TALLAHASSEE --- A lengthy list of groups designated by the state as “domestic terrorist organizations” is on hold until state law enforcement establishes regulations to implement the changes from a new state law.
The state on Monday requested additional time to respond to the Council on American-Islamic Relations federal lawsuit as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement intends to first issue regulations to implement the law (HB 1471) and a related public records exemption (HB 1473) from the 2026 regular session.
“No designation will be made before the regulations are finalized,” the filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee stated.
Representatives for the state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Scott McCoy, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represents CAIR, said the state’s action shows the law is less about public safety than politics.
“The fact that Florida officials announced their intent to designate CAIR at their July 1 press conference, before regulations they now plan to issue have come into effect, shows their calculated and cruel plan to designate CAIR is not because it is in any way a threat to public safety, but because doing so suits their political agenda,” McCoy stated in a release.
The law took effect July 1 and Gov. Ron DeSantis that day declared he would seek the “terrorism” designation for CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood, various foreign cartels, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran and the anti-fascism movement antifa.
The designations still needed to be backed by the members of the Florida Cabinet. A special meeting with DeSantis and the Cabinet members has yet to be announced.
CAIR quickly took the pending designations to court, arguing DeSantis is violating its First Amendment rights and the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The lawsuit states CAIR and CAIR-Florida would face “irreparable harm” in their nonprofit advocacy in the state if the pending “terrorist” designation took effect. An accompanying statement denied CAIR engages in terrorist activity.
The legislation, signed by DeSantis on April 6, was crafted to back up an executive order he issued in December that placed the terrorism label on the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Muslim Brotherhood.
In March, U.S. District Judge Mark Walker issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order, writing that it violated CAIR’s rights by targeting and threatening those providing the organization with material support.
