Tallahassee, USA - Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday agreed with a judge's proposal to fix the flawed ballot summary of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would repeal Florida's ban on financial aid to churches and other religious organizations.
Circuit Judge Terry Lewis last week in Tallahassee ordered Amendment 7 off the November 2012 ballot at least temporarily because the summary was misleading, but he also suggested a rewrite he could approve.
Bondi proposed the exact language Lewis suggested back to him.
"The revised ballot summary completely cures the legal defect," Bondi said in a statement. She said the amendment itself would remove "a provision that discriminates against religious institutions.
"The summary was challenged by clergy members who advocate separation of church and state, the Florida Education Association, which is the statewide teachers union, and leaders of organizations representing the state's school boards and school administrators.
They say one thing the Republican-controlled Legislature's proposed amendment would do is lift a potential legal barrier to vouchers that let students attend parochial and other private schools at taxpayer expense.
It also would add a new constitutional provision that would do the opposite of the existing ban: It would prohibit state and local governments from denying funds based on religious identity or belief "except to the extent" required by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
The summary went wrong, however, by saying instead that the state amendment would be "consistent with" the U.S. Constitution, Lewis ruled. He noted the Florida amendment would require government funding of religious organizations while the federal constitution merely permits it.
The rewrite Lewis suggested would track the text by using the "except as required" phrase.
Lewis also upheld a new law that allows the attorney general to submit a fix within 10 days for court approval. The plaintiffs now have 10 days to respond.
Their lawyer, Ron Meyer, said they haven't yet decided whether to challenge the Bondi-Lewis ballot summary or appeal the judge's decision on the rewrite law."
The question is whether you fight it out in the election or litigate it," Meyer said after noting all proposed amendments need 60 percent voter approval. "That's a client decision."
Meyer said he believes the proposed revision still misleads by failing to inform voters the amendment would require taxpayers to support religious organizations.
In his ruling, Lewis wrote that the Florida Supreme Court has said summaries need not cover every nuance of an amendment.
Lewis also rejected Meyer's argument the rewrite law violates the separation of powers doctrine by letting an executive branch official change something passed by the legislative branch.
"We're still troubled by that concept," Meyer said. "But, candidly, the law in that area is not real good at stopping that."
The judge noted only the text of an amendment, not its summary, goes into the constitution and that an executive official, the secretary of state, once wrote all ballot summaries. Lewis also pointed out the Supreme Court itself has been urging lawmakers to come up with an alternative to removing proposals from the ballot if they have flawed summaries and titles.