Case Name: DEPARTMENT OF CITRUS, Appellant, v. GRAVES BROTHERS CO., Evans Properties, Inc., Southern Garden Groves Corp., the Latt Maxcy Corp., Fellsmere Joint Venture LLP, Oak Hammock Groves, Ltd., Silver Strand III, Partnership, and Barron Collier Partnership, Appellees
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 2004-10-20
Citations: 889 So. 2d 831
Docket Number: No. 2D03-2276
Parties: DEPARTMENT OF CITRUS, Appellant, v. GRAVES BROTHERS CO., Evans Properties, Inc., Southern Garden Groves Corp., the Latt Maxcy Corp., Fellsmere Joint Venture LLP, Oak Hammock Groves, Ltd., Silver Strand III, Partnership, and Barron Collier Partnership, Appellees.
Judges: SALCINES, J., Concurs.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 889
Pages: 831–837

Head Matter:
DEPARTMENT OF CITRUS, Appellant, v. GRAVES BROTHERS CO., Evans Properties, Inc., Southern Garden Groves Corp., the Latt Maxcy Corp., Fellsmere Joint Venture LLP, Oak Hammock Groves, Ltd., Silver Strand III, Partnership, and Barron Collier Partnership, Appellees.
No. 2D03-2276.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Second District.
Oct. 20, 2004.
Rehearing Denied Jan. 4, 2005.
Barry Richard of Greenberg Traurig, P.A., Tallahassee; Elliot B. Kula of Green-berg Traurig, P.A., Miami; and Hank B. Campbell and Monterey Campbell of Gray Harris, Lakeland, co-counsel for Appellant.
Michael P. McMahon and Virginia B. Townes of Akerman Senterfitt, Orlando and Steven B. Gold, Clewiston, co-counsel for Appellees.

Opinion:
DAKAN, STEPHEN L., Associate Senior Judge.
The Department of Citrus ("DOC") appeals the declaratory judgment of the trial court entered in favor of the Appellees ("Growers") declaring that the tax imposed upon the Growers by the provisions of section 601.15, Florida Statutes (2002), violates that portion of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution regarding free speech. We affirm.
Section 601.04(l)(a) creates within the DOC the Florida Citrus Commission, which is made up of persons who are actively engaged in growing, shipping, or processing citrus fruit in the state of Florida. Members are appointed by the Governor and have the responsibility of carrying out the provisions of the Florida Citrus Code, chapter 601, that apply to the DOC. § 601.04(2)(a), .05.
Section 601.15 imposes a tax on each box of citrus fruit grown and placed into the primary channel of trade in Florida. Only the Growers and other members of the state citrus industry pay this tax. Section 601.15(7) provides that all such taxes collected shall be accounted for in a special fund designated as the Florida Citrus Advertising Trust Fund and further specifies certain limited uses of these funds together with a mandate that the remainder of the funds, approximately seventy-three percent, be used by the DOC exclusively for advertising and other associated activities promoting the sale of citrus products. Thus, as found by the trial court, the primary purpose of this tax is generic advertising.
Two decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court deal with the application of the First Amendment to taxes like the one imposed by section 601.15. In Glickman v. Wileman Bros. & Elliott, Inc., 521 U.S. 457, 117 S.Ct. 2130, 138 L.Ed.2d 585 (1997), the Court held that the provisions of the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1937, which provided, among other things, for the summer fruit industry in California to fund a generic advertising program, did not violate any free speech provisions of the U.S. Constitution. The majority based its opinion on its finding that the regulatory scheme was part of a broader collective enterprise that displaced competition in a number of markets and under which the growers' freedom to act independently was constrained by the scheme. 521 U.S. at 469, 117 S.Ct. 2130. It also noted that the growers and producers were expressly exempted from antitrust laws. Id. at 461, 117 S.Ct. 2130.
In United States v. United Foods, Inc., 533 U.S. 405, 121 S.Ct. 2334, 150 L.Ed.2d 438 (2001), the Court dealt with the Mushroom Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act. The law provided for the establishment of a Mushroom Council (similar to the Florida Citrus Commission) and for an assessment on mushroom producers and importers that, according to the Court's finding, was spent mostly for generic advertising to promote mushroom sales. 533 U.S. at 408, 121 S.Ct. 2334. The Court found that the assessment was unconstitutional compelled speech. Id. at 416, 121 S.Ct. 2334.
The Court distinguished its holding in Glickman by stating that in that case the Court had proceeded on the premise that the producers were bound together and required by the law to market their products according to cooperative rules. Id. at 412, 121 S.Ct. 2334. The United Foods Court pointed out that the mushroom market had not been collectivized, exempted from antitrust laws, subjected to uniform price or otherwise subsidized through price supports or restrictions on supply. Id. at 413, 121 S.Ct. 2334. A logical interpretation of United Foods is that the Supreme Court believed that if a tax is assessed only on a specific industry and if the moneys generated by that tax are spent mostly for generic advertising to promote the sale of the product of that specific industry, then the tax violates the free speech provisions of the First Amendment.
Three federal intermediate courts of appeal have considered similar issues since the decision in United Foods. Michigan Pork Producers Ass'n v. Veneman, 348 F.3d 157 (6th Cir.2003), petition for cert. filed, 72 U.S.L.W. 3539 (Feb. 19, 2004), dealt with the provisions of the Pork Promotion, Research and Consumer Information Act. The industry was assessed money used primarily for generic advertising that promoted the sale of pork. The court concluded that the provisions of the Pork Act were nearly identical to the Mushroom Act and were, therefore, unconstitutional under the analysis of United Foods. 348 F.3d at 162-63.
Unlike United Foods, the court in Michigan Pork Producers Ass'n also considered (and rejected) the government's contention that the provisions of the Pork Act were "government speech" and were, therefore, protected rather than prohibited by the First Amendment. 348 F.3d at 161-62. The court noted that the pork industry had extensive control of the promotional activities and these activities could not be attributed to the government. Id. at 161. The court also noted that the primary purpose of the Act was to strengthen the market position of the pork industry; that the funding did not come from general tax revenues, but only from the mandatory assessments; and that the government exercised only limited oversight over the advertising programs. Id. at 161-62.
In Livestock Marketing Ass'n v. United States Department of Agriculture, 335 F.3d 711 (8th Cir.2003), cert. granted in part sub nom. Veneman v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n, — U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2389, 158 L.Ed.2d 962, and cert. granted in part sub nom. Nebraska Cattlemen, Inc. v. Livestock Marketing Ass'n, — U.S. -, 124 S.Ct. 2390, 158 L.Ed.2d 962 (2004), the Court held that the provisions of the Beef Promotion and Research Act of 1985 that imposed an assessment only on beef producers and importers, which was used "at least 50%" for generic advertising promoting the sale of beef products, were unconstitutional under the United Foods analysis.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals dealt with the provisions of the state of California's Grape Code in Delano Farms Co. v. California Table Grape Commission, 318 F.3d 895 (9th Cir.2003). Like the federal Mushroom Act, Pork Act, and Beef Act, the grape industry was assessed a tax that was spent primarily on generic promotional activities. 318 F.3d at 897. The court held that the California statute was similar to the one at issue in United Foods and was, therefore, unconstitutional compelled speech. Id. at 897-900.
We are persuaded by the reasoning of the courts in Michigan Pork Producers Ass'n and Livestock Marketing Ass'n that a tax, like that imposed by section 601.15, the proceeds of which are used primarily for generic advertising, is not governmental speech that is protected from the provisions of the First Amendment. In fact, the statutory scheme in Florida under which the excise tax is collected and expended for advertising is strikingly similar to that which the Supreme Court struck down in United Foods, in which the focus of the Court's analysis was the industry that was taxed and the primary use of the tax.
Under the provisions of the Florida Citrus Code, the Florida Citrus Commission is designated the head of the Department of Citrus. Its membership is composed completely of those who earn their living in the Florida citrus industry. The DOC has extensive, if not exclusive, control over its generic advertising and promotional activities. The money for this advertising and promotion comes only from the tax assessed by section 601.15. This tax is assessed only on the Growers and others who produce and market citrus fruit. By law, approximately seventy-three percent of the money generated by this tax must be and is spent on advertising.
We reject the DOC's argument that the tax is part of a more comprehensive program governing citrus production and marketing, such as was upheld by the Supreme Court in Glickman. The Florida Citrus Code does not collectivize the citrus industry as described by the Court in Glickman. The DOC may set certain standards for the quality of citrus produced and marketed, but it does not set prices or restrict the quantity of citrus that can be produced or marketed.
We conclude that the statutory assessment and use of the tax imposed by section 601.15 compel speech that is prohibited by the First Amendment and therefore affirm the declaratory judgment.
Affirmed.
SALCINES, J., Concurs.
CASANUEVA, J., Concurs with opinion in which SALCINES, J., concurs.