TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/WCJB) – Covering your license plate is now considered a second-degree misdemeanor in Florida.

The new law, which went into effect Oct. 1, sets new penalties for people who have coatings, covers or devices designed to shield their license plates from traffic cameras and toll cameras.

The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles sent a memo to all law enforcement agencies on Dec. 12 to clarify the rules for license plate frames, which are a popular way for people to support their favorite sports teams, causes and alma maters.

The memo says the new law does not prohibit frames, as long as it doesn’t obscure the visibility of the “alpha numeric plate identifier” or the “decal located in the top right hand corner of the plate.”

Tallahassee Police are now weighing in on the new guidelines.

“My best advice is to remain clear and visible,” said TPD Detective Michael Carter. “If you have any concerns, any doubts, just keep it clear and visible.”

Detective Carter said the new law really aims to crack down on people who have ill intent and are trying to avoid detection by traffic cameras or toll cameras.

Carter says having an unobstructed license plate helps law enforcement solve crimes.

“Let’s say you were involved in a hit-and-run — we may potentially be able to use that plate to get a lead to get a direction to start looking,” Carter said. “But if someone is actively avoiding or putting something on their plate so it’s not readable, where it can’t be detected, that’s hurting you, that’s hurting me, that’s hurting everyone.”

TPD is one of several law enforcement agencies across the state trying to clarify the new frame rules for motorists in their area.

A social media post from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office shared examples to help people determine if their license plate frames comply with the new rules.

The law went into effect in October and was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on May 19.

The second-degree misdemeanor carries a penalty of up to a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail, or both, meaning you’d have to appear in court.

But the law itself isn’t new. It used to only be a non-criminal traffic infraction.

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ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A leading Muslim civil rights group in the U.S. has sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over his order designating it and another organization as a “ foreign terrorist organization,” saying the directive was unconstitutional.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, known as CAIR, has more than 20 chapters across the United States and its work involves legal actions, advocacy and education outreach.

The lawsuit was filed late Monday by the CAIR-Foundation and CAIR-Florida, its affiliate in the state. The suit asked a federal judge in Tallahassee to declare DeSantis’ order unlawful and unconstitutional and prevent it from being enforced.

“He has usurped the exclusive authority of the federal government to identify and designate terrorist organizations by baselessly declaring CAIR a terrorist organization,” the lawsuit says.

DeSantis’ order was among a series of recent actions or statements made by Republican elected officials which target U.S. Muslims or their groups.

U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Sunday posted on social media that “Islam is not a religion. It’s a cult.”

A day later, CAIR designated Tuberville, who is running for Alabama governor, as an anti-Muslim extremist for his “increasingly hateful and dangerous attacks on Alabama Muslims.” The group said it was the first time it had given a U.S. senator that designation. Tuberville responded on social media that it was a “badge of honor.” When asked Tuesday about his statements, Tuberville spokesman Mallory Jaspers repeated what Tuberville had said.

U.S. Rep. Randy Fine, R-Fla., also posted Monday on social media about his support for “a Muslim travel ban, radical deportations of all mainstream Muslim legal and illegal immigrants, and citizenship revocations wherever possible.”

“Mainstream Muslims have declared war on us. The least we can do is kick them the hell out of America,” Fine wrote.

Anti-Muslim bias has persisted in different forms since Sept. 11, 2001, and there’s been a rise in Islamophobia during more than two years of war in Gaza.

During a news conference about the Florida lawsuit, Charles Swift, a lawyer for the Muslim Legal Fund of America, called the elected officials’ statements dangerous and bigoted.

“The Constitution protects people’s rights to be bigoted, not the government’s rights,” said Swift, whose group is one of the legal organizations representing CAIR. “When a governor issues an executive order to silence Muslims, that’s a different question altogether because if you can do that, you can silence anyone.”

CAIR said in the Florida lawsuit that it has always condemned terrorism and violence. The lawsuit alleges DeSantis targeted the group for defending the free speech rights of people in cases where state officials and officials elsewhere tried to punish or silence those who expressed support for Palestinian human rights.

The order by DeSantis last week also gives the same “foreign terrorist” label to the Muslim Brotherhood, a pan-Arab Islamist political movement. President Donald Trump last month issued an executive order that sets in motion a process to designate certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.

The governor’s order instructs Florida agencies to prevent the two groups and those who have provided them material support from receiving contracts, employment and funds from a state executive or cabinet agency.

Florida has an estimated 500,000 Muslim residents, according to CAIR.

When reached by email for comment on Tuesday, the governor’s press secretary, Molly Best, referred to DeSantis’ recent social media posts on the topic in which he said he looked forward to a trial. In one post, DeSantis said, “I look forward to discovery — especially the CAIR finances. Should be illuminating!”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued a similar proclamation in Texas. CAIR last month asked a federal judge to strike down Abbott’s proclamation, saying in a lawsuit that it was “not only contrary to the United States Constitution, but finds no support in any Texas law.”

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Associated Press writers Kimberly Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama, and Kate Payne in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed to this report.

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Follow Mike Schneider on Bluesky: @mikeysid.bsky.social

JUNO BEACH, Fla. — Two dozen Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are rehabilitating in Florida after the frigid waters off of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, left them struggling with frostbite, pneumonia and abrasions.

The 24 endangered sea turtles arrived at the Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, on Dec. 9, thanks to the nonprofit organization LightHawk. Last year, the center welcomed another bunch of cold-stunned turtles that were released into the Atlantic months later.

They are expected to remain at the facility until spring, when they’ll be released into the Atlantic Ocean to make their way back to New England, said Heather Barron, chief science officer and veterinarian at Loggerhead.

She said the turtles suffered from a conditioned called cold stunning, which requires treatment with antibiotics, fluids and nebulization.

Cold stunning occurs in extremely frigid temperatures and causes the cold-blooded sea turtles to become lethargic and lose mobility, and Kemp’s ridley, loggerhead and green sea turtles are typically affected.

The turtles migrate north in the summer and many get stuck while heading south in the hooked peninsula of Cape Cod, according to a New England Aquarium fact sheet. As the ocean temperatures drop, the turtles become lethargic, emaciated and hypothermic. They begin washing ashore, where volunteers rescue them and take them to the sea turtle hospital.

A number of turtles were sent to Florida to relieve overcrowding at the New England Aquarium, said Pam Bechtold Snyder, director of marketing and communications for the Boston facility. Most of those turtles were stranded during a strong westerly wind event on Nov. 28 and went through the triage process at the Boston facility, Snyder said.

They were sent to Florida to make room for more turtles coming in from Cape Cod, she said. So far during the annual cold-stunning phenomenon that began on Nov. 7, they’ve treated 472 hypothermic turtles.

The hospital staff works with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Service to transfer the turtles to various sea turtle hospitals, including Loggerhead, Snyder said.

“These guys are very critically ill when they get here, and they are undergoing extensive treatment,” Barron said of the turtles sent to Juno Beach. “They’re getting nebulized where they actually breathe in medicine. That helps their lungs do their job better.”

When turtles arrive in groups at Loggerhead, the staff gives them names, following a theme, Barron said.

“And in this case, it is Greek mythology,” Barron said. “So we have Pandora and Gaia and Persephone and Helios and all those guys.”

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Frisaro reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.