Analysis of proposed amendments to Florida Constitution available online at UF Law Web site

November 7, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A group of students at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, under the direction of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Ben F. Overton, has prepared an analysis of the six proposed amendments to the state’s constitution, and made the results of their work available online.

The 26-page presentation is available through a link on the college’s Web site, www.law.ufl.edu.

The 16 students are enrolled in the Florida Constitutional Law Seminar course taught by Overton, who retired as chief justice after 25 years on the state’s highest court and is now an adjunct professor at the law school.

The document is intended by the student authors as a nonpartisan and objective presentation of the materials, and includes:

• Title of each amendment as it will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot
• Present constitutional provisions affected
• Ballot summary
• Full text of the proposed amendments
• Sponsors of the legislative or initiative process
• Brief commentary on each proposed amendment
• Notable supporters and opponents

“We have compiled a great resource for the law school and the citizens of Florida,” said Will Sexton, a third-year law student and the project’s student editor. “Our project will hopefully help to explain the complex and, at times, confusing amendments that will appear on the Nov. 7th ballot.”