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HomeR BonneR Jacobs Ortiz, P.A. 1200 Four Seasons Tower | 1441 Brickell Avenue | Miami Florida 33131

305 350 5100 | www.homerbonner.com

 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

 SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

MIAMI DIVISION

CASE NO.: 4:20-cv-10076-JLK/BECERRA

KEY WEST BAR PILOTS ASSOCIATION, 

Plaintiff,

v. 

R. JOYCE GRIFFIN, in her official capacity as 

SUPERVISOR OF ELECTIONS FOR MONROE

COUNTY, FLORIDA; the CITY OF KEY WEST,

FLORIDA, a municipal corporation of the State of 

Florida; and KEY WEST COMMITTEE FOR SAFER,

CLEANER SHIPS, INC., a Florida non-profit 

corporation, 

Defendants.

___________________________________/ 

DEFENDANT KEY WEST COMMITTEE’S

MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Pursuant to Rule 56, Fed. R. Civ. P, Defendant Key West Committee for Safer, Cleaner 

Ships, Inc. (the “Committee”) hereby moves for summary judgment on all claims asserted in 

Plaintiffs’ Second Amended Complaint (the “Complaint”). As the accompanying memorandum of 

law demonstrates, four (4) independent but interrelated reasons warrant entry of summary 

judgment in favor of the Committee: 

1. Plaintiffs lack the constitutionally required Article III standing needed to prosecute 

the asserted claims and, therefore, this Court is without subject matter jurisdiction under Rule 

12(b)(1), Fed. R. Civ. P.; 

Case 4:20-cv-10076-JLK Document 40 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2020 Page 1 of 4
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2. The pre-election claims asserted by Plaintiffs are not ripe for review and amount to 

a constitutionally inappropriate request for an advisory opinion on a matter that in the first instance 

is for Key West voters to decide;

3. Considerations of federalism, respect for voter choice, and limitations on this 

Court’s discretionary supplemental jurisdiction under 28 USC §1367(c) strongly militate in favor 

of this Court abstaining from deciding federal constitutional issues and, instead, allowing State 

courts to decide supposedly dispositive Florida law issues assuming the three (3) Charter 

amendments receive Key West voter approval; and,

4. There is no exigency requiring this Court to act on an expedited time frame since 

the Committee has agreed to post a bond to cover the cost of an additional ballot mailing if that is 

even necessary; moreover, in the event any of the proposed charter amendments receive Key West 

voter approval, a post-election court of appropriate jurisdiction could, upon a proper showing, stay 

enforcement of the challenged Charter amendment(s) pending a trial on the merits.

Local Rule 7.1(a)(3) Certification

Pursuant to Local Rule 7.1(a)(3), undersigned counsel for the Committee has sought to 

confer with all parties or non-parties who may be affected by the relief sought in the abovediscussed motion for summary judgment in a good faith effort to resolve the issues raised in that 

motion for summary judgment. Counsel for Plaintiffs has responded that the issues cannot be so 

resolved. Counsel for the co-defendants were attempted to be contacted, albeit after 5:00 p.m., 

and they have not communicated their position at this time. 

Case 4:20-cv-10076-JLK Document 40 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2020 Page 2 of 4
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Date: August 3, 2020 

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Peter W. Homer

Peter W. Homer, Esq.

HOMER BONNER JACOBS & ORTIZ, P.A.

Fla. Bar No. 291250

1441 Brickell Avenue

1200 Four Seasons Tower Suite 

Miami, FL 33131

(305) 350-5100 

fax (305) 372-2738 

phomer@homerbonner.com 

/s/ Matthew Farmer

Matthew P. Farmer, Esq.

FARMER & FITZGERALD, P.A.

Fla. Bar No. 0793469

400 N. Tampa St., Suite 2840

Tampa, FL 33602

(813) 228-0095 

fax (813) 224-0269 

MattFarmer1@aol.com

Counsel for Defendant Key West 

Committee for Safer, Cleaner Ships, Inc.

Case 4:20-cv-10076-JLK Document 40 Entered on FLSD Docket 08/03/2020 Page 3 of 4
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HomeR BonneR Jacobs Ortiz, P.A. 1200 Four Seasons Tower | 1441 Brickell Avenue | Miami Florida 33131

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

 

I hereby certify that on this 3rd day of August 2020, a true and correct copy of the 

foregoing KEY WEST COMMITTEE’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT was filed 

electronically via the CM/ECF system, which will send a notice of electronic filing on the 3rd 

day of August 2020, to the following counsel of record:

Bart Smith, Esq.

Bart@SmithHawks.com

Christopher Deem, Esq.

Chris@SmithHawks.com 

Ashley Sybesma, Esq.

Ashley@SmithHawks.com 

Nicola Pappas, Esq.

Nikki@SmithHawks.com 

Robert Shillinger, Esq.

Shillinger-Bob@monroecounty-fl.gov 

Peter Morris, Esq.

Morris-Peter@monroecounty-fl.gov 

Patricia Eables, Esq.

Eables-Patricia@monroecounty-fl.gov 

Charles Jonathan Benner, Esq.

jbenner@thompsoncoburn.com 

Bruce Rogow, Esq.

brogow@rogowlaw.com 

Tara Campion, Esq.

tcampion@rogowlaw.com 

Shawn Smith, Esq.

sdsmith@cityofkeywest-fl.gov

By: s/ Peter W. Homer 

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