New anti-protest laws in Florida, Oklahoma cast long shadow on First Amendment rights

By Carrie Levine, Senior Reporter The Center for Public Integrity
The Center for Public Integrity is a nonprofit investigative news organization based in Washington, D.C. This story was published in partnership with Indian Country Today and HuffPost.
Tiffany Crutcher was worried.
Oklahoma lawmakers had passed a new measure stiffening penalties for protesters who block roadways and granting immunity to drivers who unintentionally hit them. The state NAACP, saying the law was passed in response to racial justice demonstrations and could chill the exercising of First Amendment rights, filed a federal lawsuit challenging portions of it. But the new law was only weeks from taking effect.