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Florida's consideration of a bill to compensate victims of racial violence was the first by any U.S. state. Opponents argued that the bill set a dangerous precedent and put the onus of paying survivors and descendants on Floridians who had nothing to do with the incident in Rosewood.<ref name="video1"/><ref name="bassett">Bassett, C. Jeanne (Fall 1994). "Comments: House Bill 591: Florida Compensates Rosewood Victims and Their Families for a Seventy-One-Year-Old Injury", ''Florida State University Law Review'' 22 Fla St. U.L. Rev. 503.</ref> James Peters, who represented the State of Florida, argued that the [[statute of limitation]]s applied because the law enforcement officials named in the lawsuit—Sheriff Walker and Governor Hardee—had died many years before.<ref name="bassett"/> He also called into question the shortcomings of the report: although the historians were instructed not to write it with compensation in mind, they offered conclusions about the actions of Sheriff Walker and Governor Hardee. The report was based on investigations led by historians as opposed to legal experts; they relied in cases on information that was [[hearsay]] from witnesses who had since died. Critics thought that some of the report's writers asked [[leading question]]s in their interviews.<ref name="dye"/>
Even legislators who agreed with the sentiment of the bill asserted that the events in Rosewood were typical of the era. One survivor interviewed by Gary Moore said that to single out Rosewood as an exception, as if the entire world was not a Rosewood, would be "vile".<ref name="moore"/> Florida Representatives [[Al Lawson]] and Miguel De Grandy argued that, unlike Native Americans or slaves who had suffered atrocities at the hands of
In 1994, the state legislature held a hearing to discuss the merits of the bill. Lee Ruth Davis died a few months before testimony began, but Minnie Lee Langley, Arnett Goins, Wilson Hall, Willie Evans, and several descendants from Rosewood testified. Other witnesses were a clinical psychologist from the University of Florida, who testified that survivors had suffered post-traumatic stress, and experts who offered testimony about the scale of property damages.<ref name="dye"/> Langley spoke first; the hearing room was packed with journalists and onlookers who were reportedly mesmerized by her statement.<ref>D'Orso, pp. 230–234.</ref> Ernest Parham also testified about what he saw. When asked specifically when he was contacted by law enforcement regarding the death of Sam Carter, Parham replied that he had been contacted for the first time on Carter's death two weeks before testifying. The coroner's inquest for Sam Carter had taken place the day after he was shot in January 1923; he concluded that Carter had been killed "by Unknown Party".<ref>D'Orso, p. 256.</ref>
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