Leon County Judge Says Police Not Shielded by Victims' Rights Law

The Florida Police Benevolent Association contended that the two officers in the use-of-force incidents should be able to invoke the privacy privilege under Marsy’s Law as they acted in self-defense and were victims of an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in an incident involving the shooting of transgender man Natosha “Tony” McDade.

Weighing issues of open government and victims’ rights, a Leon County circuit judge rejected an attempt to shield the identities of police officers who were involved in use-of-force incidents.

The ruling by Judge Charles Dodson came in a closely watched case about how to apply Marsy’s Law, a 2018 state constitutional amendment that expanded victims’ rights. Two Tallahassee police officers contended that the amendment should shield the release of their names because they had been victims in incidents that required the use of force, including a high-profile incident in which an officer shot and killed a transgender man.

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