Welcome to

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice interview on Florida and the death penalty.

Cheif Justice Fred Lewis Interview

Seven of the ten cases on the state Supreme Courts Oral Argument calendar this week deal with the death penalty. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, despite years of trying, there seems is no way to hurry an execution.

Hear it Here: Death Delays

There are 386 people on Florida’s Death Row. It is a number that changes little.

One estimate is that the Florida Supreme Court spends half it’s time on death cases, 70 percent this month on oral arguments. Many sentences are thrown out after lawyers argue correctly that inmates didn’t have a lawyer at trial who knew what they were doing. Attorney Harry Brody made the argument Tuesday morning. “The case just hasn’t been investigated and prepared below.” Brody told Justices.

In a rare interview, Chief Justice Fred Lewis says death cases are different and time consuming.
“But certainly, you can sense from working on them, that each of the death cases involves more issues than they typical Supreme Court case would contain.” Lewis says.

Make no mistake about it, there are few, if any, good guys whose cases get before this court. No one disputes that description of Gary Ray Bowles, yet his case has been through the Supreme Court twice.
Justice Charlie Wells noted “This man had been involved in six murders.”

The ACLU says attempts to speed up death cases don’t work because each change brings new challenges and delays that aren’t present in non death cases. But Larry Spalding says lawmakers are starting to show interest in examining other alternatives “The courts and legislatures are finding very, very troubling the number of people on death row who have been found to be innocent as a result of the DNA process.”

And with each release, the courts become more careful about allowing an execution, knowing if they are wrong, there is no second chance. Florida does have an execution scheduled for child rapist and killer Mark Schwab on November 15th, but most legal experts expect it to be stopped by the U-S Supreme Court.

Voters in Sarasota County went to the polls today for a contest municiple election, and  several county wide ballot initiatives. It is the first time the county has used new optical scan equipment ordered by state lawmakers after touch screens in the county din not record up to 18 thousand votes in the 2006 Congressional election.  State elections chief Kurt Browning told reporters today that all was going well.

“I hope that the voters are more confident than they were before, not that there was anything to be less confident about. We believe that by having a ballot on a piece of paper that it will provide a greater level of confidence to our voters in Florida.”

Ironically, the legislation that ordered optical scan machines instead of touch screens was House Bill 537, the same number of votes that gave George Bush the Presidency.

Opposition to the January referendum on property taxes is growing, but one non fan, House Speaker Marco Rubio, says he would not advise people to vote against the measure.  Rubio told reporters he would have liked bigger cuts.

“It’s kinda what we expected. It’s a small solution to a big problem. There’s no reason, I mean I don’t advocate people vote against it. I’ve made it a practice not to vote against property tax cuts in general. I don’t think anyone should vote against it. But I think everyone recognizes that there is a lot more to do. I think there’s a general recognition that we missed an opportunity to come up with a big solution to a big problem and some level of frustration at the inability of the political process to arrive at big solutions to big problems.

Lawmakers are now looking to the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission for the next round of tax cutting measures. Recommendations made by the Commission in May go directly to the November Ballot.

It looks like Florida voters will decide next year if they want a ban on gay marriages written into the state constitution.  The group pushing the amendment, Florida4Marriage, says it only needs 13,000 more signatures to put the issue before voters in November 2008.  But as Chris Casquejo tells us, opponents worry that domestic partner benefits could face legal challenges.

Hear it here: Gay Marriage Debate

A group called Florida4Marriage is closing in on its goal to gather more than 611,000 signatures.  It needs just 13,000 more signatures to ask voters to ban gay marriages.
Early Dawson and his new bride Janet support the petition drive.

“A man shouldn’t marry another man and a woman shouldn’t marry another woman, because it wasn’t meant for that,” Dawson said.

In 2004, 11 states adopted constitutional bans on same sex marriages.  Gay marriage is already illegal in Florida because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act.  A constitutional change  prevents judges from overturning the law to allow gay marriages.

A coalition of 25 groups is fighting the amendment.  They say men and women who aren’t married could lose partner benefits. Peter Rosen, who’s been with his partner for 14 years, is raising money for the effort.

“This is just mean-spirited,” Rosen said.  “We can’t afford to lose this fight.”

60 percent of voters would have to approve the amendment for it to become law.

Massachusetts is the only state to recognize same-sex marriages.

Just over a year remains in George W. Bush’s administration, but how he
won the Presidency is being debated again this week on the streets of
Tallahassee by some pretty big names. As Mike Vasilinda tells us, Laura
Dern and Kevin Spacey are staring in a made for cable movie recounting
the 2000 election.

 Hear it here: “Recount”

The Movie “Recount” stars Kevin Spacey as the former chief of staff to vice president Al Gore. Laura Dern is cast as Florida’s wayward Secretary of State. Someone not depicted in the movie is Mac Stipanovich…he advised the inexperienced Harris hour by hour. “My goal was not to be fair, it was to follow the law,” Stipanovich said.

The saga of the 2000 election is once again playing itself out on the streets of Tallahassee. But this time, it isn’t the Presidency that’s at stake, it’s box office receipts.The made for HBO movie stars Kevin Spacey as Al Gore’s advisor and Laura Dern as Secretary of State Katherine Harris. Called “Recount” it strives to tell the behind the scenes story of how strategy was developed. Bush Lawyer Barry Richard is an advisory to the movie, but has no part.

Florida’s School Boards are on their way to court. They want to challenge a law that takes away their power to authorize and regulate charter schools. Passed in 2006 the legislation give the power to the state. Florida School Boards Executive Director Wayne Blanton says the change is wrong.

New numbers show bad news for Florida’s economy.  Consumer spending has been declining every month since last November.  It’s the first time that sales tax collections have been down 12 straight months since 1992.  But as Chris Casquejo tells us, retailers remain hopeful for the holiday season.

Hear it here: Economic Slump Bad Omen for Holiday Shopping?

Florida sales tax collections in September were off by 41 million dollars from the same time last year.  Collections have been below estimates for the last 12 months.  Despite the bleak numbers, Nashon Williams, who sells TVs and appliances, is optimistic about the weeks ahead.

“It’s time for Christmas, it’s time for the holidays and a lot of people want things for their home,” Williams said.  “It is down for the year, but we do believe we will do well.”

The holiday season is still weeks away.  But many stores already have deals that they wouldn’t normally offer until after Thanksgiving.

Stores are counting on customers like Tia Vaughn, who’s not planning to pinch pennies this year compared with last.

“Probably more because I have a child,” Vaughn said.  “The older she gets, the more expensive she gets.

But the big picture for the state isn’t so bright.  The Florida Retail Federation projects holiday retail sales will grow by only 3 percent.  Rick McAllister, the president of the Retail Federation, believes customers buying for themselves are key.

“When we’re out shopping, there’s an item that we want, that we’d like to have,” he said.  “And so we buy it, too.  Will they do that this year?  I don’t know.  That’s going to be the question.”

Slow sales have already resulted in the state cutting its budget once.  And more cuts may be on the horizon.

Some economists predict Florida’s economic slowdown could last through the fall and early next year.
 

Governor Charlie Crist and the governors of Alabama and Georgia have agreed to meet again in December in Tallahassee.  They hope to settle a 17-year-old water battle.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it would recommend cutting the water flowing into the Apalachicola River by 16 percent, holding more back to provide drinking water for Atlanta.  Mark Ferrulo of Environment Florida worries about the impact on the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay.

“The Apalachicola River is one of the most biologically diverse and important water bodies in the entire country,” Ferrulo said.  “And it supports a $134 million a year seafood industry in Apalachicola Bay.  And this eco-system is already stressed because of lowered water flows.  This is definitely going to make things worse.”

90 percent of the fresh oysters that come from Florida are found in the bay.

Florida’s realtors are starting their push to get voters to pass a property tax cut amendment in January.  The Florida Association of Realtors plans to spend one-million dollars to educate voters.  The amendment would double the homestead exemption and allow homeowners to transfer their Save Our Homes benefit to a new homestead.  It also would put a 10 percent cap on property tax increases on second homes and businesses.  John Sebree with the Florida Association of Realtors believes the current proposal is simpler than the so-called super-sized homestead exemption that a judge struck down.

“That was a little bit confusing for people to understand.” Sebree said.  “This time around, they’ll know that they’re getting portability.  They’ll know that it’s doubling of the homestead exemption.  It’s fairly easy to calculate.  And it won’t take, probably, the education that the previous amendment took.”

60 percent of voters have to approve the amendment to change Florida’s property tax law.

Governor Charlie Crist met with Alabama’s and Georgia’s governors and members of the Bush administration Thursday morning to try to settle a 17-year-old water war.  Because of severe drought, Georgia wants to limit the flow of Lake Lanier, which flows down into the Apalachicola.  As Chris Casquejo tell us, people who depend on the Apalachicola Bay seafood industry have little sympathy for their neighbors to the north.

Hear it here: Water War Heads to DC

In Apalachicola, David Jackson and his friends are readying their tent for the 44th annual Seafood Festival.  18 to 20 thousand are expected to attend.  But Jackson worries about the future of Apalachicola Bay’s seafood.

“We can import it in from China,” he said.  “But that’s not what Franklin County is known about.  It’s fresh, local seafood.”

The industry brings in $134 million each year.  The mixture of the river’s fresh water and the bay’s saltwater is ideal for fish and shellfish.  Florida gets 90 percent of its fresh oysters from the bay.

Georgia’s governor believes drinking water is more important than preserving a good breeding ground for oysters.  But people from the area say, without oysters, their entire livelihoods are in danger.

James Silva has lived in Apalachicola all his 71 years.  He worked on a shrimp boat for 21.  He’s seen changes on the river and bay, but nothing like this.

“You catch saltwater fish and sharks 10 miles up there,” he said.  “Where you would have never caught one 20 years ago.”

David Jackson has little sympathy for Georgia’s governor.  He believes water is not something to fight over.

“He don’t have it right now,” Jackson said.  “But it might be six months down the road from now he might be griping and complaining he’s got too much water.”

The people of Apalachicola will be watching this water war like their livelihoods depend on it.

Some environmental groups like Apalichicola Riverkeeper expect this water war to end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.