Bills Could Also Close Courts To Public In Sweeping Attempt To Protect “Victims.”
Republican Bills Come After Two Democrats Want “Divorce By Jury” During Extreme Legislative Session.
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2025 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — Two Florida Republican lawmakers want to hide the identities of police officers who shoot or kill people in the State of Florida. The attempts by Florida Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota) and Rep. Susan Valdez (R-Hillsborough) are in similar bills moving through their respective committees.
The bills were crafted after the Florida Supreme Court struck down much of Marsy’s Law — a victim protection law that was used by police agencies to hide police officers names after they were involved in violent acts. The agencies claimed that police officers shooting or killing people were actually crime victims themselves. The argument was made by agencies including the Boca Raton Police Department and the Tallahassee Police Department. It’s the Tallahassee use of the law that led to legal action and the Supreme Court saying the argument was absurd.
We note several local agencies, including the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, never implemented the law and always released the names of deputies involved in acts of public note.
Under the senate bill, the identity of a police officer involved in a violent act would be withheld for 72 hours — a cooling off period that many call “reasonable.” But a police chief or agency head could then decide to withhold the name of the officer involved in a shooting indefinitely. In a situation like the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the public would never know the identities of the officers involved.
The bill penned by Sen. Gruters also ads significant victim protection that — while seemingly well-intentioned — could have the chilling effect of closing courts to the public. Under Gruters’ bill, virtually no one would ever be able to learn the identity of a victim, meaning defendants and those advocating for people accused of crimes could never know if the alleged crime victim is telling the truth, has a history of false statements, or completely fabricated the claims being made. Sen. Gruters did not respond to a request for clarity from BocaNewsNow.com.
This is the full text of the Gruters bill. Here is the full text of the house version by Sen. Valdes. It’s not just Republicans engaged in extreme bill creation during the 2025 legislative session. Two democrats are behind a proposed bill that would push divorce proceedings to a jury trial in the State of Florida — creating a “reality tv show” element to Florida divorce. Read our coverage here.
