The Supreme Court on Thursday blocked Florida from temporarily enforcing a law that would have penalized venues for allowing children to attend drag shows.
The decision is a blow to Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is championing the so-called Child Protection Act — legislation that would make it a first-degree misdemeanor to admit a child to a sexually explicit adult live performance, such as a drag show.
The measure, signed into law by DeSantis in May as part of a broader legislative package targeting gender reassignment surgery for children, instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools and gender-neutral bathrooms, was blocked by Justice Florida District Gregory Presnell in June.
Presnell ruled that the statute was “specifically designed to suppress the speech of drag queens” and that existing obscenity laws provide the Sunshine State “with the necessary authority to protect children from any exhibition or performance of obscene acts not protected by the constitution.”
The Supreme Court refused to narrow lower court injunctions related to law enforcement. Getty Images The anti-drag bill was signed into law by DeSantis in May.ZUMAPRESS.com
The three justices, conservatives Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch indicated that they would allow the law to be implemented.
Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett authored a high court statement explaining the decision, noting that the court denied Florida’s request for a stay because it could not take the case on the grounds that the state had challenged the lower court’s decision.
“To begin with, although Florida strongly disagrees with the District Court’s First Amendment analysis, Florida’s application of a stay to this Court does not raise that First Amendment issue,” the judge wrote. “Thus, the Court’s denial of the stay says nothing about our view of whether Florida’s new law violates the First Amendment.”
The lawsuit against the state was brought by popular Orlando restaurant Hamburger Mary’s, which had hosted a “family-friendly” drag show on Sunday.
New laws have forced them to ban children from all shows.
The restaurant, in a lawsuit against the Sunshine State, claims the state is depriving the business of its First Amendment right to free speech.
Florida has asked the Supreme Court to narrow the statewide injunction so the law can be enforced against every business except Hamburger Mary’s.
The Supreme Court can take the case after the appeal process is carried out in the lower court. Reuters
Kavanaugh and Coney Barrett acknowledge that whether district courts have the authority to prevent enforcement of the law against non-parties is an “important question that may warrant our review in the future,” but argue that the case is an “imperfect vehicle” for answering that question. .
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has argued that due to a lower court injunction the state “cannot enforce the statue at all, which is detrimental to Florida’s children and the State’s sovereign prerogative to protect them from harm.”
Moody’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
The case has been sent back to the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals for a full appeal, after which it could return to the high court.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
