GAINESVILLE — The Florida Legislature is set to pass a measure as soon as this week that would protect the identities of police officers and crime victims, more than two years after the state Supreme Court struck down portions of legislation known as “Marsy’s Law.”

Marsy’s Law was initially a constitutional amendment that Florida voters approved in 2018. It intended to protect crime victims from having their identities revealed under Florida’s public records law. However, some police agencies began invoking Marsy’s Law for officers who used lethal force in the field, under the idea that the officers were victims, as well.

In a legal challenge over those practices, the Supreme Court struck down the portion of the amendment that protected the identities of victims. However, it left the door open for the Legislature to expand the law.

Now, bills are moving through the House and Senate. In the proposals, if officers are the victim of assault or threatened while on the job, their identity would be confidential for 72 hours after the incident and exempt from disclosures in public records for 60 days. Identifying details about crime victims – including any information that could be used to locate, intimidate, harass or abuse a victim – would be exempt indefinitely.

It means that if an officer feels threatened, their name will temporarily be withheld from public records. For example, in a case like George Floyd’s, it is possible that the names of the officers involved would not be released for about two months. Floyd died while a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer knelt on his neck and back. The officer was convicted of murder.

Rep. Kaylee Tuck, R-Sebring, is sponsoring the House bill, and Sen. Erin Grall, R-Fort Pierce, has a companion bill. Both versions were headed for floor votes. A two-thirds majority is needed to pass because it involves new exceptions to Florida’s public records law..

If the bill becomes law, lawmakers would have to re-approve the measures again after 2031.

The bills do not protect victims' names from being released in court. Under Florida’s constitution, defendants have a right to question and cross-examine their accusers. In these cases, the plaintiffs' names would be identified in court and related documents.

The law is named for Marsy Ann Nicholas, a 21-year-old college senior in California who was stalked and killed by her ex-boyfriend. Her murder sparked a national initiative to protect the identities of crime victims. However, Marsy’s Law for Florida, which was instrumental in getting the 2018 amendment passed, said it was not meant to protect police officers as well.

“When reviewing the conduct of on-duty law enforcement officers involved in use-of-force incidents, the right to privacy of their name must quickly yield to the public’s right to know," said spokesperson Jennifer Fennell, a spokesperson for Marsy’s Law for Florida.

Michael Koretzky, the president of the Society of Professional Journalists, said the proposals represented governmental overreach and would allow officers to claim they are victims without the same set of responsibilities. Journalists covering public safety routinely seek to interview victims and their families of major, newsworthy crimes but generally do not publish their names under the industry’s ethics rules.

“ Part of the problem with Marsy's Law being extended to law enforcement is that, instead of empowering the least powerful people, which are the crime victims, you are empowering people that are legally allowed to carry guns and shoot people,” Koretzky said in a phone interview.

The Florida Police Benevolent Association, an organization that represents law enforcement officers, supported protections for law enforcement, calling the bill a collaboration between the organization and Grall. The group had urged for permanent anonymity for officers who identified themselves as crime victims.

“If he's a victim, then we feel that that officer should have the same protections as a civilian,” William Smith, a lobbyist for the association, told a legislative committee last month. “But she's worked very diligently with us, and we're very happy where it is.”

The expansion of Marsy’s Law comes after a similar bill failed last year. Sponsored by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, it would have allowed an agency head to indefinitely exempt the officer's name where “he or she determines it is necessary.”

Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Orlando, praised the new bill.

“ I think that it strikes the right balance in making sure that the public's right to know is balanced with the rights of law enforcement and the safety of law enforcement and victims,” he said during a committee hearing.

Grall said she landed on the 60-day exemption after conversations with law enforcement.

“Sixty days was a place that I believed was not too far out in the future,” Grall told the Criminal Justice Committee. “But (it) also gave a cooling down time, a move past the initial impact of whatever may have happened that would necessitate the use of this.”

The Supreme Court struck down Marsy’s Law after the City of Tallahassee, in 2020, challenged the notion that officers’ names could be withheld from public disclosure. In one case, an officer was rushed at with a hunting knife, and, in the second case, an officer shot a murder suspect who was pointing a gun at him.

The city refused to release the names of the officers, contesting that officers were not protected under the law. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Marsy’s Law does not categorically protect a victim’s name, and it does not exempt the names of on-duty law enforcement officers from disclosure. The Leon County Clerk of Court subsequently released unredacted grand jury reports identifying both officers.

The Supreme Court also said the law conflicted with the constitutional right criminal defendants have to confront their accusers and the public’s right to inspect public records.

This story was produced by Fresh Take Florida, a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. The reporters can be reached at gvelasquezneira@ufl.edu. You can donate to support our students here.