Names of officers and crime victims not shielded by Marsy's Law, Fla. Supreme Court rules

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Florida police officers and any other crime victims can’t shield their identity behind Marsy’s Law, the 2018 constitutional amendment meant to grant more rights to victims of crimes.

The ruling stemmed from two incidents in Tallahassee in 2020 in which officers fatally shot suspects. When reporters sought the names of the officers involved, the officers, backed by the Florida Police Benevolent Association, said the names should be exempt because they were assaulted by the people they shot, and therefore were victims.

In the opinion written by Justice John Couriel, the Supreme Court ruled that “Marsy’s Law does not guarantee to a victim the categorical right to withhold his or her name from disclosure.”

Couriel said that Marsy’s Law speaks about a victim’s right to prevent information from being disclosed that could be used to “locate” them. He said providing a name alone “communicates nothing about where the individual can be found and bothered.”