Florida Statues

Re: Re: Dr. Grover? Part II

In 13th edition of "Bear's Guide" (1999) in Chapter 7 there is the following about Florida law...

----------
Florida is a classic case of what can happen when legislation gets out of hand. A 1988 Florida statute (Sections 817.566 and .567, Florida Statutes, 1988 Supplement) made it a crime to use an unaccredited degree in any way in that state, even if it is from a school approved or licensed in another state. It was a "misdemeanor of the first degree" [sic] for a person with, say, a California-approved or a Minnesota-approved degree, to reveal, within the boundaries of Florida, that he or she has that degree.

This rather extraordinary statute was challenged in court, and in July 1995, the State Supreme Court found it to be unconstitutional. However, the judge strongly suggested that if the legislature were to rewrite the law a bit more carefully, it could achieve the same intent and be within the bounds of the constitution. So at the present time, it would appear that holders of legitimate degrees from other states can use them in Florida, but it is clear the situation is far from over. Indeed the legislature is once again considering a strong school licensing law.

--------------

However, I just noticed that Bear's guide was talking about statutes instead of statues so I'm not sure it applies to this thread. (Okay it was really Rich's joke but I liked it so much I had to tell it again.)

 

.........

That's "Dr.", "Dr." please. Maybe I would dress up as Goofy and then my appearance would match my character, just another "religious idiot."

--------

I'm just joking.

 

Re: Re: Re: Dr. Grover? Part II

Thanks, Bill. The July 1995 date explains why I have been unable to find it. Florida Supreme Court opinions are available online from three sources: Florida State University College of Law Briefs and Opinions, Florida Law Online, and University of Florida College of Law Archive, the latter a cooperative project of the Supreme Court of Florida and the University of Florida College of Law. Unfortunately all three archives only go back to September 1995.

It is disconcerting, to say the least, that given the fact that seven years have elapsed since the Florida Supreme Court ruling, the Florida legislature has not changed the statutes (assuming, of course, that the wording of the 2002 Florida Statues is identical to the 1988 version). It is not, however, all that surprising, as the Florida legislature and Supreme Court are at constant odds with each other (as witnessed by the entire country, and indeed the world, during the last presidential election).

Although I suspect it was a free speech issue, I am curious as to precisely what portions or subsections of the statute the Florida Supreme Court deemed to be unconstitutional. Guess I’ll guess I’ll have to head out to a law library and research it the old-fashioned way.

 

Re: Re: Re: Re: Dr. Grover? Part II

My recollection is that the wording of the statute is the same as when I first read it back in about 1997. I did read the court ruling a few years ago and concluded that the description in Bear's Guide was very accurate. Of course, I'm not a lawyer and if I read too much of that style of writing I tend to get a headache.

I do remember that another lawyer commented on the courts ruling by saying that the law could be very easily corrected by just requiring the unaccredited degree holder to explicitly state that his degree was unaccredited instead of making it illegal to claim the unaccredited degree.