Florida Governor Ron DeSantis traveled to Tampa on Monday to sign HB 1471, a sweeping piece of legislation designed to prevent the use of Sharia law in Florida courts and tighten the state’s grip on organizations labeled as ‘terrorist’ groups.
The move marks a significant expansion of Florida’s legal firewall against foreign and religious influence, mandating that the U.S. Constitution remains the sole authority in state judicial proceedings.
Under the new law, Florida courts are explicitly barred from applying or enforcing any foreign or religious legal codes—including Sharia law—if the application would violate an individual’s constitutional rights.
This restriction extends to foreign judgments and private contracts, effectively blocking any legal maneuver that attempts to bypass state or federal protections in favor of outside legal systems.
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“To uphold the rule of law, our state must operate under one legal system, the Constitution must remain the law of the land, and we must defend our institutions from those who would harm us—especially terrorist organizations that seek to infiltrate and subvert our education system,” DeSantis said during the signing. “HB 1471 reinforces these principles in Florida, and I was proud to sign it into law today.”
The legislation doesn’t just stop at the courtroom doors; it also overhauls how the state identifies and handles security threats. HB 1471 empowers the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Chief of Domestic Security to recommend the designation of domestic terrorist organizations.
It also aligns state enforcement with federal lists of foreign terrorist groups, ensuring that any organization recognized as a threat by the U.S. government faces immediate state-level consequences.
Once an organization is designated as a terrorist entity under this framework, it is hit with a total ban on public funding and state support. Furthermore, the law introduces stiff criminal penalties for individuals found providing “material support” to these groups.
Florida’s education system is also a focal point of the bill. The law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars to promote or support any designated terrorist organizations within schools or universities.
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Institutions found in violation risk losing their state funding entirely, while students caught promoting terrorist violence could face direct disciplinary action from their schools.
The signing of HB 1471 follows a series of executive actions taken by the Governor since late last year, all aimed at purging foreign adversary influence from state-funded institutions and cutting off financial ties to entities linked to unlawful activity.
With this bill now codified, Florida’s domestic security apparatus gains broader authority to monitor and penalize groups it deems a threat to public safety.
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