Advisory Opinion Re Term Limits Pledge

718 So. 2d 798, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 505, 1998 Fla. LEXIS 1893, 1998 WL 682524
CourtSupreme Court of Florida
DecidedOctober 1, 1998
Docket92162
StatusPublished
Cited by46 cases

This text of 718 So. 2d 798 (Advisory Opinion Re Term Limits Pledge) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Advisory Opinion Re Term Limits Pledge, 718 So. 2d 798, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 505, 1998 Fla. LEXIS 1893, 1998 WL 682524 (Fla. 1998).

Opinion

718 So.2d 798 (1998)

ADVISORY OPINION TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL RE TERM LIMITS PLEDGE.

No. 92162.

Supreme Court of Florida.

October 1, 1998.

*800 Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, and Louis F. Hubener, III, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Presentor.

Joseph W. Little, Gainesville, for Floridians for Congressional Term Limits and Rick Bruns, Respondents.

PER CURIAM.

The Attorney General has requested that this Court review a proposed citizen initiative amendment to the Florida Constitution (hereinafter "proposed amendment"). We have jurisdiction. See art. IV, § 10; art V, § 3(b)(10), Fla. Const.

The proposed amendment was circulated by an organization known as Floridians for Congressional Term Limits (hereinafter "proponent"). The ballot title for the proposed amendment is "TERM LIMITS PLEDGE." The summary for the proposed amendment provides:

Directs Secretary of State to permit but not require candidates for the United States Congress to pledge to serve a maximum of 3 terms if elected to the House of Representatives and 2 terms if elected to the Senate and to indicate on all primary, special and general election ballots which candidates have taken the pledge and which have taken and broken the pledge. Affects powers of Secretary of State under Article IV.

The full text of the proposed amendment reads as follows:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA THAT: ARTICLE VI, FLORIDA CONSTITUION [SIC], IS HEREBY AMENDED AS FOLLOWS:
Add this section to Article VI on the day after it is approved by the electors of Florida:
Section 7. Term Limits Pledge (a) The Secretary of State shall permit but not require any candidate for the United States Congress to submit to the Secretary of State an executed copy of the Term Limits Pledge set forth in subsection (b) of this section up until 15 days prior to the Secretary of State's certification of the ballot in order for the ballot information set forth in subsections (c) and (d) of this section to be included on that ballot.
(b) The Term Limits Pledge will be as set forth herein and will incorporate the applicable language in [] for the office the candidate seeks:
I voluntarily pledge not to serve in the United States [House of Representatives more than 3 terms][Senate more than 2 terms] after the effective date of this provision and authorize the Secretary of State to notify the voters of this action by placing the applicable ballot information "Signed TERM LIMITS pledge to serve no more than [3 terms][2 terms]" or "Broke TERM LIMITS pledge" next to my name on every election ballot and in all state sponsored voter education material in which my name appears as a candidate for the office for which the pledge refers.
------------ -------- Signature Date
(c) The Secretary of State shall place on every election ballot and in all state sponsored voter education material the applicable ballot information, "Signed TERM LIMITS pledge to serve no more than [3 terms][2 terms]" next to the name of any candidate for the office of United States Representative and United States Senator who has ever executed the Term Limits Pledge except when subsection (d) of this section applies.
(d) The Secretary of State shall place on every election ballot and in all state sponsored voter education material the ballot information, "Broke TERM LIMITS pledge" next to the name of any candidate who at any time executes the Term Limits Pledge and thereafter qualifies as a candidate for a term that would exceed the number of terms set forth in the Term Limits Pledge.
(e) For the purpose of this section, service in office for more than one-half of a term shall be deemed service for a term.
(f) The Secretary of State shall implement this section by rule.
*801 (g) If any portion of this section is held invalid for any reason, the remaining portion to the fullest extent possible shall be severed from the void portion and given the fullest force and application.

This Court issued an order permitting interested parties to file briefs on the proposed amendment, and one party did so—the proponent. While no briefs were filed by interested parties opposing the proposed amendment, the Attorney General expressed his concern that:

While the ballot summary refers to the powers of the Secretary of State under Article IV, it does not identify Article IV as an article of the Florida Constitution. More troubling, however, is that the text of the proposed amendment creates a new section under Article VI, not Article IV. There is no reference in the proposed amendment to Article IV.

Letter from Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General of the State of Florida, to The Honorable Gerald Kogan, Chief Justice, and Justices of the Supreme Court of Florida 4 (Jan. 7, 1998) (on file with Supreme Court of Florida). The Attorney General further noted his concern that the "proposed amendment imposes constitutional duties upon the Secretary of State not presently possessed by that office and creates a mandatory ballot procedure that affects candidates for congressional office." Id. at 6.

JURISDICTION

Our jurisdiction to issue advisory opinions on proposed amendments based on citizen initiative petitions emanates from the Florida Constitution. Specifically, article IV, section 10 of the Florida Constitution provides that "[t]he attorney general shall, as directed by general law," request this Court's opinion "as to the validity of any initiative petition circulated pursuant to Section 3 of Article XI." (Emphasis added.) Article V, section 3(b)(10) further provides that this Court "[s]hall, when requested by the attorney general pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 of Article IV, render an advisory opinion of the justices, addressing issues as provided by general law." (Emphasis added.) Pursuant to general law, section 16.061(1), Florida Statutes (1997), requires that the Attorney General seek an advisory opinion "regarding the compliance of the text of the proposed amendment or revision with s. 3, Art. XI of the State Constitution and the compliance of the proposed ballot title and substance with s. 101.161."

Accordingly, the scope of our advisory opinions on proposed amendments based on citizen initiative petitions has traditionally been limited to two legal issues: (1) whether the proposed amendment violates the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution, and (2) whether the ballot title and summary of the proposed amendment are misleading, in violation of section 101.161(1), Florida Statutes (1997). See Advisory Opinion to the Attorney Gen. re People's Property Rights Amendments, 699 So.2d 1304, 1306 (Fla.1997); Advisory Opinion to the Attorney Gen. re Tax Limitation, 644 So.2d 486, 489-90 (Fla.1994). We have interpreted our jurisdiction to issue advisory opinions in this context as limited to these two considerations.[1]See Advisory Opinion to the Attorney Gen.—Limited Political Terms in Certain Elective Offices, 592 So.2d 225, 227 (Fla.1991).

SINGLE SUBJECT

Article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution provides in pertinent part that proposed amendments based on citizen initiative petitions "shall embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith." The single-subject requirement applies only

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Florida Department of Health v. Joseph Redner, an individual
273 So. 3d 170 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2019)
Kenneth J. Detzner, etc. v. League of Women Voters of Florida
256 So. 3d 803 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2018)
Department of State, etc. v. Florida Greyhound Association, Inc., etc.
253 So. 3d 513 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2018)
Roberts v. Doyle
43 So. 3d 654 (Supreme Court of Florida, 2010)
Arizona Together v. Brewer
149 P.3d 742 (Arizona Supreme Court, 2007)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
718 So. 2d 798, 23 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 505, 1998 Fla. LEXIS 1893, 1998 WL 682524, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/advisory-opinion-re-term-limits-pledge-fla-1998.