Dan Paul has Died. By Geniusofdespair

According to the Harvard University Gazette: Best known in Miami as the former First Amendment lawyer for The Miami Herald, Paul's clients have included The New York Times, NBC, and The Wall Street Journal. In 1957, Paul drafted the original Dade County Metropolitan Charter and also drafted the Dade County Citizens' Bill of Rights.

In 2001 the The John F. Kennedy School of Government (KSG) announced the establishment of the Daniel Paul Professor of Government in his honor.

Last time I spoke to Dan, he was upset over the County Commission's rejection of the Charter Review Committee's findings. He was pretty disappointed -- disgusted -- with what the current Commission has done to pervert the Home Rule Charter's intent by ordinance. He said about the Charter, when it was drafted:

"The way I wrote the charter says specifically that the enumeration restrictions herein shall not be construed to restrict any of the powers granted by the home rule amendment. All that other junk that Mitchell (Wolfson) wanted in was window dressing, from a legal point of view anyway. George Okel, who was a member of the Charter Board and who was the only Charter Board member who didn’t sign the Charter."

The Miami Herald said:

Paul fought overdevelopment on behalf of conservation groups like The Audubon Society, blocking an Everglades jetport and waterfront highrises less than 50 feet from Biscayne Bay. And:

He once said that a certain politician was ``so crooked he had to screw his socks on,'' and declared that ``if Miami thought it could get more on the tax roll, it would construct a whorehouse in Bayfront Park.''

An excerpt from a 1997 Oral History conducted by Gregory Bush:

I think really what sort of gave him a healthy respect for me was the fact that, even though that I was the council for the Herald, I regularly opposed them in their editorial positions. I get static from the Herald. John McMullen called me once, and he said, “What the hell is this?” I hear you made a speech--I don’t remember what it was--denouncing the Herald’s editorial position, or this or that or something. I said, yea, that’s right John. He said, “What the hell do you think you are doing as the council for the newspaper?” I said, “John, doing what you paid me for--defending the First Amendment, my first amendment as well as yours.”

Knight stayed totally out of--it was very unusual for him to get involved in any kind of local issue. The Crime Commission was the only one that I could even think of. John Knight when he would come down in the winter-- Of course, representing the newspaper, I had become friendly with both of them, both personally and socially. When I would see John at his first cocktail, he’d say, “What the hell are you stirring up now?” I’d say, “Oh John, any one of 8 or 10 things that your newspaper overlooked. You want me to take your time to tell you now?” He’d get a big kick out of it.