The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has taken legal action against Florida officials following the state’s decision to designate the organization as a domestic terrorist organization. This move comes on the heels of a new law that grants the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) the authority to label organizations as terrorist groups based on specific criteria.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee, argues that the designation process lacks meaningful notice, evidentiary requirements, and due process. CAIR contends that the law empowers state officials to punish, ostracize, and silence organizations with which they disagree.
Florida’s New Law and Its Implications
The new law, HB 1471, allows the FDLE to designate organizations as domestic or foreign terrorist groups if they engage in terrorist activity as defined by Florida law. Targeted organizations must be based in Florida and pose an ongoing threat to the state or the United States. The governor and Cabinet must ratify the declaration.
In addition to CAIR, the FDLE recommended designating Antifa and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist groups, as well as more than 90 groups as foreign terrorist organizations. This broad application of the law has raised concerns about its potential misuse to target civil society organizations.
The Legal Battle and Constitutional Concerns
The lawsuit, supported by the ACLU, the ACLU of Florida, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, alleges that the designation regime is unconstitutional. It argues that the process vests unbridled discretion in Florida’s executive branch to punish organizations based on allegations of wrongdoing without a meaningful hearing before a neutral decisionmaker.
CAIR’s national headquarters expressed gratitude to the legal groups standing against what they describe as Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ latest attack on the rule of law. They emphasized that CAIR’s mission is to protect constitutional guarantees of free speech, religious freedom, and equality under the law, which is why they believe the organization has been repeatedly targeted.
Previous Legal Challenges and Ongoing Appeals
This is not the first time CAIR has faced such a designation. In December, Gov. DeSantis attempted to label CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as domestic terrorist organizations through an executive order. A federal judge issued a temporary injunction blocking that designation, which the DeSantis administration has appealed.
The current lawsuit seeks to prevent the enforcement of the new designation, arguing that it would immediately and irreparably harm CAIR’s operations and advocacy in the state. The organization faces the potential shuttering of its operations and the stigmatizing label of a domestic terrorist organization.
Broader Implications for Civil Rights
The lawsuit highlights the broader implications of Florida’s new law for civil rights and due process. Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, stated that the Constitution does not allow elected officials to punish American nonprofits and deny them the fundamentals of due process because of disagreement with their views.
CAIR and CAIR-Florida are nonprofits organized under the laws of the District of Columbia and Florida. They do not engage in terrorist activity and have a shared mission rooted in faith to enhance public understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims. The lawsuit argues that their speech and advocacy are protected by the First Amendment.
The impact of the designation would be immediate and incapacitating for CAIR and CAIR-Florida’s work in the state. The lawsuit claims that the designation would catch them in a kaleidoscope of criminal prohibitions, stopping them from carrying out even their most basic functions in Florida. It would also violate their right to counsel, as any lawyer or legal organization providing services to CAIR or CAIR-Florida would face a credible threat of criminal prosecution.
The groups are suing under the First Amendment and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The lawsuit seeks to protect CAIR’s cardinal freedoms and challenge what it describes as an undisguised attempt to restrict constitutionally protected speech and association.
