Supervisor of Elections Brevard County, Florida

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as of September 20, 2002

Proposing an amendment to the State Constitution identical to a proposed amendment to Section 17 of Article I of the State Constitution which was approved by a statewide vote in 1998. The Supreme Court of Florida struck the 1998 amendment in a ruling in which four of the seven justices found that the ballot summary was inaccurate. The proposed amendment expressly authorizes the death penalty for capital crimes and expressly authorizes retroactive changes in the method of execution. The amendment changes the prohibition against "cruel or unusual punishment," currently provided in Section 17 of Article I of the State Constitution, to a prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment" to conform with the wording of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The amendment prohibits reduction of a death sentence based on invalidity of an execution method and provides for continued force of the sentence. The amendment permits any execution method unless prohibited by the United States Constitution. The amendment requires construction of the prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment and the proposed prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment to conform to United States Supreme Court interpretation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The amendment would prevent state courts, including the Florida Supreme Court, from treating the state constitutional prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment as being more expansive than the federal constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment or United States Supreme Court interpretations thereof. The amendment effectively nullifies rights currently allowed under the state prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment which may afford greater protections for those subject to punishment for crimes than will be provided by the amendment. Under the amendment, the protections afforded those subject to punishment for crimes under the "cruel or unusual punishment" clause, as that clause currently appears in Section 17 of Article I of the State Constitution, will be the same as the minimum protections provided under the "cruel and unusual" punishments clause of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The amendment provides for retroactive applicability.

Specifically, the proposal amends Section 17 of Article I of the State Constitution, to read as set forth below. The word stricken is a deletion; words underlined are additions:

SECTION 17. Excessive punishments.--Excessive fines, cruel and or unusual punishment, attainder, forfeiture of estate, indefinite imprisonment, and unreasonable detention of witnesses are forbidden. The death penalty is an authorized punishment for capital crimes designated by the legislature. The prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment, and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, shall be construed in conformity with decisions of the United States Supreme Court which interpret the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment provided in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Any method of execution shall be allowed, unless prohibited by the United States Constitution. Methods of execution may be designated by the legislature, and a change in any method of execution may be applied retroactively. A sentence of death shall not be reduced on the basis that a method of execution is invalid. In any case in which an execution method is declared invalid, the death sentence shall remain in force until the sentence can be lawfully executed by any valid method. This section shall apply retroactively.

YES
NO

Requires the Legislature to provide by general law for the provision of an economic impact statement to the public prior to the public voting on an amendment of the Florida Constitution proposed by initative.

YES
NO

Proposing an amendment to Section 6 of Article VIII of the State Constitution to authorize amendments or revisions to the Miami-Dade County Home Rule Charter by special law approved by a vote of the electors of Miami-Dade County and to conform references to the county's current name.

YES
NO

LAWS PROVIDING PUBLIC RECORDS OR MEETINGS EXEMPTIONS; TWO-THIRDS VOTE REQUIRED. -- Requires that laws providing exemptions from public records or public meetings requirments must, after the effective date of this amendment, be passed by a two-thirds vote of each house of the Legislature.

YES
NO

To protect people from the health hazards of second-hand tobacco smoke, this amendment prohibits tobacco smoking in enclosed indoor workplaces. Allows exceptions for private residences except when they are being used to provide commercial child care, adult care or health care. Also allows exceptions for retail tobacco shops, designated smoking guest rooms at hotels and other public lodging establishments, and stand-alone bars. Provides definitions, and requires the legislature to promptly implement this amendment.

YES
NO

Proposes an amendment to the State Constitution to allow counties to exempt from taxation an increase in the assessed value of homestead property resulting from contructing living quarters for a parent or grandparent of the property owner or the property owner's spouse who is 62 years old or older. Limits the amount of such exemption to the increase in assessed value resulting from such construction or 20 percent of the total assessed value of the property as improved, whichever is less.

YES
NO

Every four-year-old child in Florida shall be offered a high quality pre-kindergarten learning opportunity by the state no later than the 2005 school year. This voluntary early childhood development and education program shall be established according to high quality standards and shall be free for all Florida four-year-olds without taking away funds used for existing education, health and development programs.

YES
NO

Proposes an amendment to the State Constitution to require that the Legislature provide funding for sufficient classrooms so that there be a maximum number of students in public school classes for various grade levels; requires compliance by the beginning of the 2010 school year; requires the Legislature, and not local school districts, to pay for the costs associated with reduced class size; prescribes a schedule for phased-in funding to achieve the required maximum class size.

YES
NO

Inhumane treatment of animals is a concern of Florida citizens; to prevent cruelty to animals and as recommended by The Humane Society of the United States, no person shall confine a pig during pregnancy in a cage, crate or other enclosure, or tether a pregnant pig, on a farm so that the pig is prevented from turning around freely, except for veterinary purposes and during the prebirthing period; provides definitions, penalties, and an effective date.

YES
NO

A local board of trustees shall administer each state university. Each board shall have thirteen members dedicated to excellence in teaching, research, and service to community. A statewide governing board of seventeen members shall be responsible for the coordinated and accountable operation of the whole university system. Wasteful duplication of facilities or programs is to be avoided. Provides procedures for selection and confirmation of board members, including one student and one faculty representative per board.

YES
NO

Shall a new section 7.4A of the Home Rule Charter for Brevard County be created to provide for the independent review of the constitutionality and validity of proposed charter amendments sponsored by the County Commission or Charter Review Commission prior to placing such proposed charter amendments on a referendum ballot?

YES
NO

Shall the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida be authorized to increase the ad valorem tax dedicated to Police Protection by an increase not exceeding 1 mill on all real property located within the City of Cape Canaveral for additional law enforcement personnel and equipment beginning with the fiscal year commencing October 1, 2003. The present millage rate for police ad valorem is 1 mill.

YES
NO

Shall City Charter Section 6.01 - Density Limits, be changed:

• for permanent occupancy dwellings decreased from fifteen (15) to ten (10) units per acre; and
• for transient accomodations decreased from forty (40) to twenty-eight (28) units per acre; and,
• by removing provisions for granting higher densities?

YES, FOR AMENDMENT
NO, AGAINST AMENDMENT

Shall City Charter Section 6.04 - Building Height Limits, be amended to:

• Reduce maximum height of structures, including attachements, from eighty-five (85) feet above mean sea level to forty-five (45) feet above crown of abutting road; and,
• allow rebuilding structures to existing height if damaged or destroyed by disaster?

YES, FOR AMENDMENT
NO, AGAINST AMENDMENT

Shall City Charter Article VI be amended by adding Section 6.07 - Comprehensive Plan Adoption Requirements, to:

• Require an affirmative vote by four (4) City Commissioners for any adoption or amendment to the City's Comprehensive Plan, except for issues increasing permissible building height and structure height or development density and/or intensity which would require an affirmative vote by five (5) City Commissioners?

YES, FOR AMENDMENT
NO, AGAINST AMENDMENT

The amendment relates to amendments to the town code. Citizens initatives to alter the code would reduce the number of signatures required on a petition from 20 percent of electors to 10 percent of number of electors existing as of the last regular town election. Initative petitions shall deal only with a single subject. Petition content, certification, circulation, validation, and verification of signatures, would be pursuant to state law and town code.

YES (for approval)
NO (for rejection)

Shall the City Charter be amended to increase the terms of office of the mayor and councilmembers from 3 years to 4 years, commencing in November 2008? The four-year terms will coincide with the even-year elections, providing for the placement of the mayor's race with presidential elections. This will provide a substantial savings to the City of Palm Bay.

YES
NO

Shall the Charter of the City of Rockledge be amended in its entirety by deleting same and substituting the provisions of Article I Powers of the City, Article II City Council, Article III City Manager, Article IV Department, Offices and Agencies; Article V Financial Procedures, Article VI Elections, Article VII Ethics, Article VIII Charter Amendment, and Article IX Transition and Severability, of the proposed Charter document as provided in Ordinance No. 1283-2002?

YES
NO

Shall the Mayor be a voting member of the City Council?

YES
NO