The following is from the Herald blog "Naked Politics". It's a big deal about a very important story for Floridians that The Miami Herald scarcely covered. Maybe that will change, now? Please read our archive, "Florida Hometown Democracy" for background.
"In a rebuff to the Florida Legislature, and its allies at the Florida Chamber of Commerce, the First District Court of Appeal has sided with Hometown Democracy. The court on Wednesday ruled that the law that created the process that allows the revocation of petition signatures is unconstitutional and that rules used by the state to implement the process are also not allowed.
The ruling raises fresh questions about the decision to deny Hometown Democracy a place on the ballot since thousands of the signatures gathered by the group were in fact revoked. The opinion states that the law "are unconstitutional because they do not ensure ballot integrity. They do not serve to confirm compliance with constitutionally-specified requirements for submission of proposed amendments through the initiative process...Instead they serve to burden the initiative process with requirements that are not prescribed in the constitution."
For the full brief, thanks to the Herald "Naked Politics", click this link.
8 comments:
Is there a chance the item could be on the Nov. ballot?
Leslie,
Tell us how this affects everything. Are we back on the ballot?
Speaking of the people's voice, Dade County residents - show up at the Board of County Commissioners on Thurs, April 24, at 9:30. Take the Metro Rail to Government Center, get off and go down the escalator and to the left. That is the Clark Center. The guards will direct you in to the Commission Chambers.
It's time for rational, not irrational growth in Miami. Hold the Line!
From the court opinion:
The constitution provides four methods through which constitutional
amendments might be proposed, but only two of these, amendments proposed by the
legislature pursuant to article XI, section 1, and amendments proposed by citizen
initiative pursuant to article XI, section 3, may produce constitutional amendment
proposals at each general election. These two methods for proposing constitutional
amendments “are delicately balanced to reflect the power of the people to propose
amendments through the initiative process and the power of the legislature to propose
amendments by its legislative action without executive check.” State ex rel. Citizens
Proposition for Tax Relief v. Firestone, 386 So. 2d 561, 566 (Fla. 1980). This
important balance is threatened when legislative or executive action unnecessarily
intrudes into the initiative power specifically reserved to the people of Florida. Id.
Although the citizen initiative provisions of the constitution are self-executing
in that they clearly establish the right of the people to propose constitutional
amendments through a petition procedure that may be fully implemented without the
aid of any legislative enactment, the Florida Supreme Court has recognized that the
legislature and the secretary of state nevertheless have the right and the duty to
“ensure ballot integrity” in the initiative process.
snip-
but legislative enactments and
administrative rules burdening the initiative process with requirements that are neither prescribed by the constitution nor necessary for the orderly presentation of these
proposals are unconstitutional.
The legislation and implementing rules at issue here assert regulatory authority
over the citizen initiative process by interjecting the concept of petition signature
revocation. Among other things, they prescribe procedures through which an elector’s
signature on a citizen initiative petition form may be revoked, they provide that
revocation forms shall be furnished to the public at all offices of county supervisors
of elections, they provide that an elector who has revoked his signature on a petition
form may not thereafter sign a new petition in support of the same initiative, and they
provide that signatures that have been revoked will not be counted when the secretary
of state determines whether the requisite number of verified signatures has been
provided for submission of a proposed constitutional amendment to the electorate.
Apr 23, 2:40 PM EDT
State appeals court rules in favor of citizens group
By BRENT KALLESTAD
Associated Press Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- People cannot take back their support once they sign petitions to get citizen initiatives on a ballot, an appeals court ruled Wednesday in a case over whether voters should have a say in changing infrastructure and development plans.
The 1st District Court of Appeal said a law that let people take back their signatures is unconstitutional, so it overturned a trial court's ruling.
The Legislature passed the law at the request of business organizations. They then used it to revoke thousands of signatures obtained by proponents of Hometown Democracy, an initiative that would require voter approval of changes in plans laying out where new roads, homes, businesses and other development can be built. Hometown Democracy then sued.
The appeals court's seven-page ruling said revoking signatures burdens the initiative process with requirements not found in the Florida Constitution. Instead, the constitution gives citizens the right to propose amendments without legislative assistance.
snip
Who knows if it will be on the ballot...looking better.
Take that Thrasher, you bottom feeder.
The Court of Appeal's decision should also affect the ordinance that the BCC issued allowing the revocation of citizens' signatures on a petition. Good news for Mayor Dermer's lawsuit!
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