{"id":15904,"date":"2024-03-04T10:44:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-04T15:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collierclerk.com\/?p=15904"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:59:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T17:59:34","slug":"an-update-to-marsys-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/an-update-to-marsys-law\/","title":{"rendered":"An update to Marsy\u2019s Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s Marsy\u2019s Law has been in the news since the Florida Supreme Court\u2019s decision in November of 2023. Many of you that do not practice in the field of criminal law may not be familiar with Marsy\u2019s Law, and the effects of the Florida Supreme Court\u2019s decision.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Marsy\u2019s Law is named after Marsalee Nicholas, a college student in California that was stalked and murdered by her former boyfriend. Marsy\u2019s parents were confronted by the accused murderer in a grocery store shortly after the murder. The family was not aware that the accused had been released, and without any right to demand information about the case.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, the Marsy\u2019s Law initiative began and was passed in California in 2008. Marsy\u2019s Law was passed overwhelmingly in Florida in November of 2018. The law was passed as a Constitutional Amendment (Amendment 6) through a voter referendum. Its provisions are now embodied in Article I, Section 16 (b) \u2013 (e) of the Florida Constitution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Victims of crime in Florida are now guaranteed the rights found in its Constitutional provisions including the following: to be treated with dignity and respect, to be reasonably protected; to receive notice of and ability to be present at and heard at all public proceedings involving the criminal conduct; to notice of release and escape; and the right to privacy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The privacy right is specified to be the right to prevent disclosure of \u201cinformation or records that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victims\u2019 family\u201d. Art. I, Sect. 16 (b) (5), Fla. Const.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result of this provision, law enforcement had redacted police investigative reports and charges so that the victim or the victim\u2019s family were not identified. Some law enforcement agencies have interpreted the Law, asserting that the law enforcement officers could themselves be victims of crimes, and that the officers\u2019 names were protected from disclosure by Marsy\u2019s Law.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One such expansion resulted in the case of City of Tallahassee v. Florida Police Benevolent Assoc. Supreme Court of Florida, November 30, 2023, —So. d 3d— 2023 WL 8264181. In 2020, two Tallahassee police officers, in separate incidents, fatally shot armed suspects that were threatening them. The officers were cleared, and the City intended to report their names when the F.P.B.A. obtained an emergency injunction, asserting that Marsy\u2019s Law should shield the officers\u2019 identities.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a 6-0 decision the Florida Supreme Court ruled that Marsy\u2019s Law could not be used to shield the identities of law enforcement officers involved in shooting cases. \u201cMarsy\u2019s Law guarantees to no victim \u2013 police officer or otherwise. \u2013 the categorical right to withhold his or her name from disclosure.” F.P.B.A, at 3.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Constitutional provision of Marsy\u2019s Law protects \u201cinformation or records that could be used to locate or harass the victim or the victim\u2019s family\u2026\u201d F.P.B.A., at 9, quoting Art. I, Sect. 16 (b) (5) Fla. Const.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne\u2019s name,\u201d the Florida Supreme Court states, \u201cis not that kind of information or record; it communicates nothing about where the individual can be found or bothered.\u201d F.P.B.A., at 11. In contrast, other provisions of the State Constitution expressly address the disclosure of a person\u2019s identity. See Art. Y, sect. 25 (b) Fla. Const.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Court\u2019s decision resulted in limiting the scope of the protections to all persons.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the full March 2024 Newsletter here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Florida\u2019s Marsy\u2019s Law has been in the news since the Florida Supreme Court\u2019s decision in November of 2023. Many of … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":15905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1001,1000,999],"class_list":["post-15904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","tag-court-privacy","tag-florida-supreme-court","tag-marsys-law","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-25","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15904","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15904"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15904\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15961,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15904\/revisions\/15961"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15904"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15904"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15904"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}