Cair shuts down Florida office as judge declines reversal of terrorist designation

The Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) has shut down its operations in Florida after a judge declined to reverse the terrorist designation of the group that the state legislature and the governor had imposed earlier this year. Chief Judge Allen C Winsor of the US District Court for the Northern District of Florida made his decision on Wednesday, while acknowledging Florida's “novel - and perhaps unprecedented" new law allowing for terrorist designations of non-profit groups without due process. But ultimately, he said Cair's emergency request did not adequately prove that the group was suffering a criminal punishment. Winsor did, however, say Florida officials cannot prevent Cair from accessing legal services. Florida officials also pledged not to prosecute Cair's board, its staff, or its third-party associates. Cair has said it will now appeal the decision. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters A visit to the website CairFlorida.org on Friday only produced the following message on a dark backdrop: "We have suspended our operations in Florida because of Governor [Ron] DeSantis and other state officials’ baseless and unconstitutional enforcement of the state’s unprecedented new 'domestic terrorist organization' laws against us. The ACLU, SPLC, and their partners are representing us in a federal lawsuit challenging this designation on First Amendment and due process grounds." In a statement, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement called Winsor's ruling "the right call for the safety of Floridians" and said it "remains vigilant against threats and committed to keeping Floridians safe". Cair's national deputy director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, mourned the loss of its operations in the state. "For the first time in over twenty years, Florida Muslims cannot call their community’s leading civil rights organization for help if they experience a hate crime at their mosque, illegal discrimination in the workplace, violent bullying in school, or any other acts of bigotry," he said in a statement. "The unprecedented notion that Governor DeSantis has the power to punish an American civil rights organization for its speech and unilaterally force the closure of its doors without due process is an affront to the Constitution." Multiple designations In July, Cair sued the governor of Florida for designating it a "domestic terrorist organisation" alongside some of the most deadly drug cartels in the Americas. Cair filed the lawsuit in partnership with non-profits The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The designation opens up Cair to "immediate and irreparable harm, including the shuttering of all their operations and advocacy in the state", the group said in a statement. Florida has further listed the Muslim Brotherhood, which has no known operation in the US or a centralised headquarters globally, as a terrorist organisation, as well as "antifa", which is short for the anti-fascist movement. It also has no defined scope or location. "Officials can brand nonprofit corporations with debilitating stigma and then use an array of state authorities to immediately silence and incapacitate the organization, its employees, its members, and a wide range of others associated with the group through extraordinarily broad and severe criminal, civil, and administrative penalties," Cair said at the time. 'Baseless': Cair sues Florida governor for terrorism designation alongside drug cartels Read More » The designation stems from HB 1471, which the Florida legislature passed in March. DeSantis signed it in April, and it went into effect on 1 July. DeSantis had previously tried to go it alone, signing an executive order in December to blacklist Cair, but a federal judge blocked it earlier this year. After the legislature adopted the bill, Cair sought an emergency injunction to stop the enforcement of HB 1471. HB 1471's language indicates that providing support to designated terrorist groups will lead to criminal liability, and ensures that religious codes - sometimes protected by the First Amendment - do not supersede Florida law. Cair and its partners said in the lawsuit that the designation model "contains no requirement that notice to the designated group include all the reasons for the designation and all the material evidence - inculpatory and exculpatory - that state decisionmakers may rely on to make or approve the designation. It does not require the State to prove or even provide evidence that the organization violated any law".