Floridians could soon be blocked from obtaining graphic images of mass killings.
The Florida Senate voted 40-0 Wednesday to approve SB 186, which creates a public records exemption for video, photographs and audio capturing the killing of three or more people, not including the perpetrator.
Supporters say the footage is traumatic to family members of victims.
“There are a lot of people who are appalled at the attempts by a lot of people to get access to this information to use it for commercial purposes or for nefarious purposes, and the impact it has on victims,” said state Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa.
First Amendment groups initially voiced concerns that the measure could hurt efforts to hold law enforcement and the government accountable for lapses. A previous version of the bill was broader, exempting “all acts or events that cause or otherwise relate to the death of a person.”
The bill was revised to “specify that such photographs and video and audio recordings provide a view of the deceased in the final moments of life, in which they are often bruised, bloodied, broken, baring bullet wounds or other wounds, lacerated, dismembered or decapitated.”
“The amendment to SB 186 adopted last week addresses most of the issues we raised and our position is now neutral,” Barbara Petersen, president of Florida’s First Amendment Foundation, wrote in an email.
The South Florida Sun Sentinel, The Miami Herald and CNN sued to gain access to surveillance footage captured outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That footage — which did not show victims inside the school — played a role in exposing a slow response by law enforcement.
The legislation specifically cites mass killings at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
Florida law already blocks the release of any footage showing the killing of a law enforcement officer, along with autopsy photos.
A similar House bill (HB 7017), sponsored by Rep. James Grant, R-Tampa, and Rep. Kamia Brown, D-Ocoee, has cleared committees and is available to be considered by the full House.
Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.
sswisher@sunsentinel.com, 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher