Askew v. Firestone, 62719

Citation421 So.2d 151
Decision Date21 October 1982
Docket NumberNo. 62719,62719
CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Florida
PartiesReubin ASKEW, et al., Appellants, v. George FIRESTONE, as Secretary of State, Appellee.

Albert J. Hadeed, John K. McPherson, and Terri Wood of Southern Legal Counsel, Inc., Gainesville, for appellants.

Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., and Eric J. Taylor, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, for appellee.

McDONALD, Justice.

Reubin Askew, Common Cause, and the League of Women Voters of Florida, Inc., appeal a trial court order validating the caption and summary of a proposed constitutional amendment scheduled to appear on the November 1982 general election ballot. Acceding to the parties' joint suggestion, the First District Court of Appeal certified the trial court order to be of great public importance and to require immediate resolution by the Supreme Court. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(5), Florida Constitution, and reverse the trial court order.

In the November 1976 general election the electorate of Florida approved adding section 8, the "Sunshine Amendment," to article II of the state constitution. Section On the next to the last day of the 1982 regular session the legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 1035, the title of which reads: "A joint resolution proposing an amendment to Section 8 of Article II of the State Constitution relating to lobbying by former legislators and statewide elected officers." 1 SJR 1035 would amend the first sentence of subsection 8(e) as follows:

8 declares a public office a public trust which should be secure against abuse. To that end, the section requires full, public financial disclosure by elected officers and candidates for elected offices, provides for loss of pension or retirement benefits if a public officer or employee is convicted of a felonious breach of the public trust, and, central to this appeal, prohibits members of the legislature and statewide elected officers from lobbying their former governmental bodies or agencies for two years following vacation of office. As this Court has previously stated: "Clearly the primary purpose for which the Sunshine Amendment was adopted was to impose stricter standards on public officials so as to avoid conflicts of interest." Plante v. Smathers, 372 So.2d 933, 936-37 (Fla.1979).

(e) No member of the legislature or statewide elected officer shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation before any state the government body or agency, unless such person files full and public disclosure of his or her financial interests pursuant to subsection (a), for a period of two years following vacation of office.

(Material to be added underlined, material to be deleted struck through.) The proposed amendment, therefore, would remove the absolute two-year ban on lobbying by former legislators and elected officers, retaining that ban only if an affected person failed to make financial disclosure.

Section 101.161, Florida Statutes (1981), provides for submission to popular vote of constitutional amendments and other public measures. The wording of the substance of the amendment and the ballot title must be included in the joint resolution and must be prepared by the amendment's sponsor and approved by the secretary of state. § 101.161, Fla.Stat.

The substance of the amendment or other public measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to or spoken of.

Id. (emphasis supplied). Section 101.161 also requires that the substance of a proposed amendment be in "clear and unambiguous language." In response to these requirements SJR 1035 includes the following proposed title and substance:

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE REQUIRED BEFORE

LOBBYING BY FORMER

LEGISLATORS

AND STATEWIDE ELECTED OFFICERS

Prohibits former legislators and statewide elected officers from representing other persons or entities for compensation before any state government body for a period of 2 years following vacation of office, unless they file full and public disclosure of their financial interests.

The appellants sued Secretary of State Firestone, in his official capacity, seeking injunctive and declaratory relief, to prevent inclusion of the proposed title and substance on the November ballot. They alleged, among other things, that: 1) the ballot summary is required to be an explanatory statement of the chief purpose of the proposed amendment, written in clear and unambiguous language; 2) the instant summary discloses only the proposed addition of financial disclosure as a condition to after-term lobbying and fails to reveal that the proposal would repeal the existing, more stringent after-term prohibition on lobbying; and 3) the instant summary creates the impression that adopting the proposal would fill a void in conflict of interest protections instead of diluting them. The appellee answered that the language is clear and unambiguous, giving fair notice of the intent and purpose of the proposed amendment, and that the proposal will, in fact, bring former state officials into line with the true intent of the Sunshine Amendment.

After receiving the complaint and the parties' joint stipulation, Judge Willis, in an extensive and thoughtful order, found that the proposed ballot title and summary meet the requirements of section 101.161. Among others, the court made the following finding:

20. As previously noted, SJR 1035 would achieve two purposes. First, it would eliminate the limited lobbying prohibition against a former legislator from lobbying in the legislature, and a former statewide officer from lobbying in the body or agency of which he was an officer or member for a period of two years following his leaving office. Second, it would impose an absolute prohibition to those officers from lobbying in any government body or agency for the two-year period following vacation of the office, unless such persons filed the financial disclosure required of incumbents or candidates. Under the present law, a former legislator could lobby in any state agency or body except the legislature without financial disclosure during the two years following vacation of his office. If the amendment is adopted, he could lobby in the legislature or elsewhere if he files the necessary financial disclosure.

Askew v. Firestone, case no. 82-2371 (Fla.2d Cir.Ct. Oct. 6, 1982), slip op. at 8-9. The court went on to state that the

inquiry of this Court is limited to whether or not the "substance" has clearly missed the mark of furnishing the electorate of an explanatory statement in clear and unambiguous language of the chief purpose of the measure. I do not find that this is clearly and conclusively shown. It is quite true that the Sunshine Amendment sought and achieved more than financial disclosure of public officials. It deals with deterrence of corruption and conflicting interest. Subsection (e) is directed toward curbing of so-called influence peddling, by setting a limited lobbying quarantine on former officers for a two-year period following their leaving office. However, it was not general quarantine, but it permitted uninhibited lobbying in most areas without disclosure of interests which might be conflicting. The amendment is not a repeal, but a modification of those regulations, relaxing some requirements and imposing others not previously made. I do not find that the failure to state the relaxation of the absolute limited ban on lobbying has rendered the substance inadequate to explain the chief purpose of the measure.

Id. at 9-10 (emphasis supplied). After careful deliberation, we find no factual basis for the trial court's ruling and hold that he reached the wrong conclusion and that his order must be reversed.

In order for a court to interfere with the right of the people to vote on a proposed constitutional amendment the record must show that the proposal is clearly and conclusively defective. Weber v. Smathers, 338 So.2d 819 (Fla.1976), disapproved on other grounds sub nom Floridians Against Casino Takeover v. Let's Help Florida, 363 So.2d 337 (Fla.1978). As previously stated, section 101.161 requires that the ballot title and summary for a proposed constitutional amendment state in clear and unambiguous language the chief purpose of the measure. The requirement for proposedconstitutional amendment ballots is the same as for all ballots, i.e.,

that the voter should not be misled and that he have an opportunity to know and be on notice as to the proposition on which he is to cast his vote.... All that the Constitution requires or that the law compels or ought to compel is that the voter have notice of that which he must decide.... What the law requires is that the ballot be fair and advise the voter sufficiently to enable him intelligently to cast his ballot.

Hill v. Milander, 72 So.2d 796, 798 (Fla.1954) (emphasis supplied).

Simply put, the ballot must give the voter fair notice of the decision he must make. Miami Dolphins, Ltd. v. Metropolitan Dade County, 394 So.2d 981 (Fla.1981). We find that the proposed title and substance do not set out the chief purpose of the amendment so as to give the electorate fair notice of the actual change in subsection 8(e) wrought by SJR 1035. While the wisdom of a proposed amendment is not a matter for our review, Weber v. Smathers, we are reminded that the "proposal of amendments to the Constitution is a highly important function of government, that should be performed with the greatest certainty, efficiency, care and deliberation." Crawford v. Gilchrist, 64 Fla. 41, 54, 59 So. 963, 968 (1912). 2 We reiterate that "lawmakers who are asked to consider constitutional changes, and the people who are asked to approve them, must be able to comprehend the sweep of each proposal from a fair notification in the proposition itself that...

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    • United States
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    ...requires is that the ballot be fair and advise the voter sufficiently to enable him intelligently to cast his ballot. Askew v. Firestone, 421 So.2d 151, 154-55 (Fla.1982) (emphasis added). In practice, the accuracy requirement in article XI, section 5, functions as a kind of "truth in packa......
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