WUFT by Gabriella Paul
February 11, 2019
Florida is considering prohibiting police from releasing audio, photographs or video of mass killings unless a court gives them permission. The measure would dramatically alter the way news organizations cover a modern scourge that has claimed scores of lives.
The bill would retroactively cover footage of all previous mass killings in Florida.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee was expected to consider the proposal, SB 186, during a hearing Monday in Tallahassee, where it was expected to be approved unanimously. At least one other committee was expected to review the measure before a floor vote. Gov. Ron DeSantis was not expected to object to the bill.
Florida has been the scene since 2013 of at least five mass shootings that would be covered under the new law, including last year’s killings of 17 high school students in Broward County and the deaths of 49 people in 2016 at a nightclub in Orlando.
The bill is similar to other proposals across the U.S. intended to protect the privacy of crime victims and their families and diminish the public’s exposure to graphic imagery that might inspire others to commit sensational violence.
Media organizations said the new limits would impede reporting on whether law enforcement adequately responds in unfolding emergencies. Broward County’s sheriff resigned under pressure last month after his deputies failed to charge inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High during the shooting. The FBI was criticized for failing to take seriously clues the Orlando nightclub shooter might become violent, and radio problems the night of those killings contributed to confusion at the scene.
The bill was expected to raise few objections in the Senate hearing, said Barbara Petersen, head of the First Amendment Foundation, a pro-media group. The foundation told the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, the material that would be banned was “critical in ensuring the public’s right to hold law enforcement accountable for its actions.”
“I don’t think anyone is going to raise any vigorous objections to this,” Petersen said. “Nobody wants to be seen as anti-victim.”
Lee is a former Senate president from east of Tampa. He declined to return six phone messages and emails over four days asking to discuss the bill.
The proposal would modify an existing state law that bans government agencies, including police departments, from releasing photos, audio or videos – including body cam footage – of the killing of a police officer on duty, although footage of police killing others is allowed to be released under the law. The bill expands the prohibition to cover victims of mass violence, defined as the intentional deaths of three or more people, not including the perpetrator. It would not directly affect audio, photos or video produced by private citizens.