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Recommendations on Constitution Proposals
Every twenty years the Florida Constitution is examined by the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC) to consider possible amendments. Members of the CRC are appointed by the Governor, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and leaders of the State Legislature. The next opportunity for a comprehensive review of the Florida Constitution will not come until 2018, so it is crucial that voters in Florida understand and appreciate the effect of the proposed changes. The ACLU's position on two of the 13 proposed amendments which would effect civil liberties in Florida are as follows:
AMENDMENT 2 VOTE NO!
TITLE: Preservation of the Death Penalty; United States Supreme Court Interpretation of Cruel and Unusual Punishment
BALLOT SUMMARY: An amendment to Section 17, Article I of the State Constitution preserving the death penalty, and permitting any execution method unless prohibited by the Federal Constitution. Requires construction of the prohibition against cruel and/or unusual punishment to conform to U.S. Supreme Court interpretation of the Eighth Amendment. Prohibits reduction of a death sentence based on invalidity of execution method, and provides for continued force of sentence. Provides for retroactive applicability.
ACLU POSITION: The ACLU opposes Amendment 2. The proposed constitutional amendment would strip the authority of the Florida Supreme Court to interpret the State's Constitution. Florida's elected justices would have to yield to the decisions of U.S. Supreme Court justices, who have lifetime appointments. Interpretation of the Florida Constitution should remain in the hands of Florida judges, who are subject to merit retention.
The Florida Legislature is trying to fool voters with the proposal's misleading title. The legislative record reflects that the true purpose of Amendment 2 is to "preserve" the electric chair. According to the April 1998 Mason Dixon poll, 77% of Floridians favored a change from electrocution to lethal injection. Amendment 2 would change the Florida Constitution merely to preserve an outdated, barbaric and unpopular method of execution.
This proposal goes far beyond the death penalty. The provision against "cruel or unusual punishment" is not limited to the death penalty. Amendment 2 requires the Florida Supreme Court to defer to decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court concerning cruel and unusual punishment for all crimes, from shoplifting to DUI to murder to the infliction of corporal punishment on schoolchildren.
AMENDMENT 9 VOTE YES!
TITLE: Basic Rights
BALLOT SUMMARY: Defines "natural persons," who are equal before the law and who have inalienable rights, as "female and male alike;" provides that no person shall be deprived of any right because of national origin; changes "physical handicap" to "physical disability" as a reason that people are protected from being deprived of any right.
ACLU POSITION: The ACLU strongly supports this "fairness amendment" because the Florida Constitution does not explicitly recognize the equality of women, nor does it offer protection against discrimination for people based on national origin. Amendment 9 ensures that both women and men will be equally protected under the law, it guarantees that no right will be deprived on the basis of national origin, and it changes "physical handicap" to "physical disability."
