Under previous attorneys general in Florida like Bob Butterworth and Charlie Crist, fighting for consumer rights was a hallmark of their administrations. Under Pam Bondi, some say that it's all about protecting the interests of the most conservative elements in the state.
Fresh after losing a battle in the state Supreme Court to halt approval of the constitutional amendment on medical marijuana, the Tampa native announced last week in Tallahassee that she is prepared to join in opposing a lawsuit that is asking a judge to throw out the state's ban on gay marriage.
"This is a constitutional amendment that voters passed by 60-something percent. My job is to defend that," Bonditold reporters last week at the annual Associated Press Legislative Planning Summit.
But Hillsborough area state House Democrat Mark Danish is pleading for Bondi not to follow through on that promise.
[jump]"Not only is intervention to stop the lawsuit an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars," Danish told the attorney general in a letter sent last Friday. "Intervention would send the message to LGBT friendly businesses and individuals that Florida is not where they should move."
Two weeks ago six same-sex couples from the Miami area joined up with Equality Florida to file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the Sunshine State’s gay marriage ban, imposed by the voters in a constitutional amendment passed in 2008.
Some LGBT activists had considered going back to the ballot with a constitutional amendment calling for the repeal of the 2008 law after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal Defense of Marriage Act last summer. But others in the community, such as Equality Florida's Nadine Smith, weren't sure if the Florida electorate is ready to support such a measure by the required 60 percent majority.
Hence the lawsuit.
But even though the winds have changed mightily when it comes to same-sex marriage over the past five years since Amendment 2 was passed, Bondi appears resolute that she will do all she can to maintain the status quo, saying that's her job.
In his letter, Representative Danish writes that Bondi's constituents are among those suing the state because they believe their equal rights have been violated. Furthermore, he suggests Florida's AG model herself after Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring, who announced last month that he would not defend that state's 2006 voter-approved constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages.
Last year a number of other state attorneys general, such as California's Kamala Harris, Illinois' Lisa Madigan, and Pennsylvania's Kathleen Kane, also decided not to defend challenges to their respective statutes banning gay marriage.