Constitution Revision Commission Considers Two Issues of Great Interest

The FCCB recently provided public testimony in support of two issues under consideration by committees of the Constitution Revision Commission (CRC). The CRC convenes every 20 years to suggest changes to the Florida Constitution. Proposed constitutional amendments approved by the full commission will appear on the November 2018 ballot and will require approval from 60 percent of the electorate.

Florida's Use of the Death Penalty
On November 28, the Judicial Committee held a workshop on capital punishment. The death penalty is "highly costly, highly ineffective, and highly flawed," said Ingrid Delgado, FCCB associate for social concerns/respect life, who spoke before the committee. A recent  study in Nebraska found that taxpayers paid $1.5 million dollars more per capital case in comparison to a first degree murder case that pursued life without parole. There is also no significant research that shows that the death penalty deters future crime. And, while there are murder victims' family members that hope the death penalty will provide closure for their great loss, many family members have expressed that the decades of judicial uncertainty exacerbated their grief, and their key to closure was mercy and forgiveness, not state sanctioned homicide. 

Prohibition on Funding of Religious Organizations
CRC Proposal 4 by Commissioner Roberto Martinez would remove Blaine amendment language from Florida's Constitution. Found in Article I, Section 3, the Blaine amendment prohibits any public funding in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or any sectarian institution. On November 29, Marco Paredes, FCCB associate director for health, provided testimony on the proposal to the Declaration of Rights Committee.

Removing this language from the state constitution is good public policy for several reasons. First, the proposal ensures equal and rightful participation by faith-based organizations in the public square. Secondly, a recent landmark ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court on religious freedom calls state Blaine amendments into question. Finally, the Blaine amendment is problematic for the scores of faith-based organizations in this state that benefit virtually every segment of our society. Hospitals and clinics that provide needed health care services, housing assistance for the disabled and homeless, soup kitchens and food programs for the poor, prison outreach, disaster relief services, and educational scholarships are just a sample of the programs which face an uncertain future by the courts at any time simply because they are offered by faith-based providers. This proposal safeguards these longstanding partnerships between the state and faith-based providers.

The proposal was reported favorable ( 5-1) by the committee and is expected to be heard by the CRC Education Committee in January 2018.