Detzner v. League of Women Voters of Fla.

• Decision Date: 15 October 2018
• Docket Number: No. SC18-1368,SC18-1368
• Parties: Kenneth J. DETZNER, etc., Appellant, v. LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF FLORIDA, et al., Appellees.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

256 So.3d 803

Kenneth J. DETZNER, etc., Appellant,

v.LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF FLORIDA, et al., Appellees.

No. SC18-1368

Supreme Court of Florida.

October 15, 2018

Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Daniel W. Bell, Deputy Solicitor General, Edward M. Wenger, Chief Deputy Solicitor General, and Blaine H. Winship, Special Counsel, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant

Ronald G. Meyer and Lynn C. Hearn of Meyer, Brooks, Demma and Blohm, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida; Scott D. McCoy of Southern Poverty Law Center, Tallahassee, Florida; Zoe M. Savitsky of Southern Poverty Law Center, New Orleans, Louisiana; and Sam Boyd of Southern Poverty Law Center, Miami, Florida, for Appellees

Edward J. Pozzuoli, Stephanie Alexander, and Jeffrey S. Wood of Tripp Scott, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Amici Curiae The Urban League of Miami and The Central Florida Urban League

Benjamin J. Gibson and Amber Stoner of Shutts & Bowen, LLP, Tallahassee, Florida, for Amici Curiae Florida Consortium of Public Charter Schools and Florida Charter School Alliance

PER CURIAM.

Appellant, Kenneth Detzner, Secretary of the Florida Department of State, seeks review of League of Women Voters of Florida, Inc. v. Detzner , No. 2018-CA-001523 (Fla. 2d Cir. Aug. 20, 2018). The circuit court granted summary judgment in favor of the League of Women Voters (LWV) and enjoined Detzner from placing Revision 8 on the ballot for the November 2018 general election. Detzner appealed the decision to the First District Court of Appeal, which certified to this Court that the judgment is of great public importance and requires immediate resolution by this Court. We have jurisdiction. See art. V, § 3(b)(5), Fla. Const.

This Court considered this cause at oral argument on September 5, 2018, and on September 7, 2018, issued an order affirming the decision of the circuit court. This opinion provides the reasons for our decision.

Background

Article XI, section 2, of the Florida Constitution establishes the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) to convene every twenty years to propose revisions to the Florida Constitution. See Art. XI, § 2, Fla. Const. Then, the proposed constitutional amendment must be "submitted to the electors at the next general election." Art. XI, § 5(a), Fla. Const.

On March 21, 2018, the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), approved Proposal 71, which would have made the following revision to Article IX, Section 4(b):

(b) The school board shall operate, control, and supervise all free public schools established by withinthe school district and determine the rate of school district taxes within the limits prescribed herein. Two or more school districts may operate and finance joint educational programs.

The sponsor of the proposal stated during debate that the revision was intended to overrule Duval County School Board v. State Board of Education , 998 So.2d 641 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008), and to allow the power to authorize new charter schools to be assigned to any of a variety of potential public or private entities.

The CRC combined Proposal 71 with Proposal 43 and Proposal 10, which also included changes to Article IX of the Florida Constitution. Later, the language was revised to read:

(b) The school board shall operate, control, and supervise all free public schools established by the district school board within the school district and determine the rate of school district taxes within the limits prescribed herein. Two or more school districts may operate and finance joint educational programs.

A motion to unbundle the three proposals was unsuccessful.

The CRC drafted and approved the following title and summary for inclusion on the ballot:

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

ARTICLE IX, SECTION 4, NEW SECTION

ARTICLE XII, NEW SECTION

SCHOOL BOARD TERM LIMITS AND DUTIES; PUBLIC SCHOOLS.—Creates a term limit of eight consecutive years for school board members and requires the legislature to provide for the promotion of civic literacy in public schools. Currently, district school boards have a constitutional duty to operate, control, and supervise all public schools. The amendment maintains a school board's duties to public schools it establishes, but permits the state to operate, control, and supervise public schools not established by the school board.

On July 12, 2018, LWV filed a complaint seeking to enjoin Detzner, in his capacity as Secretary of State, from placing Revision 8 to the Florida Constitution on the November 2018 general election ballot. LWV argued that the revision could not be lawfully submitted to Florida voters because the ballot title and summary fail to inform voters of the chief purpose of the revision and are affirmatively misleading as to the true purpose and effect of the revision. The parties agreed to an expedited procedure through cross-motions for summary judgment, the trial court heard arguments on August 17, 2018, and, on August 20, 2018, granted summary judgment in favor of LWV and denied Detzner's motion.

In its order granting summary judgment to LWV, the circuit court determined that the ballot summary "invents a category of school ... undefined in Florida law." Therefore, the court reasoned, "both the text and the summary are entirely unclear as to which schools will be affected by the revision." "The failure to use the term voters would understand, ‘charter schools,’ as well as the use of a phrase that has no established meaning under Florida law, fails to inform voters of the chief purpose and effect of this proposal." The court found that the deficiencies here were similar to those discussed in Florida Department of State v. Florida State Conference of NAACP Branches , 43 So.3d 662 (Fla. 2010), stating, "[N]owhere does the ballot summary inform the voter of the essential role school boards play in authorizing new schools, and nowhere does the language inform the voter that this role is intended to be diluted by Revision 8."

Additionally, the circuit court determined that the title was misleading through omission, stating that "the vague reference to ‘school board ... duties’ is presumably intended to allude to Proposal 71 ^{[1 ]}[but] a voter could easily believe ... that it consists solely of a proposal to limit the term limits for school boards." The circuit court also found the ballot summary affirmatively misleading, stating that it "is conspicuously silent about who or what would undertake these responsibilities for schools not established by the school board." In conclusion, the circuit court found:

Because the ballot summary for Revision 8 clearly and conclusively fails to adequately inform the voter of the chief purposes and effects of the revision, and is affirmatively misleading, placement of Revision 8 on the ballot would violate Article XI, Section 5, Florida Constitution, and Section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes.

On August 20, 2018, Detzner filed a notice of appeal with the First District Court of Appeal. On August 22, 2018, the First District certified the case for pass-through jurisdiction, finding that the appeal involves a question of great public importance that requires immediate resolution by this Court.

Standard of Review

Section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes (2018), is a "codification of the accuracy requirement implicit in article XI, section 5 of the Florida Constitution." Advisory Op. to Att'y Gen. re Referenda Required for Adoption & Amendment Local Gov't Comprehensive Land Use Plans , 902 So.2d 763, 770 (Fla. 2005). Section 101.161(1) provides:

Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public measure is submitted to the vote of the people, a ballot summary of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot after the list of candidates, followed by the word "yes" and also by the word "no," and shall be styled in such a manner that a "yes" vote will indicate approval of the proposal and a "no" vote will indicate rejection. The ballot summary of the amendment or other public measure and the ballot title to appear on the ballot shall be embodied in the constitutional revision commission proposal, constitutional convention proposal, taxation and budget reform commission proposal, or enabling resolution or ordinance. The ballot summary 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. In addition, for every amendment proposed by initiative, the ballot shall include, following the ballot summary, a separate financial impact statement concerning the measure prepared by the Financial Impact Estimating Conference in accordance with s. 100.371(5). 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. This subsection does not apply to constitutional amendments or revisions proposed by joint resolution.

§ 101.161(1), Fla. Stat. (2018). "Implicit in this provision is the requirement that the proposed amendment be accurately represented on the ballot; otherwise, voter approval would be a nullity." Armstrong v. Harris , 773 So.2d 7, 12 (Fla. 2000). The accuracy requirement in article XI, section 5, functions as truth-in-packaging law for the ballot. Id. at 13. The accuracy requirement applies to all proposed constitutional amendments. Id. at 16. We have explained "that the ballot [must] be fair and advise the voter sufficiently to enable him intelligently to cast his ballot." Askew v. Firestone , 421 So.2d 151, 155 (Fla. 1982) (quoting Hill v. Milander , 72 So.2d 796, 798 (Fla. 1954) ). While the ballot title and summary must state in clear and unambiguous language the chief purpose of the measure, they need not explain every detail or ramification of the proposed amendment. Carroll v. Firestone , 497 So.2d 1204, 1206 (Fla. 1986). The ballot must, however, give the voter fair notice of the decision he or she must make. Armstrong , 773 So.2d at 15 ("Although the ballot summary faithfully tracked the...