy's Law could have on survivors of sexual violence.
- Florida's highest court announced the ruling Thursday that says Marsy's Law does not guarantee the protection of victim's names.
- A Floridian First Amendment advocate says the ruling was a win for public information.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Advocates who work with survivors of sexual assault each day in Tallahassee say they worry about the impacts a recent Marsy's Law ruling.
The Florida Supreme Court released a decision saying victims names cannot be protected under the law.
An advocate working in Northeast Tallahassee still has questions about the ruling.
Robin Graber says he is passionate about helping survivors.
"Really just felt honored to be a part of their healing journey and help them find safety and security after such a violent incident," Graber said.
He said the 2018 constitution amendment known as Marsy's law helps him do that.
It's legislation that protects victims of a crime from harassment.
"Anything that was identifying information would be redacted from that police report if someone wanted to see it or requested that information," Graber said.
Now, he said he is concerned about how a court ruling on that law could impact others.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Marsy's law does not "...guarantee to crime victims a generalized right of anonymity."
This after the Florida Police Benevolent Association evoked Marsy's Law to conceal the identities of two Tallahassee police officers who fatally shot two people in 2020.
The police union said they were victims after the use of force was justified.
Graber said the new ruling will be something his group needs to navigate.
"We're definitely concerned about how this is going to impact survivors and really impact their privacy and safety as well," Graber said.
I spoke with someone with a differing opinion on this ruling.
His name is Bobby Block.
He's was a journalist for over 40 years and is now the executive director of the First Amendment Foundation.
"Transparency is really important because transparency strengthen's everyone's right to speak," Block said.
He said the public deserves to know information that is in documents like police reports.
"Who pulled the trigger and how did this unfold?" Block said. "What did the police report say?"
But, he said some victims do deserve special privacy in certain instances.
"In cases where there are genuine threats of harassment, there may be cause to kind of conceal someone's identity," Block said.
Graber said they will continue to work to ensure the safety of every survivor.
"There's a right to know there was violence in the community, but there's not necessarily a right to know who those victims were," Graber said.
Graber said the council will work to keep survivors up to date on how this will impact them in the future.
