Florida Bar News

Schifino named to the CRC

Schifino named to the CRC

Florida Bar President Bill Schifino, who has been preaching almost nonstop about the importance of The Florida Bar being involved in the upcoming Constitution Revision Commission process, will be in a position to help ensure that happens.

On February 15, Schifino was one of nine people named by Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, as his appointees to the once-every-20-years citizens commission that reviews the Florida Constitution and sends amendments directly to voters. The commission begins meeting later this year and any amendments it approves will be on the November 2018 ballot.

“It is an honor and privilege to be appointed to the Constitution Revision Commission by Senate President Negron,” Schifino said of his appointment. “I look forward to working with my fellow commissioners to examine our state’s constitution and to address the critical issues impacting Florida’s future.”

Negron’s appointments came nine days after Supreme Court Chief Justice Jorge Labarga’s announcement of his three choices for the CRC. Attorney General Pam Bondi is an automatic member, and the rest of the 37-member commission will be filled out by nine appointments by House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, and 15 by Gov. Rick Scott.

Schifino will be the second Bar president on the CRC. Labarga chose former President Hank Coxe of Jacksonville as one of his three appointments. His other two are Tampa attorney Arthenia Joyner, who just finished 16 years in the Florida Legislature, and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida Roberto Martinez.

• Coxe is a defense lawyer, who specializes in federal and state criminal matters. He has served on the Judicial Qualifications Commission, the Florida Supreme Court Innocence Commission, and the judicial nominating commissions for the Fourth Judicial Circuit and the First District Court of Appeal.

• Joyner, served eight years in the Florida House and then eight in the Senate. She was a student participant in the first civil rights demonstration in Tampa, part of the effort to desegregate department store lunch counters. A few years later, as a student at Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, she was part of demonstrations to desegregate the city’s movie theaters and churches.

• Martinez served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in South Florida, first as an assistant U.S. attorney and then as the U.S. Attorney. He has been active in education issues locally in Miami-Dade and served on the state Board of Education for several years. He served as a member of the Florida Taxation and Budget Commission in 2007-08.

Besides Schifino, Negron’s other appointees are:

• Former Senate President Don Gaetz, who was a hospital administrator and co-founded a successful hospice care business. He served first on his local school board and then as superintendent while his school district became the highest performing system in Florida. Gaetz was known during his Senate career for a devotion to education issues. He also promoted ethics reform in the Legislature and worked to make Florida friendly to the military and veterans.

• Anna Marie Hernandez Gamez, a Miami lawyer who does complex real estate and commercial litigation, is a former president of the Cuban American Bar Association. She has been widely involved in charitable activities in the Miami area, including serving as a mentor in the Take Stock in Children program.

• Patricia Levesque, CEO of the Foundation for Excellence in Education, is executive director for the Foundation for Florida’s Future. She served as deputy chief of staff for former Gov. Jeb Bush, was a staffer in the Florida Legislature for six years, and served on the Taxation and Budget Reform Commission 10 years ago.

• Sherry Plymale, a former chair of the State Board of Community Colleges, was chief of staff for former Education Commissioner Frank Brogan, and has served as a trustee to Florida Atlantic University and St. Leo University. She was a board member of the Martin County School Readiness Coalition and has worked with a variety of charities and civic groups, including the YMCA, Children’s Home Society of Florida, and Healthy Kids Corporation.

• Chris Smith, a former Democratic member of the Florida House and Senate (he served as Democratic leader in both chambers), is a lawyer. He is a former president of the Ft. Lauderdale Branch of the NAACP Youth Council and went on to become the youngest member of the Ft. Lauderdale Planning and Zoning Board. Much of his legislative career overlapped Negron’s terms in the House and Senate.

• Bob Solari serves on the Indian River County Commission and is a former member of the Vero Beach City Council, with a reputation as a zealous defender of individual rights. He had a successful private sector career in citrus, real estate, and financial planning to complement his public service. He is also a member of the Bar.

• Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch is a former middle- and high-school teacher, and she has served as a commissioner and mayor for the town of Sewall’s Point. She has spent much of her recent career educating Florida residents about environmental damage to the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon and works with several organizations seeking solutions to that problem.

• Carolyn Timmann, Martin County clerk of court, served as a legislative aide in the Florida House, as an executive deputy chief of staff in the Governor’s Office, as a judicial assistant to a 19th Circuit Court judge, and as a special assistant to Florida’s solicitor general. She is involved with several charitable and civic organizations, including the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

“My goal in selecting the nine Senate appointees was to choose individuals who represent a diverse cross-section of our state in terms of their personal, professional, and political life experiences. The most serious and important issue for me, and a common thread among our Senate appointees, is a fervent commitment to individual liberty and personal freedom guaranteed by our state and federal constitutions. The Senate appointees are all women and men of good judgment,” Negron said. “These nine individuals each possess a tireless work ethic and zeal for public service that has propelled them to the highest levels of success in the private sector, as well as state and local elected office.”

He also said all have shown a dedication to helping young people and “confining government to its proper, limited role. I am also confident they will ardently safeguard the supremacy of the individual.”

Labarga, announcing his picks in the rotunda in the Supreme Court on February 6, said given the unique role of the CRC “it is a major event in the state’s history.”

“And it is crucial that the three names I select should represent a broad scope of knowledge about the importance of our system of government based on the separation of powers. Proposed changes to our most fundamental law is an awesome responsibility. It should never be done lightly and never without a thorough base of knowledge about why the founders of this great nation chose the system we have today.”

Labarga said his three appointees not only represent diversity in gender and ethnicity, but in geography. What they have in common, he said, is “not only are they skilled in the law, but they have a wide range of knowledge about all of the functions of government and its impact on the everyday lives of everyday people.”

Asked if there was a political litmus test for his choices or whether he considered party affiliation, Labarga said, “Absolutely not. That’s of no consequence to me. I care only about their appreciation of our constitutional values.. . . Preservation of an independent judiciary to render decisions; that’s my big thing.”

Asked if he considered appointing himself to the CRC, as Justice Gerald Kogan did two decades ago, Labarga answered: “Many have requested that I do that, but I’ve always seen myself as a judge. I decided 21 years ago that I wanted to be a member of the judicial branch of government. And I prefer to stay here and call balls and strikes, as I see the ball and the facts, and nothing else. I will leave decisions to people like Hank Coxe, Sen. Joyner, and Mr. Martinez for issues to tackle.”