The month-long protests in Tallahassee over Stand Your Ground self-defense laws have state police calling to limit after-hour access to Gov. Rick Scott’s office reports Brandon Larrabee of the News Service of Florida.
New proposals, referred to as “Dream Defender Rules” by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, will require the public to leave the Capitol building by 5 p.m. on weekdays or within 30 minutes of the end of public meetings. Anyone staying later could be subject to arrest.
There would also be additional restrictions on legitimate visitors with access cards, as well as how many people accompany them.
The changes would give Capitol Police the ability to better protect the Capitol and its complex, according to documents describing new rules.
Although officials believe Florida’s open-records laws cover the whole plan, the FDLE released a summary to the Tallahassee Democrat “in the spirit of honoring the request” and only after the paper filed an open-records request, which then prompted the News Service of Florida to also seek the plans.
Tallahassee Rep. Alan Williams, said he understands a need to protect the Capitol, but didn’t believe a particular “Dream Defender Rule” was needed. Williams was the Democrat who worked with the “Dream Defenders,” the group who spent 31-days camped out in Scott’s office protesting Stand Your Ground, He says it is vital that officials hear the voice of Floridians.
