Are The Protests In Support Of Cuba Breaking Florida's New Anti-Riot Law?

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Many are wondering if the protests in support of Cuba breaking Florida's new anti-riot law.

CBS4's Brooke Shafer reached out to attorney David Weinstein for some legal perspective.

"Today's actions by protesters violated the letter of the new laws regarding the civil infraction & the misdemeanor unlawful assembly," he said. "Law enforcement has discretion to act or not act on those violations. We will have to see if they use that discretion evenhandedly in the future."

While Weinstein said what protesters are doing, such as blocking the Palmetto Expressway, is in fact "a violation of the new laws passed by the Florida Legislature," he added that "like most laws, law enforcement has the discretion to act."

"They have decided not to hand out citations, or make arrests," he told Shafer. "This protest strikes a particular chord in South Florida. It might make matters worse to start an enforcement action and create more protests."

The problem now, Weinstein said, is that the lack of enforcement "sets a precedent."

"They now have to react the same way to a similar protest that might not be made on behalf of a cause that is not as widely supported in South Florida," he explained. "That is why the legislation itself was such a bad idea."