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Florida County & State
Access Issues
1999-2004
published in The Brechner Report
*The following information is based on
stories reported in The Brechner Report each month
between 1999 and 2004*
*Full stories available upon request from
The Brechner Center archive*
February 2004: Gay Webster and
Catherine Good Duncan, two Gainesville residents, filed an
Open Records complaint against the University of Florida,
claiming that a university-run landfill caused their potentially
fatal illnesses. The two women claim they asked for specific
documents detailing the landfill's dumping procedures, and
received no response from the university.
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November 2003:The Baker County Press
asked the 1st District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee to
review a 1998 statute that exempted meetings and business
records of certain community hospitals from the Sunshine Law.
The state statute in question allowed not-for-profit public
hospitals to operate behind closed doors, and was cited by
the Indian River Memorial Hospital as exempting its leaders
from Sunshine violations.
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November 2000: A private citizen, Phil Sexton,
filed suit against the city because the county commission
failed to meet the "high standards for openness provided
by the Sunshine Law" when commissioners discussed an
underwater sewage pipeline project May 16 during a closed
meeting. The case was settled, and Sexton received $200 in
legal fees.
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December 2002: Businessman Charles Herbert
filed a lawsuit against the mayor of Cocoa Beach and three
commissioners claiming they violated Open Meetings laws when
they met with City Attorney Skip Fowler and representatives
from Cape Canaveral Hospital without prior notice; no minutes
were taken at the meeting and the primary public entrance
was locked and inaccessible.
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June 2004: Four Parkland residents filed
suit against the city claiming it violated the Sunshine Law
when the Public Safety Department merged with the Sheriff's
Office of Broward without allowing the public access to the
meeting in which the decision was executed.
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February 1999: Three former Fire Advisory
Board Members were acquitted of violating the Open Meetings
law. They were charged with failing to provide "adequate
public notice of the meeting."
May 2002: John Arceri ran unopposed for
the position of Marco Island City Council. In between the
deadline for filing to run in January and the first day of
his term (March), Arceri met with key members of the city
government outside the Sunshine. Although legal, the clandestine
meetings raised concerns among local access advocates.
January 2003: A community member, Janet
Vassey, amended her lawsuit against the North Naples Fire
District to claim that officials violated the Sunshine Law
when they negotiated a settlement with former Fire Chief James
Tolbin in private.
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March 2004: The State Attorney's Office
filed a civil complaint against the Florida Crown Workforce
Executive Director John Chastain for aiding and abetting a
Sunshine Law violation. Chastain allegedly did so when he
met with two board members without prior notice. Chastain
faced a $500 penalty if found guilty, but no criminal charges.
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April 1999: Escambia County School Board
member Vanette Webb sued ten other members claiming they violated
the Open Meetings Law when they allegedly "conspired
to remove her from office and violated her civil rights."
June 1999:A County judge found Escambia
County School Board member Vanette Webb guilty of a Public
Records law violation and sentenced her to 30 days in jail,
making her the first public official to be incarcerated for
a violation of a state access law. She was also fined $1,000
and $45 per month in probation fees for "knowingly withholding
records" from Susan Watson, a mother whose children attend
public school in Escambia County.
December 2000: A Florida Supreme Court
advisory opinion determined that Escambia County Comptroller
Joe Flower acted without proper authority from the County
Commission and violated the Sunshine Law by contracting Unisys
Leasing Company for what turned out to be a $4.8 million deal
for obsolete computers. Flowers pleaded no contest and resigned.
June 2001: Florida’s 1st District
Court of Appeal (Leon County) reinstated a Public Records
law conviction against former Escambia County School Board
member Vanette Webb. Webb was convicted of a first-degree
misdemeanor in 1999 for withholding records. Webb was fined
$1,000 and sentenced to 11 months and 15 days in jail, which
was suspended to 30 days. Gov. Jeb Bush removed her from office.
Escambia County Judge William White Jr. reversed her conviction,
saying that prosecutors failed to admit the records in question
into evidence or adequately identify the public records Webb
reportedly withheld. He released Webb from jail after she
served seven days of her sentence. Webb also was reinstated
to the school board, but she later lost a reelection bid.
June 2002:Four of the five Escambia County
School Board members were arrested on charges of bribery,
racketeering, theft and violations of the state's Sunshine
Law. Mike Bass, W.D. Childer, Willie Junior and Terry
Smith were suspended by Governor Jeb Bush amid the allegations.
The four individuals were arrested and indicted after making
questionable land purchases. All four were charged with multiple
misdemeanor counts of Open Meetings violations. Childers-
was found guilty on Open Meetings violations; Bass-plead no
contest; and Smith- was found guilty of Open Meetings Violations
and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.
December 2002: The St. Pete Times
sued the Pensacola Police Department to attain records about
weapons and training of officers. They were specifically seeking
information on grenade launchers, automatic machine guns and
rifles used by the department. The Pensacola Police Department
refused the request, citing records exemptions on security
information passed after September 11th.
January 2000: County School Board member
Vanette Webb, who was previously jailed for 7 days on a Public
Records violation, sued school board members in hopes of recovering
$188,000 in legal fees.
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January 2002: The Flagler County Sheriff's
Office and The News-Journal of Daytona Beach settled
a Public Records lawsuit, ending with Sheriff Jim Manfre paying
$10,000 in attorneys fees. The newspaper sued after the sheriff's
department refused to release requested jail transportation
logs.
July 2002: State Attorney John Tanner ordered
an investigation into a lunch break discussion between Flagler
County Commissioners Pat McGuire and Jim Darby. An official
tape recorder accidentally left on by the Clerk of the Court
captured the two discussing a vote on a controversial noise
ordinance after a commission meeting had been adjourned. The
two were each fined $500.
January 2003: Businessman Rusty Richard
filed a lawsuit against the City of Bunnell claiming he requested
an audiotape from a meeting of city police and any written
records of the meeting. He filed suit when he was never given
the requested records, and the city never specified a particular
exemption.
July 2004: The Flagler County Commission
sued Sheriff Jim Manfre for access to Public Records that
detail the costs of calendars and holiday greeting cards sent
to residents of Bunnell. Manfre allegedly failed to provide
access to the records, but disputes that the calendar is an
election year political issue, not a violation of the Sunshine
Law.
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December 2003: A Tallahassee attorney filed
a complaint on behalf of an activist group, alleging Franklin
County Commissioners violated the state's Open Meetings law
when they unanimously enacted a new redistricting plan. The
Concerned Citizens of Franklin County, Inc., attempted to
block judicial approval of the new plan because commissioners
failed to provide advance public notice that the redistricting
plan would be discussed.
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November 1999:Four inmates in a Hernando
County jail sued jail administrators for Open Meetings law
violations when they were prevented from attending the Inmate
Welfare Committee meetings.
April 2004: City Commissioners in Weeki
Wachee met three time without prior public notice or public
advertisement of the meeting in any local papers, a condition
of Sunshine Law compliance. Although notices were posted inside
the Weeki Wachee Springs tourist attraction, the notices were
only visible to individuals who were paying customers at the
park, according to The St. Pete Times.
- Hernando County
May 2004: Senior Judge John W. Booth's
favorable ruling on a suit filed against the county by the
Coalition of Anti-Urban Sprawl and Environment was upheld,
stating further that Hernando County must open public meetings
to review any development plans in the future. The group
filed suit when the meetings discussing the construction
of a Super-WalMart were closed to the public.
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- Tampa
March 1999: The Tampa Tribune
and Tampa General Hospital filed suit against each other
in the 13th Judicial Circuit requesting a ruling as to whether
a 1998 Sunshine Law exemption with respect to the Open Meetings
law can apply retroactively to hospitals privatized prior
to the bill's passage.
September 2000: A federal judge granted
two newspapers access to federal export records that the
Department of Commerce refused to provide. The St. Pete
Times and The Tampa Tribune sued the Department
of Commerce for access to the records, which revealed the
identities of those who were granted licenses to export
goods from Cuba from 1996-1999.
November 2000: The Tampa Bay Buc's organization
was ordered to pay approximately $47,500 to local authorities
for refusing to turn over records that revealed how they
made money from the publicly financed Raymond James Stadium.
October 2004: The St. Pete Times
filed a lawsuit asking the court to force the Department
of Children and Families, and Hillsborough Kids, Inc., two
foster care agencies, to release records in connection with
the July 4 drowning of two children, Selia McLendon and
her foster sister Voncille Cannon.
- Tampa Palms
July 2000: The Tampa Palms Community Development
District violated the Open Meetings law at least four times
between 1996-1999. Community activist Bob Doran filed suit
versus the tax district claiming they held four closed-door
meetings without a court reporter or proper public notice.
- New Tampa
September 2000: The location and format
for a publicly advertised meeting for the Heritage Isles Community
Development District was changed at the last minute, prompting
concern of a Open Meetings law violation among residents.
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January 1999: an appellate court ruled that
Vero Beach official's violated Florida's Open Meetings law
when they met with the city council in three closed-door sessions.
The city officials said they met to discuss litigation strategy
in connection with a local company's bankruptcy proceedings.
Frank Zorc, the private citizen who brought the suit against
the city, settled out of court for $575,000.
April 1999: Judge Charles Smith (19th Circuit)
held in a summary judgment that the city of Vero Beach violated
the Open Meetings law when they held two closed-door meetings
in April 1995 to discuss and take votes on a lawsuit against
then City Councilman Bill Jordan.
September 1999: Brian Heady, a private citizen,
filed a civil complaint versus the Indian River County School
Board for violating the Open Meetings and Public Records Laws
when they blocked his access to an educational plant survey
that contained an overview of the district's current facilities.
May 2000: Two former Indian River County
Hospital trustees were indicted for violating the state's
Open Meetings law and perjuring themselves before the County
Grand Jury in March. Allen Seed and Richard Aldrich were both
formally accused on felony perjury charges and a misdemeanor
Sunshine Law violation.
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August 2000: A Lee County Commissioner was
charged with a second-degree misdemeanor for violating a county
law that requires government officials to disclose private
meetings with lobbyists. Commissioner John Manning was investigated
for meeting for years with lobbyists who sought land-use changes,
roads and multi-million dollar county contracts.
May 2004: Former Superintendent John Sanders
filed a lawsuit against four of the five Lee County School
Boards Members, claiming they violated the Sunshine Law and
Public Records law, based on testimony in another trial in
which former district auditor Martha Roberts testified that
the school board members conspired to fire Sanders in private
meetings.
October 1999:Six current and former Lee
County Sheriff deputies filed a class action suit claiming
the Lee County Sheriff's Department violated Open Meetings
laws when their civil service board and a committee of officers
voted on disciplinary recommendations in closed-door meetings.
August 2004: The News-Press (Ft.
Myers) claims that Lee County school officials selected contractors
and negotiated in private, violating the Sunshine Law. According
to the paper, the school construction committee picked five
finalists for contracted jobs to expand improve several Lee
County schools, and Superintendent James Browder's staff negotiated
construction contracts in private.
September 2003: Board members of the San
Carlos Park Fire Protection and Rescue Service District were
accused of violating the Sunshine Law after they met in a
private executive collective bargaining session between officials
and the fire district union.
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May 1999: Second Judicial Circuit Judge
Terry Lewis awarded Barbara Herskovitz $8,083 in attorneys
fees for a public records suit she brought against Leon County
claiming that the clerk of courts was not precise in identifying
the more than 9,000 documents she requested, and was "unreasonably"
slow in complying with the request.
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February 2001: Levy County Commissioners
Lily Rooks, Don Foley and Tony Parker admitted and apologized
for two Open Meetings law violations that occurred in November
2000 when they spoke about proposed board action in private.
March 2002: City Commissioner Sunshine Baynard
filed a civil suit against the Chiefland City Commission saying
that an "emergency meeting" violated Florida's Sunshine
Law. Baynard claims that a critical rehiring/restructuring
decision was made while she was not present, and she was told
"by virtue of liaison communication" between members
of the city commission.
February 2003: Circuit Judge Robert Cates
issued a ruling that said Chiefland City Commissioners violated
the Sunshine Law when they met January 17, 2002 to suspend
their police chief and search for a replacement. The judge
ruled all action taken at the meeting void.
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June 1999: The Island Bystander
filed a Public Records suit against the city of Anna Maria
for denying access to the resumes submitted for the open city
clerk position. Anna Maria Mayor was subsequently charged
and acquitted of all charges stemming from the incident.
January 2000: Judge Doug Henderson (12th
Judicial Circuit), ordered former Anna Maria Mayor Chuck Shumard
to pay a $250 fine for one count of a non-criminal Public
Records violation. Shumard pleaded no contest.
August 1999: A three judge-panel from the
2nd District Court ruled that the city of Bradenton violated
Open Meetings laws by choosing contractors for a construction
project without first meeting in public.
July 2004: Manatee County Port Authority
Officials acknowledged that they failed to adequately notify
the public of a Manatee County Commission meeting, potentially
violating the Open Meetings law and rendering all action taken
at the meeting legally void.
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January 2001: Judge Ben Bryan (19th judicial
circuit) ruled that Martin County Commissioners violated the
Open Meetings law by meeting in private to discuss possible
legal action pending against the county. The trial was difficult
to rule on because the law states that commissioners can meet
in private to discuss "pending litigation." However,
The Palm Beach Post attorney argued successfully
that they did violate the Sunshine Law because the county
was not a party in either case, a distinction stipulated in
the law that sates they are able to meet on pending litigation
matters.
February 2001: Judge Terry Lewis, a Leon
County Judge (2nd Judicial Circuit) ruled that the Martin
County elections supervisor, Peggy Robbins, violated both
election and Public Records laws when she allowed republican
party members to take absentee ballot applications from her
office to fill in missing information.
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January 1999: Two members of the Miami
Code Enforcement Board were charged with misdemeanor counts
of violating the Sunshine Law. According to The Miami
Herald, the board members were charged
because they discussed code enforcement cases outside public
meetings. The members allegedly used a zoning consultant as
a conduit to agree to lower fines in the cases before the
cases came before the full enforcement board.
April 1999: The Miccosukee Indian Tribe
sued Miami-Dade County and water district officials for violating
the Open Meetings law when they held a closed-door meeting
that resulted in a proposal to buy private land on the fringes
of the Everglades that would hinder restoration efforts and
flood tribal land. The suit was settled, nullifying the agreement.
August 2000: A Miami judge ordered credit
card records from a Miami-Dade Police Department charity,
"Do The Right Thing," to be released to The
Miami Herald. The paper sought a judicial order to unseal
the documents after the Police refuse to turn over the documents.
The judge ruled in favor of the newspaper, and the Miami-Dade
Police Department complied under the threat of a contempt
order in August 2000.
December 2000: A local cable operator refuted
claims from community activists that segments were deleted
from a televised city council meeting. Residents claimed that
the city “doctored” the broadcast of a Sept. 5,
2000 council meeting to edit out a private conference between
council members and the city manager held during a break.
That meeting was not included in the meeting’s broadcast
the following night.
January 2001: In an effort to gain access
to financial records of Americans who use off-shore banks,
the Internal Revenue Service has filed a federal lawsuit against
two credit card companies, American Express Travel Related
Services Co. and MasterCard International. Both companies
conduct business in the Caribbean, but maintain their headquarters
in the Miami area. In their suit, the IRS is requesting identifying
information such as passport and driver’s license numbers,
and information on purchases such as cars, boats, airline
tickets and lodging made between 1998 to 1999.
May 2001: Concerns that a bidding process
didn’t follow the state’s Sunshine Law prompted
a Miami-Dade judge to issue an injunction that bars Dade County
from executing a contract. The contract with Secure Wrap would
have hired a permanent contractor to wrap luggage at the Miami
International Airport. However, the two losing bidders sued,
saying the County Commission may have violated the Open Meetings
law in awarding the contract. The commission is accused of
meeting in private to discuss the bid proposals. Judge Philip
Bloom (11th Judicial Circuit) granted the injunction but required
the plaintiffs to post a $50,000 bond.
October 2002: The South Florida Sun-
Sentinel settled a lawsuit with the Department of Children
and Families that the newspaper filed to get copies of 22
missing children’s case files. Under state law, files
concerning children in DCF care are confidential, but the
newspaper argued in its lawsuit that the law allows for exceptions
in cases where access to the files benefits the public and
outweighs privacy concerns. When the paper and the DCF began
bickering in Judge Bloom’s courtroom, the judge scolded
both sides and sent them off for further negotiation. Bloom
said the newspaper lawsuit was intended “to inflame
the judge and to inflame the community.” The judge ordered
the two sides to confer before he ruled in the case. The agency
and the paper settled, and the DCF released the documents
about 10 days after the hearing in front of Bloom.
November 2002: Judicial Watch, a conservative
political watchdog group, filed a lawsuit
requesting all the records related to ballots and voting problems
in Broward and Miami-Dade counties during the September primary.
Judicial Watch, the NAACP, the ACLU and other groups filed
public records requests with elections supervisors after the
primary, and Judicial Watch asked for a response within a
week. When Judicial Watch hadn’t heard from officials
within a week, they filed the lawsuits. Judicial Watch said
they wanted to determine the nature and extent of voting problems
in the two counties. The group also asked for all communications
from Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas about the election.
May 2003: Former chairman of the Country
Club of Miami Community Council, Gus Exposito, plead no contest
to violating the Sunshine Law for questioning another council
member after a controversial vote. The plea ended an eight-month
probe into Exposito’s questionable behavior when he
asked another member after a meeting to reconsider his vote
for a housing project planned for a vacant 73-acre area. Exposito
confronted council member Stuart Argüello after the meeting,
insisting Argüello, who was the swing vote against the
project launched by Exposito, had misunderstood the issue.
Two weeks after the meeting, Exposito asked Argüello
to write a letter to the county asking if the council could
reconsider that application. Exposito claimed he wanted to
make sure there was no misunderstanding about the vote.
December 1999: The Miami-Dade State Attorney's
Office filed a civil complaint versus the Village of Biscayne
Park for Open Meetings law violations, stemming from a closed-door
meeting the held on February 13, 1999.
March 2000: The Miami Herald sued
Dade Aviation Consultants, the company that oversaw the $5
billion, 20-year-expansion of Miami International Airport,
in an effort to gain access to the company's spending records.
August 2000: The Miami Herald
agreed to drop a public records suit against the mayor of
Hialeah the same day the suit was filed. A journalist for
the paper requested records of phone calls received in the
mayor’s office. When the mayor’s office did not
hand over the records, the newspaper filed suit. When the
mayor provided the records, the paper dropped the suit. The
city paid The Miami Herald’s $500 legal fees.
March 2001: The Town Council voted to pay
more than $15,000 in legal fees for three town officials,
including more than $7,000 for a councilman accused of a Sunshine
Law violation. The vice mayor and two council members were
involved in three separate cases. One of the council members,
Al Paruas, was involved in an Open Meetings law case after
he ejected a resident from a November 1999 meeting to select
a town manager and town clerk. Paruas, who had been in office
for 10 months at the time of the incident, should have known
the meeting was public, said investigators with the state
attorney’s office, who are still investigating the case.
Paruas’ legal fees at the time totaled $7,125.15.
June 2004: North Bay Village Mayor Alan
Dorne and Commissioner Armand Abecassis surrendered to state
investigators on charges they violated the Open Meetings law
when they met privately on March 6 to discuss the firing of
City Manager James Vardalis.
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April 1999: A circuit judge ruled that the
Lower Florida Keys Health System Board violated the Open Meetings
law, and voided all actions taken in the meeting. The ruling
originated from a lawsuit brought by doctors who had their
hospital privileges revoked by the board in a closed session.
November 2000: Conference calls place between
county commissioners that led to the awarding of a $60 million
sewer contract were a violation of the Open Meetings law,
according to the State Attorney's Office. On three separate
occasions Monroe County Board of County Commissioners spoke
via telephone during the selection process. The contract was
voided in July 2001.
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February 1999: The County Attorney filed
a motion to dismiss a suit charging the County Commission
with violating the Open Meetings law. A private citizen brought
suit against commissioners Nick Deonas, Marianne Marshal,
"Pete" Cooper and former commissioners John Crawford
and Chris Kirkland, alleging they held private meetings to
discuss the relocation of the county courthouse.
November 2000: Judge Alban E. Brooke (4th
Judicial Circuit) ordered Sheriff Ray Geiger to provide records
to attorney John Cascone after Cascone filed a motion due
to the "unreasonably slow" nature of a records request.
June 2001: The Callahan Town Council voted
in March to reverse a 1999 ordinance that raised the price
of public records above the prices set by the state. The council
still faced allegations of Public Records violations stemming
from instances of failure to deliver records in a timely manner,
inquiring as to why individuals wanted records, denying the
review of records to requesters and requiring individuals
to make requests in writing or in person.
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April 2001: Charles Grande, Edward McKay,
Roger Sharp and Kevin Stinette sued to get records that
involve a criminal probe into environmental violations at
Garcon Point Bridge. The records request to the Florida Department
of Environmental Protection was denied, which prompted the
lawsuit on behalf of the four individuals.
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February 2002: Florida Department of Law
Enforcement Commissioner Tim Moore admitted it was a mistake
to close a portion of a November 29th meeting of the state's
Domestic Security Advisory Council in Orlando. Moore said
he closed the meeting because he believed that meetings in
which sensitive intelligence matters were discussed were exempt.
January 2004: Two city residents filed
a complaint with state prosecutors prompting an investigation
of the Maitland City Council to determine if its members violated
Open Meetings laws. Former Maitland City Mayor Homer Hough,
one of the complainants, filed suit after he found four of
the five city council members dining with top staffers before
a scheduled meeting.
October 2004: Former City Manager James
Gleason filed suit against the City of Ocoee, the Ocoee Mayor
and City Commissioners Scott Vanderift, Danny Howell and Scott
Anderson, claiming they violated several Sunshine Laws when
they voted to terminate his employment via a series of cell-phone
conversations leading up to his firing.
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December 2002: City Commissioners Werndell
McKinnon and Bob Makinson were charged with misdemeanor Open
Meetings violations for meeting privately to discuss actions
they would later take in a public meeting.
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January 2000: A Pasco County "adult
clubs consultant" filed a complaint with the State Attorney's
Office claiming that former Assistant County Attorney R.C.
Burnette violated the Public Records law by withholding a
study on regulating adult business.
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January 1999: A police union complained
that the WPB Sheriff's Office violated Open Records law by
withholding details of an internal affairs investigation.(A
three-judge panel later ruled on the incident in April 2000).
January 2000: Judge Terry Lewis (2nd Judicial
Circuit) ordered a group of municipal utilities to make public
the terms of its legal settlement with the Florida Power &
Light Group (FPL). The Florida Municipal Power Agency claimed
that FPL broke its contract to sell electricity to the utilities
including power companies in Clewiston, Fort Pierce and Vero
Beach. Under the agreement reached in October, FPL will pay
the utilities a cash settlement and enter into a new power-buying
agreement, giving the city utilities the right to buy power
at a specific price. The Palm Beach Post sued the
power company for access to the settlement, and the circuit
judge ruled in the newspaper’s favor.
April 2000: The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office
violated the Public Records law by withholding the results
of an internal affairs investigation according to a three-judge
panel from the 4th District Court of Appeals.
August 2003: Rabbi Joel Levine is filed
a class-action lawsuit against two of the nation’s largest
information brokers, alleging that the companies have violated
federal privacy laws by obtaining Florida Department of Highway
Safety and Motor Vehicle records.The two companies involved
in the suit are Georgia-based ChoicePoint Inc. and Massachusetts-based
Reed Elsevier Inc., the parent company of LexisNexis. The
lawsuit contends the records obtained by the companies include
such information as people’s names, addresses, birth
dates, and other information detailed on motor-vehicle titles,
in violation of the federal Driver Privacy Protection Act.
November 2003: The American Civil Liberties
Union filed a Public Records lawsuit against a maximum-security
prison for girls. The lawsuit charges the Florida Institute
for Girls juvenile prison in suburban West Palm Beach with
“illegal, malicious and willful” evasion of the
Public Records law. The attorney who filed the suit, Frank
Kreidler, requested a variety of records from the prison after
hearing inmates’complaints about their treatment. Since
the request of the records, staff members of the prison have
been accused of sexual misconduct and breaking the arms of
two inmates while restraining them.
May 1999: A judge ruled that the Pompano
Beach City Commission violated the Open Meetings law in 1985
for secret meetings and phone calls concerning construction
of a hotel on the Hillsborough Inlet.
July 2001: The Department of Children and
Families was sued by Anne Banks for allegedly violating the
Open Meetings law when it met privately to decide to sever
her maternal rights to her children.
July 2000: The Palm Beach State Attorney
began investigating members of a housing authority board for
possible violations of Florida’s Open Meetings law.
The state attorney’s office seems to be focusing on
a Feb. 28 meeting in which the Palm Beach County Housing Finance
Authority voted for the first time in 20 years to put legal
contracts out to a public bid. Previously, the contracts for
the authority’s attorneys were automatically renewed.
January 2002: State prosecutors began investigating
allegations that Palm Beach County's Housing Finance Authority
violated the Open Meetings law after a defendant in a corruption
trial testified she had witnessed violations.
December 2003: A former Palm Beach County
employee appealed a circuit judge’s decision that a
pre-termination conference panel that upheld the employee’s
firing is not subject to the Open Meetings law. Former Department
of Community Services senior secretary Lee Ellen Dascott exercised
her right to appeal to a pre termination panel after she was
fired. The panel upheld her firing, which was based on Dascott’s
act of bringing a tape recorder to a meeting with her supervisor.
Dascott’s attorney, Frederick W. Ford, argues that the
closed panel meeting violated the Open Meetings law and that
the termination must be rescinded, according to the brief.
February 2004: A Palm Beach Circuit Court
judge ruled that prosecutors can review radio commentator
Rush Limbaugh’s medical records to determine whether
he illegally obtained
prescriptions from a series of doctors to support his addiction
to painkillers. Limbaugh’s attorneys had fought to keep
the records sealed, arguing that releasing the documents would
violate Limbaugh’s right to privacy. Judge Jeffrey A.
Winikoff disagreed, ruling that the state’s interest
in determining whether Limbaugh broke the law surpassed his
privacy concerns. Prosecutors, however, may not make the records
public. Roy Black, Limbaugh’s attorney, filed a notice
of appeal after the ruling and, in a separate motion, asked
the court to stay its order until the appeals court had reviewed
the case.
July 2004: The 4th District Court of Appeal
ruled that a Palm Beach County grievance panel violated the
state Sunshine Law when it decided to fire a senior secretary
behind closed
doors. The appellate decision reversed a ruling in the Palm
Beach County Circuit Court and, according to The Palm
Beach Post, could change the county’s firing procedures
by requiring that all disciplinary committee hearings be open
to the public. The ruling stemmed from the firing of Lee Ellen
Dascott, a former secretary in the county’s Department
of Community Services. According to court filings, Dascott
was suspended by a county grievance committee in 1998 for
allegedly using “conduct unbecoming of a public employee.”
She was left out of the committee’s deliberations, the
county’s first violation, according to her lawsuit.
December 2004: America's Families United,
a non-profit organization, filed a lawsuit against Palm Beach
County Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore, claiming she violated
the Public Records Law when she refused to provide copies
of rejected voter registration applications. LePore said that
the law allows public examination but precludes copying of
the applications, because they contain sensitive personal
information such telephone numbers, social security numbers
and driver's license information.
September 2004: Deborah Bennett sued Delray
Beach Mayor Jeff Perlman for access to documents detailing
his publishing venture with the Palm Beach County School Board.
Bennett was contracted by the school board to produce six
editions of "Education Today" to be published by
Pearlman's company "Magnum Publishing." The suit
claims that because Perlman stood to earn $70,000 of public
money as a result of the arrangement, documents detailing
the project should be made public. The suit was dismissed
by a judge in November of 2004.
September 2004: The League for Educational
Awareness of the Holocaust (LEAH) filed a lawsuit against
the city of Boca Raton and The Rouse Co., claiming they violated
the state’s Open Meetings Law. The city’s Community
Redevelopment Agency (CRA) chose a plan submitted by Rouse
to renovate an old cartoon museum. LEAH submitted a competing
proposal, which it said was dismissed in an unfair process
that favored Rouse. The group asked the courts to stop negotiations
between Rouse and the city, award it the building lease and
pay its legal fees. In addition to accusations of discrimination,
the lawsuit detailed claims that the city violated the state
Sunshine Law when it failed to provide public
notice of its sessions.
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August 1999: A Circuit Judge awarded attorney
fees to The St. Pete Times in a suit versus the governing
foundation of Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital to determine whether
the foundation was exempt from state access laws. Despite
that award, the judge previously ruled in favor of the foundation,
determining that it was in fact exempt from the Sunshine Law.
October 2003: The weekly Clearwater
Gazette and Beach Views newspaper filed suit against
Belleair Beach Mayor Mike Kelley, alleging he violated the
Sunshine Law when he prevented the distribution of the paper
as well as restricting a reporter's access to public documents.
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August 1999: State Auditor General, Charles
Lester, determined that the Polk Community College trustees
violated the Open Meetings law by inviting four candidates
for the position of college president to an informal party.
The ruling was based on the fact that the party served as
a means of evaluating the candidates in a social setting,
and was consequently subject to state Sunshine Laws.
December 1999: A Lakeland attorney filed
suit against the Polk County Commission for an Open Meetings
violation stemming from their failure to provide adequate
notice of their weekly agenda review sessions.
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November 2001: An audit of the town of
Welaka's business practices identified several problems, including
failure to keep public records and several instances of Open
Meetings violations. The closed records include financial
records of two $50,000 certificates of deposit, and not providing
adequate public notice of a scheduled vote to raise the council
members' and mayor's pay.
December 2002: The State Attorney's Office
charged Mayor Gordon Sands with violating the Open Meetings
law for meeting with a town council member in March 2000 to
discuss upcoming votes they would take at a public meeting.
Sands met with Shirley Gillins to discuss nominating another
member as council president.
July 2003: Judge Peter Miller withheld adjudication
of guilt on former Welaka Town Official Steve Richardson on
an Public Records violation. Richardson refused to allow Bob
and Pat Ford, two Welaka citizens, to inspect a sign-out sheet
of recreational equipment.
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December 2002: Six lawsuits were filed
against a water authority formed by the City of Gulf Breeze.
The lawsuits sought to stop the sale of a private company
to the town for a sewage system improvement, and alleged in
part that the authority's decision to purchase the company
was void because it violated Open Meetings laws (meetings
were not public and not announced in advance).
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January 2000: Oviedo City Councilman Tom
O'Hanlon admits he may have violated the spirit of the Public
Records law, prompting the Oviedo City Council to drop an
investigation of O'Hanlon's handling of a Public Records request.
August 2001: The Sanford Housing Authority
Board agreed to settle a lawsuit with two tenants who claimed
the board violated the Open Meetings law when they secretly
met to allow four former housing board members to resign.
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March 1999: State Attorney John Tanner determined
that the Municipal Service District trustees violated the
Open Meetings law when they held closed-door meetings to finalize
a $6.3 million sewer project. The officials issued a public
apology and took corrective measures, rendering decisions
made in the closed-door meeting void.
March 2004: Saint John's County officials
admitted they failed to provide notice to the public about
their meeting with legislators and therefore unintentionally
violated the Open Meetings law. Although the meeting was announced
at a previous workshop meeting, written notice was never supplied
to the public or media, a condition of Sunshine Law compliance.
August 2004: Thelma Shearer, Robert Ulanowicz
and Rose Walker, residents of the Ponce De Leon Golf Course
Community filed suit against the city, claiming the approval
of a development project should be reversed because the plan
may have been negotiated with developer Chester Stokes prior
to the city commission's meeting.
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Saint Lucie-June 1999- Paul Curry, a private
citizen, filed a complaint in the 19th Judicial Circuit against
CORE, a private provider of misdemeanor probation services,
over its failure to produce certain records for his inspection.
A judge subsequently ruled that CORE is subject to Open Records
law and ordered the company to produce the documents.
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February 1999: Edgewater City and The
Daytona Beach News-Journal settled a lawsuit accusing
three city councilmen of violating the Open Meetings law during
an October 1997 meeting. The council supposedly met in secret
about firing the city manager and discussing the hiring of
his replacement.
April 2000: Private meetings held between
DiMucci Development Corporation and the Daytona Beach City
Council on five separate occasions were determined to have
violated the Open Meetings law after a complaint was filed
with the council by The Daytona Beach News Journal.
May 2001: As part of a settlement with
racing legend Dale Earnhardt’s widow, a head-trauma
expert looked at Earnhardt’s autopsy photos on behalf
of the Orlando Sentinel. However, the Independent
Florida Alligator, a student-run newspaper, was allowed
to challenge the settlement that sealed the photos. Judge
Joseph Will (7th Judicial Circuit) in allowing the lawsuit
to proceed, said that others are not bound, by the agreement
signed by the Sentinel and the Earnhardt family.
The Alligator also challenged the state law passed
to bar access to autopsy photos.
July 2003: Circuit Judge David Walsh refused
to throw out a lawsuit against three Ormond Beach Commissioners
which alleges they violated the Sunshine Law by coordinating
the firing and subsequent rehiring of City Manager Isaac Turner.
August 2004: R. Bruce McLaughlin, a land-use
planner who represents several adult entertainment venues,
filed a lawsuit against the City of Daytona Beach, claiming
city officials violated the Public Records law when they failed
to respond to a records request he made for all communications
between city officials and Consolidated-Tomoka Land Company,
the largest property owner in Volusia County.
June 2000: A reporter from the News
Journal was denied access to a local hospital’s
meeting in which officials considered the future fate of its
operations. Memorial Health Systems and the The News Journal
have been at odds regarding access to the hospital’s
records and meetings. In January, the Florida Supreme Court
ruled that the private corporation created to run Memorial
Hospital is subject to the Open Meetings and Public Records
laws because it acts on behalf of the taxing district’s
Hospital Authority. The Court did not rule on the constitutionality
of the 1998 exemption, but refused to apply it retroactively
to the Memorial Hospital.
April 2002: Circuit Judge Joseph Will found
a 1998 law that exempted private corporations running public
hospitals from Florida's Sunshine Law was unconstitutional;
he also ruled that a Deland hospital's efforts to close records
between 1999 and the passage of the law in 1998 were also
illegal. This halted Deland Hospital's efforts to bar the
public from its business meetings and records.
July 2004: Tanner Andrews, a private citizen,
filed a lawsuit against Volusia County, claiming that private
meetings in September of 2003 between the Lively Arts Center
Inc. and individual town council members violated the Open
Meetings law.
January 2003: The State Attorney's Office
charged City Commissioners Robert Jackson and Ronald Mercer
for violating the Open Meetings law by privately meeting to
discuss city business, specifically a state grant application,
the appointment of city officials and the licensing a restaurant.
Ron Mercer was ordered to pay a $500 fine in 2004.
- Volusia County
February 1999: The Daytona Beach News-Journal
sued Volusia County and the clerk of court for denying access
to results of a vote to remove Phyllis Garvin from the city
council.
December 2000: Following objections by
residents over a closed door meeting, the Utilities Commission
reaffirmed its $7.6 million purchase of 1,100 acres as part
of a court settlement
with a private landowner at a specially called public meeting.
In 1996 and 1998, the city used its powers of eminent domain
to acquire 85 acres from Samson Land Trust. The group sued
the city, alleging that the taking and construction of a
wastewater treatment plant damaged its marketing ability.
In a closed door session, the Utility Commission approved
the settlement purchase. Following concerns raised by attorney
Jon Kaney, representing the News-Journal, the
county agreed to reaffirm its settlement decision at a special
public meeting.
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June1999: The State Attorney's Office found
that three State Department of Health officials violated the
Open Meetings law by not permitting a witness to attend a
grievance committee hearing.
May 2003: The Department of Children and
Families released a list of missing children who were found
since fall in response to a lawsuit brought by the South
Florida Sun- Sentinel.
Leon Circuit Judge Nikki Clark ordered the DCF to release
the 26-page document which disclosed information showing the
condition of the children, where they had been and where they
were placed after they were found. In many cases, however,
the list provided few details about the children. Some of
the names appeared without any information and some appeared
only with the word “closed” under the name.
June 1999: Former Pinellas County Democratic
Party Chairman Terry Gourdine filed a complaint with the ethics
commission claiming that Senate President Toni Jennings and
Majority Leader Jack Latvala violated the state constitution
and Senate rules by failing to notify the public of a secret
dinner meeting. On April 12, 20 republican Senators gathered
at Georgio’s restaurant near the Capitol, where they
discussed Gov. Job Bush’s controversial school voucher
proposal due for a vote the next day. Bush’s chief lobbyist,
Ken Plante, took part in the dinner. On April 15, Senate leaders
admitted they made a mistake by failing to provide public
notice of the gathering. Latvala said, it "won’t
happen again."
November 1999: An insurance company lost
a courtroom battle to keep secret the detailed notes from
a private investigator hired to follow a state Department
of Insurance employee. In 1995, Bankers Insurance Co. hired
private investigator Peter Rayner to collect personal information
on the Department's employee Kevin McCarty after it lost a
$16-million contract with the Joint Underwriting Association.
Rayner provided Bankers with details of McCarty's property,
financial and driving records, as well as information about
his personal life. After Rayner pleaded guilty to a federal
wiretap charge in 1997, Judge N. Sanders Sauls, 2nd Judicial
Circuit, ruled that the Public Records law requires the release
of documents once an investigation is closed.
February 2000: A 2nd Judicial Circuit court
judge in Tallahassee released training materials used by the
National Abortion Federation after removing the names of patients
and clinics. The St. Petersburg Times filed a motion
to unseal the materials which was evidence in a trial over
Florida’s parental notice abortion law. The law, approved
last year, was blocked by a temporary injunction issued by
Lewis.
August 2000: Kathy Bush sought to open
hearings in front of a judge who will decide whether to terminate
her parental rights. The state is attempted to sever Bush’s
parental rights to her daughter after Bush was convicted of
child abuse. During her trial, Bush claimed she had Munchausen
syndrome by proxy, in which a parent causes a child’s
illnesses to get attention. Bush asked that her parental rights
hearing be open to the public in hopes of avoiding a “star-chamber
proceeding,” according to her attorney.
September 2000: A private meeting held by
the state Department of Management Services to evaluate competing
bids by two telecommunication companies has prompted one to
file suit, claiming the meeting violated Florida’s Open
Meetings law. Motorola Inc., claims the meetings should have
been open to the public. Company officials cite a March 1999
informal opinion by the state attorney general’s office
that states some panels established by a state agency to evaluate
vendors seeking a state contract are subject to the Sunshine
Law.
February 2001: The Florida Supreme Court
heard oral arguments in a case that will determine if an exemption
to the state’s Open Meetings and Public Records laws
can be applied retroactively. In 1998, the legislature passed
a law that says that private companies that lease public hospitals
are not subject to the Sunshine Law. Memorial Hospital-West
Volusia was leased to a private company in 1994 and said its
records and meetings were never open and should remain closed.
May 2001: State investigators are looking
into whether former Florida Agriculture Commissioner Bob Crawford
violated the Sunshine Law in awarding contracts for the state
fair to Ed Gregory, a friend who received a presidential pardon.
State investigators are probing whether Crawford, now the
director of the state’s Department of Citrus, arranged
the contracts in private rather than in public meetings.
December 2001: The Sarasota Herald-Tribune
filed a lawsuit against the Department of Children and Families
to access records regarding the Mentally Retarded Defendant
Program. The newspaper requested records on the Mentally Retarded
Defendant Program, which attempts to train defendants to communicate
with their attorneys, assist in their own defense and understand
the court proceedings. If the defendants are not found competent
to stand trial within two years, the charges are dismissed,
but a defendant can be held longer on a judge’s order.
The newspaper first filed a public records request on May
2. DCF officials partially filled some requests and denied
others.
October 2002: The Independent Florida
Alligator sued to gain access to the autopsy
photographs of race car driver Dale Earnhardt, challenging
a law barring public access to autopsy photographs that passed
in the wake of Earnhardt’s death. The state Supreme
Court was asked to rule on the issue after the 5th District
Court of Appeal upheld the law, citing privacy concerns. The
photos were never unsealed and remain inaccessible to the
public.
December 2002: The Florida Democratic Party
sued Gov. Jeb Bush in a Leon County Circuit Court. Bob Poe
reportedly made numerous public records requests including
requests for appointment schedules, travel records and briefing
materials. Poe also requested fiscal data, spending records,
contract information and revenue projections. Other records
requested included communication with school superintendents
on the class size constitutional amendment and records of
business dealings.
December 2002: The Florida Department of
Law Enforcement charged two men in connection with a scheme
involving improper payment for public records. Former state
Department of Insurance (DOI) employee Jamie Glenn Payne was
charged with three counts of unlawful compensation or reward
for official behavior, and grand theft. His father-in-law,
Theodore Charles Hale, was charged with grand theft and criminal
conspiracy. While working for the DOI, Payne improperly processed
public records requests, having the requester pay his father-in-law
for the records, according to the FDLE. The payment Hale and
Payne received for the public records is estimated to exceed
$20,000.
March 2003: A Leon County Circuit judge
turned down a request by Alliance Capital, a New York based
investment firm accused of losing more than $300 million in
Florida state pension
money during the Enron crash, to keep some records secret.
The state sued Alliance in May, claiming mismanagement by
the company when it purchased nearly 3 million Enron shares
for the state’s pension fund, resulting in serious losses.
The Tampa Tribune and the St. Petersburg Times
joined the state in December in pursuing access to documents
Alliance provided to the state as part of the trial. The state
is also seeking release of documents as part of its lawsuit
to force Alliance to pay the state at least some of the money
that was lost.
November 2003: The state Department of
Education asked the 1st District Court of Appeal to review
a lower court ruling that allows parents access to test questions
and answers of the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.
In 2002, Steven Cooper, parent of a high school student who
failed the FCAT, sued the Department of Education after it
refused to release his son’s questions and answers from
the test. Leon County Circuit Judge Janet Ferris ruled that
questions and answers should be released.
January 2004: Circuit Judge Janet Ferris
refused to dismiss a lawsuit claiming a state agency allowed
a Suncoast Parkway 2 advisory group to violate the Sunshine
Law. Ferris denied a motion by the Florida Department of Transportation
(FDOT) to dismiss a suit filed by community members Teddi
Bierly and Robert Roscow. The two alleged that the Environmental
and Resource Agency Group (ERAG), a branch of the state’s
Turnpike Enterprise, met privately in violation with the state’s
Sunshine Law. FDOT was conducting a study to determine if
a suitable route could be identified to build Suncoast Parkway
2, a toll road constructed entirely in Citrus County.
August 2004: A state court judge ruled that
the Florida board of elections had to immediately release
a list of nearly 50,000 suspected felons to Cable News Network
(CNN). In May 2004, CNN sued Florida’s Division of Elections
for access to the list, which contained the names of people
who could be ineligible to vote in the 2004 presidential election
because they are felons, have multiple registrations or have
died since the previous election. The state responded to the
lawsuit, claiming the list was preliminary and should not
be released publicly. The list is a public record, but according
to state law, only certain people and groups such as political
parties or candidates can get copies. CNN, in addition to
members of the general public, was invited to view the documents
at the division’s headquarters in Tallahassee, only
under the condition that there was no photocopying or note
taking.
August 2004: A judge ordered the Department
of Education to release public records containing teachers’
Social Security numbers to the Sarasota Herald- Tribune.
The newspaper requested the information for a story about
where high quality teachers worked. The Social Security numbers
were needed to merge two databases, one that showed basic
information on the teachers and another about teacher certification.
The Florida Legislature subsequently passed a law that ordered
the redaction of Social Security numbers from all public records
containing information about public workers, including teachers.
The department was given five days to release the newly redacted
documents to the newspaper.
April 2003: The Lakeland Ledger
sued the Florida Department of Citrus, claiming the department
violated the state's Sunshine Law after withholding records
from a study on generic citrus advertising. The Ledger
was denied access to a meeting in which the firm hired to
research the advertisements met with department officials
to review some technical aspects of the project.
October 2003: Robert Roscow and Tedd Bierly,
two landowners in Citrus County, filed a lawsuit against Florida
Department of Transportation secretary in an attempt to open
public meetings between several government agencies discussing
options for a proposed Citrus County extension of the Suncoast
Parkway. The expansion would potentially affect the two men's
property and its land value.
May 2001: As part of a settlement with racing
legend Dale Earnhardt’s widow, a head-trauma expert
looked at Earnhardt’s autopsy photos on behalf of the
Orlando Sentinel. However, the Independent Florida
Alligator, a student-run newspaper, was allowed to challenge
the settlement that sealed the photos. Judge Joseph Will (7th
Judicial Circuit) in allowing the lawsuit to proceed, said
that others are not bound, by the agreement signed by the
Sentinel and the Earnhardt family. The Alligator
also challenged the state law passed to bar access to autopsy
photos.
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