Florida Senate - 2015                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 1312
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì885072+Î885072                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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                Floor: 1/AD/3R         .                                
             04/08/2015 04:35 PM       .                                
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       Senator Simmons moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 15 - 32
    4  and insert:
    5         (SLAPP) suits by governmental entities prohibited.—
    6         (1) This section may be cited as the “Citizen Participation
    7  in Government Act.”
    8         (2) It is the intent of the Legislature to protect the
    9  right in Florida of Florida’s citizens to exercise the their
   10  rights of free speech in connection with public issues, and the
   11  rights to peacefully assemble, instruct their representatives,
   12  and petition for redress of grievances before the various
   13  governmental entities of this state as protected by the First
   14  Amendment to the United States Constitution and s. 5, Art. I of
   15  the State Constitution. The Legislature recognizes that
   16  “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation” or “SLAPP”
   17  suits, as they are typically called, have increased over the
   18  last 30 years and are mostly filed by private industry and
   19  individuals. However, It is the public policy of this state that
   20  a person or governmental entity government entities not engage
   21  in SLAPP suits because such actions are inconsistent with the
   22  right of persons individuals to exercise such constitutional