Originally Published: 24 April 2008
Daytona Beach News-Journal - Front Page
TALLAHASSEE -- A controversial law passed by the Legislature and deployed by opponents of the Florida Hometown Democracy initiative is unconstitutional, three state appellate court judges ruled Wednesday.
The 2007 law, which allowed people to revoke their signatures on ballot-initiative petitions, does not ensure ballot integrity when citizens' groups try to amend the state constitution, according to a written opinion of the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.
Instead, it burdens the process in a way not required by the constitution.
Lawmakers should have let voters decide whether to put such a provision in the state constitution rather than putting it in the law themselves, the court said.
The court directed the circuit court in Leon County to reverse its earlier ruling on a complaint filed last year by Florida Hometown Democracy.
"I think the state should honor the court's ruling and just dump the revocation process," said Lesley Blackner, a West Palm Beach attorney who helped start the initiative. "However many petitions were revoked need to be put back in the mix."
Hometown Democracy would give voters final say over proposed changes to city and county long-term growth blueprints called comprehensive plans.
But it has drawn staunch opposition from business groups and others who say it would cripple Florida's development economy.
A business-backed group called Save Our Constitution got more than 13,000 Hometown Democracy petitions revoked, according to state records.
But reinstating that number alone would not get Blackner's group over the 611,009 petition threshold required to get on the November ballot. Supporters were more than 65,000 petitions short at the Feb. 1 deadline.
"I'm just really grateful that those people in the Florida Legislature weren't around in 1776, or we probably wouldn't be living in a democracy today," Blackner said.
Rather than undermining democracy, the revocation process strengthens it, said Barney Bishop, chairman of Save Our Constitution and president of Associated Industries of Florida, a powerful lobbying group.
"We believe that people should have a right to change their opinion if given that opportunity," Bishop said. "We think that's what democracy is all about."
Sen. Bill Posey, a Rockledge Republican who initially sponsored the legislation in the Senate, said: "It doesn't take a constitutional amendment to sign one (a petition), so why do they think it needs a constitutional amendment to get your name removed from one?"
The original lawsuit named the state, but Save Our Constitution was allowed to join on the state's side.
A spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State said no decision had been made on an appeal.
But Save Our Constitution general counsel John French said the group would try to get the case before the Florida Supreme Court.
He said the opinion raised important questions.
"What are the constraints on the Legislature on putting constraints on the initiative process?" French said.
Citing what they see as potentially costly and damaging initiatives, business groups and lawmakers have backed measures meant to make it tougher to amend the constitution or regulate petition circulators in three of the past four years. Opponents generally have criticized the proposals as machinations by powerful interests intent on keeping unfriendly measures off the ballot.
It looked doubtful Wednesday that proposals advanced this year would get support from the full Legislature.
Ben Wilcox, executive director of Common Cause Florida -- which has opposed many of the Legislature's proposals, including the revocation law -- said he also thought the case had larger implications.
"But specifically what the court is saying in this place is citizens do have a right to petition for constitutional change and that right is in the constitution," Wilcox said. "There's no similar right to revoke a signature."
james.miller@news-jrnl.com
|
