IN RE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF RESOLUTION 1987

• Decision Date: 03 May 2002
• Docket Number: No. SC02-194.,SC02-194.
• Parties: In re CONSTITUTIONALITY OF HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1987.
• Court: Florida Supreme Court

817 So.2d 819

In re CONSTITUTIONALITY OF HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1987.

No. SC02-194.

Supreme Court of Florida.

May 3, 2002.

Joseph W. Hatchett, J. Thomas Cardwell, Richard A. Perez, and Robert J. Telfer, III of Akerman, Senterfitt & Eidson, P.A., Tallahassee, FL; Miguel DeGrandy and Stephen M. Cody of Miguel DeGrandy, P.A., Miami, FL; and George N. Meros, Jr. and Jason L. Unger of Gray, Harris & Robinson, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Tom Feeney, Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

Barry Richard of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Tallahassee, FL, and James A. Scott, Edward J. Pozzuoli, and Alexis M. Yarbrough of Tripp Scott, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, on behalf of John McKay, President of the Senate.

Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, Paul F. Hancock, Deputy Attorney General, and George L. Waas, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of the State of Florida.

W. Dexter Douglass and Thomas Porter Crapps of the Douglass Law Firm, P.A., Tallahassee, on behalf of Common Cause Florida and the Florida League of Women Voters. Gregory T. Stewart, Harry F. Chiles, Carrie Mendrick Roane of Nabors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A., Tallahassee, FL; and James G. Yaeger, Lee County Attorney, Fort Myers, FL, on behalf of Lee County, FL, and Bob Janes, Douglas R. St. Cerny, Ray Judah, Andrew W. Coy and John E. Albion, individually and as members of the Lee County Board of County Commissioners.

Stephen H. Grimes and Susan L. Kelsey of Holland & Knight, Tallahassee, FL, on behalf of Marion County, FL, and the City of Ocala, FL.

Samuel S. Goren, Michael D. Cirullo, Jr., and David N. Tolces of Goren, Cherof, Doody & Ezrol, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, FL, on behalf of the City of Pembroke Pines, FL.

Representative Timothy M. Ryan, Dania Beach, FL, presenting comments on State House Redistricting Plan.

Thomasina H. Williams of the Law Offices of Williams & Associates, Miami, FL; Norman C. Powell and Christopher D. Brown of Bilzin, Sumberg, Dunn, Baena, Price & Axelrod, LLP, Miami, FL; and Ronald A. Klain and Jeremy B. Bash of O'Melveny & Myers, LLP, Washington, DC, on behalf of Honorable Raul Martinez, Bishop Victor T. Curry, and Southwest Voter Registration Education Project.

Charles T. Canady, General Counsel, and Carlos G. Muniz, Deputy General Counsel, Tallahassee, FL on behalf of Jeb Bush, Governor of the State of Florida.

Comments of the Honorable T.K. Wetherell, Lamont, FL, the Honorable Ralph Haben, Tallahassee, FL, and the Honorable John E. Thrasher, Orange Park, FL, Former Speakers of the Florida House of Representatives.

Audrey E. Vance, City Attorney, Bonita Springs, FL, on behalf of the City of Bonita Springs, Lee County, FL, and Paul Pass, Wayne Edsall, Jay G. Arend, Robert Wagner, John Warfield, David Piper and Ben Nelson, individually and as members of the Bonita Springs City Council.

Mark C. Curenton, Assistant County Planner, Apalachicola, FL, presenting Resolution by the Franklin County Board of County Commissioners.

Theodore C. Taub, Jaime Austrich, and Kimberly A. Benner of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP, Tampa, FL, on behalf of the City of Temple Terrace, FL.

Comment of John W. Beebe, Boca Raton, FL.

Anita Gregory, Executive Director, Apalachicola, FL, on behalf of Apalachicola Bay Chamber of Commerce.

Comment of Kevin P. Tynan of Bowman, Richardson & Tynan, P.L.C., Tamarac, FL.

Comment of Eric Garner, Pembroke Pines, FL.

Comment of Cheryl Krause, Pembroke Pines, FL.

Comment of Harris Klein and Shirley Klein, Pembroke Pines, FL.

Comment of Robert Nagle, Pembroke Pines, FL.

Comment of Representative Dwight Stansel, Live Oak, FL.

M. Blair Payne of Darby, Peele, Bowdon, Payne & Kennon, Lake City, FL, presenting comments of Interested Parties Who Are Residents of District 11, Florida House of Representatives.

Comment of Thomas F. Visconti, Ormond Beach, FL.

George C. Mohlke, Jr., Chair, Naples, FL, presenting Comment of Democratic Executive Committee of Collier County.

Representative Dan Saul Gelber, Coral Gables, FL, presenting comments on behalf of Richard L. Steinberg, Simon Cruz, Bruce M. Singer, Saul Gross, Linda Charlene Barnett, Ronald G. Stone, Brian Smith, Jose Smith, Lenore Fleming, Gerald K. and Debra H. Schwartz, Terri Echarte, Guillermo Echarte, David M. Dobin, Mike Gibaldi, Susan Fleming, Leslie Coller, Kathryn Blakeman, Sally Sims Barnett, Wendy S. Unger, Polita Glynn, George Mallinckrodt, Gail L. Harris, Susan Hart, Kathryn Herman, Stuart and June Jacobs, Laura Jamieson, John Koenig, Barbara Levine, Marion Levien, Mathilde Maubach, Tod Narson, Mary Grace Russo, Karen Rivo, Marilyn Spiegel, and Alisa Pardo Stein.

Comment of Mark Moore, Yankeetown, FL.

Comment of Denise Kuhn, Tampa, FL.

Comment of Joanne Florin, Seminole, FL.

Comment of Mayor Lane Gilchrist, City of Gulf Breeze, FL.

Comment of Mayor Roland F. Hotard, III, City of Winter Park, FL.

Comment of Andrew Porter, Lake City, FL.

Mayor Thomas M. Wenham, presenting comment of the Village of Wellington, Wellington, FL.

Comment of Fred Peacock, Pierson, FL.

Comment of Dee Staats, Clearwater, FL.

Comment of Tim Pauls, District 5 Commissioner, Walton County, Santa Rosa Beach, FL.

Comment of Mayor J.J. Beyrouti, Town of Redington Shores, FL.

Stephen Sherbin, Chairman of Board of Directors, Palm Bay, FL, presenting comment of Greater Palm Bay Chamber.

Comment of Thomas Vourlos, Belleair, FL.

Comment of Malcolm E. McLouth, Executive Director, Canaveral Port Authority, Cape Canaveral, FL.

Comment of Roger Austin, Gainesville, FL.

Comment of David Miller, Gainesville, FL.

Comment of Arthur Cullen, Panama City, FL.

Comment of Marlene Clausen, Indian Shores, FL.

Comment of Brad Levine, Delray Beach, FL.

Comment of David L. Henninger, Delray Beach, FL.

Councilman John Mazziotti, Councilman Tres Holton, and Deputy Mayor Pat Woodard, Palm Bay, FL, presenting comments of the City of Palm Bay.

Harry J. Mertz, City Manager, and Andrew S. Maurodis, Attorney for City of Parkland, presenting comments for the City Commission of the City of Parkland.

Comment of Jeffery A. Boone, Venice, FL.

Comment of James Coletta, Chairman, Collier County Board of Commissioners, Naples, FL.

Comment of Sendur Keskin, Apopka, FL.

Comment of Paul G. Faircloth, Jr., Apopka, FL.

Comment of William Lovelady, Zellwood, FL.

Comment of Mayor Lloyd A. Green, City of Keystone Heights, FL.

Comment of Ed Gray, III, Gulf Breeze, FL.

Comment of G. Paul Clark, Ocala, FL.

HARDING, J.

This is an original proceeding in which the Attorney General petitions this Court for a declaratory judgment determining the validity of House Joint Resolution 1987 apportioning the Legislature of the State of Florida. We have jurisdiction under article III, section 16(c) of the Florida Constitution, which provides:

JUDICIAL REVIEW OF APPORTIONMENT. Within fifteen days after the passage of the joint resolution of apportionment, the attorney general shall petition the supreme court of the state for a declaratory judgment determining the validity of the apportionment. The supreme court, in accordance with its rules, shall permit adversary interests to present their views and, within thirty days from the filing of the petition, shall enter its judgment.

On March 22, 2002, the Legislature passed House Joint Resolution 1987, which apportions the Florida Senate and House of Representatives based on the population figures established in the 2000 census. The Attorney General filed this declaratory judgment petition on April 8, 2002, and this Court invited all those interested to submit briefs and comments in support of or opposition to the plan and to participate in oral argument before the Court.

We begin our analysis by addressing the scope of this Court's review in the instant proceeding. Our review afforded under article III, section 16(c) is extremely limited. In our first opinion examining the jurisdictional basis of article III, section 16(c), Florida Constitution, after its adoption, we observed:

At the outset, we emphasize that legislative reapportionment is primarily a matter for legislative consideration and determination. Judicial relief becomes appropriate only when a legislature fails to reapportion according to federal and state constitutional requisites. If these requisites are met, we must refrain, at this time, from injecting our personal views into the proposed reapportionment plan. Even though we may disagree with the legislative policy in certain areas, the fundamental doctrine of separation of powers and the constitutional provisions relating to reapportionment require that we act with judicial restraint so as not to usurp the primary responsibility for reapportionment, which rests with the Legislature.

In re Apportionment Law Senate Joint Resolution 1305, 1972 Regular Session, 263 So.2d 797, 799-800 (Fla.1972). We explained that in this review we would only pass upon the facial validity of the plan and not upon any as-applied challenges. See id. at 808. The claims we could review included adherence to the one-person, one-vote constitutional requirement, see id. at 802, and the state constitutional requirement that the districts contain contiguous, overlapping, or identical territory. See id. at 805-7. We made clear that we are without authority to declare a legislative apportionment plan invalid unless it violated some prohibition in the constitution. See id. at 805. Importantly, we noted that the requirements under the Florida Constitution are not more stringent than the requirements under the United States Constitution. See id. at 807-8. We adhered to the limited nature of our facial review in the 1982 case, see In re Apportionment Law Appearing as Senate Joint Resolution 1 E, 1982 Special Apportionment Session, 414 So.2d 1040 (Fla.1982),¹ and again in the 1992 case. See In re Constitutionality of Senate Joint Resolution 2G, Special Apportionment Session 1992, 597 So.2d 276 (Fla.1992).

We are aware that...