RE: FLORIDA MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT

Supreme Court of Florida

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Nos. SC05-1563 & SC05-1831

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ADVISORY OPINION TO THE

ATTORNEY GENERAL

RE: FLORIDA MARRIAGE PROTECTION AMENDMENT

[March 23, 2006]

LEWIS, J.

The Attorney General has requested that we review the text of a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution to determine compliance with article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution, and to consider whether the proposed ballot title and summary are within the requirements of section 101.161 of the Florida Statutes (2005). In addition, the Attorney General has requested that we review the corresponding Financial Impact Statement to evaluate compliance with section 100.371 of the Florida Statutes (2005). We have jurisdiction. See art. IV, § 10, art. V, § 3(b)(10), Fla. Const.

THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT AND BALLOT SUMMARY

Florida4Marriage.org, a Florida volunteer organization, has invoked the citizen initiative process of article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution in proposing a constitutional amendment directed to defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman while prohibiting any other legal union that is treated as marriage, or the substantial equivalent thereof, from being valid or recognized in Florida. The full text of the proposed amendment states:

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF FLORIDA THAT:

A new section for Article I is hereby created to add the following:

Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

The ballot title for the proposed initiative is:

Florida Marriage Protection Amendment.

The proposed summary to be placed on the ballot for this amendment reads:

This amendment protects marriage as the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife and provides that no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.

The sponsor of the amendment, Florida4Marriage.org, has submitted a brief in support of the proposed amendment. The ACLU Foundation and the ACLU Foundation of Florida have each submitted briefs in opposition. Two very limited issues are now before this Court for consideration.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

In our decision in Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re Amendment to Bar Government from Treating People Differently Based on Race in Public Education, 778 So. 2d 888 (Fla. 2000), we reiterated the standard of review applicable to initiative petition cases:

The Court's inquiry, when determining the validity of initiative petitions, is limited to two legal issues: whether the petition satisfies the single-subject requirement of article XI, section 3, Florida Constitution, and whether the ballot titles and summaries are printed in clear and unambiguous language pursuant to section 101.161, Florida Statutes (1999).

Treating People Differently Based on Race in Public Educ., 778 So. 2d at 890. When addressing these two limited issues, our inquiry is governed by several general principles. First, we will not address the merits or wisdom of the proposed amendment. Id. at 891. Second, we have recognized that we â€