Justices Reject Challenge to 3 Constitution Ballot Measures
The justices overturned a ruling by a Leon County circuit judge that would have blocked the constitutional amendments in a case focused on whether the proposals improperly “bundled” unrelated issues into single ballot measures.
October 17, 2018 at 01:05 PM
4 minute read
Though one justice wrote that voters should “beware,” the Florida Supreme Court rejected a challenge to three proposed constitutional amendments on the November ballot, including a measure that seeks to ban offshore oil drilling and vaping in workplaces.
The justices overturned a ruling by Leon County Circuit Judge Karen Gievers that would have blocked the constitutional amendments in a case focused on whether the proposals improperly “bundled” unrelated issues into single ballot measures.
The Supreme Court said, in part, the Florida Constitution and a state statute do not bar such bundling when amendments are placed on the ballot by the Constitution Revision Commission, which proposed the three disputed measures. The challenge contended that bundling would violate First Amendment rights because voters could have conflicting opinions about issues in the same ballot measure.
“It is evident that a vote of either yes or no corresponding to the ballot summary of a proposed amendment is a vote to approve or reject the entire constitutional amendment — including all of its subjects,” said the opinion, which was fully shared by Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justices Ricky Polston, Jorge Labarga and Alan Lawson. “The fact that each proposed amendment contains multiple independent measures covering different subjects does not prevent compliance with the statute.”
The ruling finalizes that voters in the Nov. 6 election will decide whether to approve 12 proposed constitutional amendments, which were placed on the ballot by the CRC, the Legislature and through petition drives. The Supreme Court last month rejected one amendment, which dealt with education issues.
The three amendments involved in the bundling case included the measure, Amendment 9, that seeks to ban offshore oil drilling and vaping or use of electronic cigarettes in workplaces. Another measure, Amendment 7, deals with governance of the state-college system and death benefits for survivors of first responders and military members. The third measure, Amendment 11, would remove constitutional language that prohibits “aliens ineligible for citizenship” from owning property and would revise language to make clear the repeal of criminal statutes does not affect the prosecution of crimes committed before the repeal.
Former Supreme Court Justice Harry Lee Anstead and another plaintiff, Robert J. Barnas, challenged the three amendments by filing what is known as a petition for a writ of quo warranto against Secretary of State Ken Detzner, the state's chief elections officer who assigns measures to the ballot. Such petitions involve questions about whether officials have “improperly exercised a power or right,” according to the Supreme Court ruling.
But the justices unanimously ruled that a petition for a writ of quo warranto was not a proper legal basis to challenge the proposed constitutional amendments.
“Appellees [Anstead and Barnas] do not demonstrate or even allege that Secretary Detzner exceeded his authority to assign ballot position to the revisions,” the opinion said. “The petition therefore fails to assert a proper basis for quo warranto relief.”
But questions about whether the proposed constitutional amendments improperly bundled unrelated issues caused a split on the court. While Canady, Polston, Labarga and Lawson rejected the arguments about improper bundling, Justice Barbara Pariente wrote an opinion that took issue with the practice.
“Voters beware! When amending our Florida Constitution, voters should not be forced to vote 'yes' on a proposal they disfavor in order to also vote 'yes' on a proposal they support because of how the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) has unilaterally decided to bundle multiple, independent and unrelated proposals,” Pariente wrote in an opinion joined by Justices R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince. “While I concur in [the overall] result because I agree with my colleagues that petitioners fail to present a proper claim for issuance of a writ of quo warranto, I write separately to emphasize the obvious dangers of logrolling — combining popular and unpopular proposals into a single proposal — even by the CRC.”
The 37-member CRC, which meets every 20 years, has unusual authority to place proposed amendments on the ballot. Largely appointed by Gov. Rick Scott and Republican legislative leaders, the commission this spring approved eight proposals, though one of them was the education measure blocked last month by the Supreme Court in a separate case.
Jim Saunders reports for the News Service of Florida.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllHolland & Knight Expands Corporate Practice in Texas With Former Greenberg Traurig Partner
3 minute readForum Clause Axes $844M Case Against Reinsurer Over Deadly Plane Crash, Judge Rules
Latest Boutique Combination in Florida Continues Am Law 200 Merger Activity
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Rejuvenation of a Sharp Employer Non-Compete Tool: Delaware Supreme Court Reinvigorates the Employee Choice Doctrine
- 2Mastering Litigation in New York’s Commercial Division Part V, Leave It to the Experts: Expert Discovery in the New York Commercial Division
- 3GOP-Led SEC Tightens Control Over Enforcement Investigations, Lawyers Say
- 4Transgender Care Fight Targets More Adults as Georgia, Other States Weigh Laws
- 5Roundup Special Master's Report Recommends Lead Counsel Get $0 in Common Benefit Fees
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250