DeSantis Can Now Label Any Group a Terrorist Organization. No Court Required.
The big picture: DeSantis signed a law giving himself and three Florida Cabinet members the power to designate any group a domestic or foreign terrorist organization. Once designated, the group is forcibly dissolved and cut off from all state funding. University students can be expelled for “promoting” a designated group. No court involvement. A federal judge already blocked DeSantis’s executive order doing essentially the same thing. So he turned it into a law.
Why it matters: The stated targets are Islamic groups and “Sharia law.” BUT the mechanism isn’t limited to that. Once a governor can designate groups as terrorists without judicial review, the same power that targets CAIR today can target climate groups, unions, or political opposition tomorrow. Legal scholars say it “lays the groundwork for even more sweeping forms of authoritarianism.”
How it works: FDLE designates a group → DeSantis + 3 cabinet members approve → group is dissolved, defunded, banned from school districts. Students expelled for “promoting” a designated organization. No judge. No court hearing. No adversarial process.
The context: A federal judge already blocked DeSantis’s December executive order labeling CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as foreign terrorist organizations. DeSantis has promised the law protects against “Sharia law,” saying: “We’ll do millions for public safety, millions for education but never one red cent for Jihad.”
The free speech concerns: PEN America said the law “could chill free speech by placing unprecedented pressure on individuals to avoid speaking, organizing, or engaging with certain viewpoints.” Legal scholars from the University of Chicago and Stanford said these designations “lay the groundwork for even more sweeping forms of authoritarianism.” CAIR called it “draconian” and unconstitutional.
The celebration: Lt. Governor Jay Collins: “We will designate, defund, and dissolve people who don’t stand for our values.” He called designated groups “savages” and said joining them or providing support “is a felony.”
By the numbers:
0 — judges involved in the designation process
4 — people who decide (governor + 3 cabinet members)
1 — federal court that already blocked DeSantis’s executive order version
0 — clear definitions of what “promoting” means for student expulsions
The bottom line: A governor and three political appointees now have the power to label any group a terrorist organization, dissolve it, defund it, and expel students who “promote” it — without a court ever weighing in. A federal judge already blocked the executive order version. The stated targets are Muslim groups. BUT the mechanism doesn’t limit itself. The same power that targets CAIR today can target anyone tomorrow. The tool doesn’t care about the target. It cares about the hand holding it.
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