Florida Republicans Trying To Make It Illegal To Call Someone A Racist

A Republican lawmaker in Florida has put forth legislation that would drastically alter the state's defamation laws and make it easier to sue someone that calls another person (like a deranged lawmaker) a "racist." The new law would automatically apply the burden of actual malice onto the defendant, meaning that the case would virtually be guaranteed to go in favor of the plaintiff at court. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what's happening.

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*This transcript was generated by a third-party transcription software company, so please excuse any typos.

A Republican state senator in the free state of Florida, as Ron DeSantis likes to call it, has introduced legislation that would definitely, definitely seal the deal that Florida is in fact not a free state. This Republican lawmaker man by the name of Jason Broder, Mr. Broder, has introduced legislation that would make it easier to sue somebody who calls another person in the state of Florida, say a lawmaker calls 'em racist, homophobic, or transphobic. He has legislation that would specifically almost make it illegal for you to call someone else in the state a racist. Let me read you this. This is from the New Republic. This is just shocking what this bill does. The bill, which was introduced Friday, would make it much easier for someone to sue another person for defamation. The measure states that quote an allegation that the plaintiff has discriminated against another person or group because of their race, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity constitutes defamation per se.

Proving actual malice is one of the main requirements of a successful defamation case. And this bill would make that easier. Setting up conditions for a finder to automatically infer that actual malice took place after an accusation of discrimination. Defendants charged with defamation are not allowed to use the plaintiff's religious or scientific beliefs as part of their defense either. If they are found liable for defamation, the defendant could be find at least a minimum of $35,000. The bill applies to statements made in print, on television, or on social media. It also states that someone who is caught in a viral video engaging in allegedly discriminatory behaviors, does not qualify as a public figure. Giving those people even more grounds to sue the bill removes certain journalistic privileges. Particularly the right to keep sources, anonymous statements from anonymous sources would be considered presumptively false, making journalists reporting on discrimination, vulnerable to lawsuits.

In other words, Republicans in Florida are sick and tired of being called racist, homophobic, and transphobic. So they want to change the freedom of speech laws in the state to make it easier to sue you when you point out that they're being racist, transphobic, or homophobic. That's what's happening here down in the free state of Florida. They want to get rid of our freedom of speech in, make you pay through the nose for pointing out when they do racist things. Well, I guess I'd better start saving my money right now because yeah, that certainly seems like the kind of thing that absolutely would get everyone sued. Now this legislation has only been proposed. It has not been passed. Uh, the same dude, by the way, Jason Broder last year. He also introduced a bill that would require paid bloggers who write about elected officials to register with the state. Um, I talked about that

At the time here at Ring of Fire, uh, pap, and I even did a segment on it for America's lawyer, but, that bill didn't pass. Thank God. Uh, but this one is still out there. Maybe it passes, maybe it doesn't. But it shows that Republicans don't actually care about free speech at all. They're not the so-called Free Speech Warriors that they claim to be. They wanna shut you the hell up whenever you criticize them, and that is what this legislation is all about, to stop them from being criticized, for being some of the worst people on the planet.