From the Brechner Center, an analysis of yesterday's Florida Court of Appeals opinion affirming police officers' right to invoke Florida's version of Marsy's Law to shield their identities — as victims threatened with violence before using deadly force — when acting in their official capacities. The Florida Supreme Court may still review the question.

"Appeals court gives Florida police an invisibility shield to use deadly force

"Police officers can keep their identities concealed -- even when they are involved in a high-profile use of deadly force -- by invoking a 'victim privacy' right in Florida's state constitution, an appeals court ruled April 6. A Florida police union sued to block the release of public records identifying two City of Tallahassee police officers who, in separate incidents, shot suspects to death. The union claimed that, because the officers were threatened with violence before pulling the trigger, they qualified as 'crime victims' for purposes of Marsy's Law, a victim privacy amendment to the state constitution.

"Last year, a trial court judge rejected the claim that officers' names fell within the scope of Marsy's Law confidentiality. But in a 3-0 opinion issued Tuesday, the First District Court of Appeal reversed the ruling. The judges held nothing in Marsy's Law disqualifies police from qualifying for privacy protection, and that all information about victims -- even their names -- can be withheld from the public. The ruling is appealable to the Florida Supreme Court. Identifying information about officers who are involved in newsworthy use-of-force cases is routinely released in other states -- including in Minnesota, where former officer Derek Chauvin is now facing murder charges in a May 2020 on-duty killing."

Here is the full text of the Florida Court of Appeals' opinion:

https://brechner.us9.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e2bfc368fca7a023b36d…