Case Name: In re ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL-RESTRICTS LAWS RELATED TO DISCRIMINATION
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1994-03-03
Citations: 632 So. 2d 1018
Docket Number: No. 82674
Parties: In re ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL—RESTRICTS LAWS RELATED TO DISCRIMINATION.
Judges: OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES and HARDING, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 632
Pages: 1018–1024

Head Matter:
In re ADVISORY OPINION TO the ATTORNEY GENERAL—RESTRICTS LAWS RELATED TO DISCRIMINATION.
No. 82674.
Supreme Court of Florida.
March 3, 1994.
Robert A. Butterworth, Atty. Gen. and Louis F. Hubener, III, Asst. Atty. Gen., Tallahassee and Scott L. Thomas, Gen. Counsel, American Family Ass’n Law Center, Tupelo, MS, and G. Donovan Conwell, Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal & Banker, Tampa, on behalf of American Family Political Committee, Sponsor, for petitioner.
Chesterfield H. Smith, Holland & Knight, Miami, William E. Adams, Jr., Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Fort Laud-erdale, Rosemary Wilder, Gay & Lesbian Lawyers Ass’n, Fort Lauderdale, Suzanne Goldberg, Lambda Legal Defense & Educ. Fund, New York City, and James Fox Miller, Miller, Schwartz & Miller, Hollywood, for Florida Public Interest Law Section, et al., Interested Parties.
Robert W. Lee, Smith & Hiatt, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for Broward County Hispanic Bar Ass’n, Inc., et al, Interested Parties.
Nina E. Vinik, Miami, for American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Inc., Interested Party.
Robert F. Reece, President, Clearwater, for Florida Ass’n of Community Relations Professionals, Interested Party. •
Carol A. Licko, Thomson, Muraro, Razook & Hart, P.A., Miami, for Parker D. Thomson and Arthur J. England, Jr., Interested Parties.
Vernon T. Grizzard, Staff Counsel, FEA/United, Tallahassee, Stephan A. Meek, Gen. Counsel, Public Employees Relations Com’n, Tallahassee and Pamela L. Cooper, Gen. Counsel, FTP-NEA, Tallahassee, joins in the brief of amicus curiae for Florida Educ. Association/United.
Anthony R. Martin, Palm Beach, Interested Party.

Opinion:
McDonald, justice.
In accordance with article IV, section 10 of the Florida Constitution and section 16.061, Florida Statutes (1993), the Attorney General has petitioned this Court for an advisory opinion on the validity of an initiative petition. In response, we issued an order permitting interested parties to file briefs and we heard oral arguments on the validity of the proposed amendment. We have jurisdiction pursuant to article V, section 3(b)(10) of the Florida Constitution.
The petition seeks to amend article I, section 10 of the Florida Constitution, which provides:
No bill of attainder, ex post facto law or law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
The petition would amend the above provision in the following manner:
1) Article I, section 10 of the Constitution of the State of Florida is hereby amended by:
(a) inserting "(a)" before the first word thereof and,
(b) adding a new subsection "(b)" at the end thereof to read:
(b) The state, political subdivisions of the state, municipalities or any other governmental entity shall not enact or adopt any law regarding discrimination against persons which creates, establishes or recognizes any right, privilege or protection for any person based upon any characteristic, trait, status, or condition other than race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, ethnic background, marital status, or familial status. As used herein the term 'sex' shall mean the biological state of either being a male person or a female person; 'marital status' shall mean the state of being lawfully married to a person of the opposite sex, separated, divorced, widowed or single; and 'familial status' shall mean the state of being a person domiciled with a minor, as defined by law, who is the parent or person with legal custody of such minor or who is a person with written permission from such parent or person with legal custody of such minor.
(2) All laws previously enacted which are inconsistent with this provision are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.
(3) This amendment shall take effect on the date it is approved by the electorate.
Our advisory opinion is limited to determining whether the proposed amendment complies with article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution and section 101.161, Florida Statutes (1993). Article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution requires that a proposed amendment "shall embrace but one subject and matter directly connected therewith." The Attorney General concluded that "on its face," the amendment appeared to satisfy the single-subject requirement. Looking beyond the surface, however, we find that the proposed amendment touches upon more than one subject and therefore violates the single-subject provision of the constitution.
Florida's state constitution reflects a consensus on the issues and values that the electorate has declared to be of fundamental importance. When voters are asked to consider a modification to the constitution, they should not be forced to "accept part of an initiative proposal which they oppose in order to obtain a change in the constitution which they support." Fine v. Firestone, 448 So.2d 984, 988 (Fla.1984). The single-subject rule is a constitutional restraint placed on proposed amendments to prevent voters from being trapped in such a predicament. Thus, to comply with the single-subject requirement, the proposed amendment must manifest a "logical and natural oneness of purpose." Id. at 990.
To ascertain whether the necessary "oneness of purpose" exists, we must consider whether the proposal affects separate functions of government and how the proposal affects other provisions of the constitution. Id. In support of the validity of the proposed amendment, the American Family Political Committee argues that discrimination is the sole subject of the proposed amendment. This Court has emphasized, however, that "enfolding disparate subjects within the cloak of a broad generality does not satisfy the single-subject requirement." Evans v. Firestone, 457 So.2d 1351, 1353 (Fla.1984). In Fine, we disapproved a proposed amendment that characterized the provisions as affecting the single subject of revenues because it actually affected the government's ability to tax, government user-fee operations, and funding of capital improvements through revenue bonds. Similarly, we find that the subject of discrimination in the proposed amendment is an expansive generality that encompasses both civil rights and the power of all state and local governmental bodies. By including the language "any other governmental entity," the proposed amendment encroaches on municipal home rule powers and on the rulemaking authority of executive agencies and the judiciary. In addition, the amendment modifies article I, section 2 of the Florida Constitution, dealing with the basic rights of all natural persons, and also affects article I, section 6 of the Florida Constitution, dealing with the right of employees to bargain collectively.
The proposed amendment also violates the single-subject requirement because it enumerates ten classifications of people that would be entitled to protection from discrimination if the amendment were passed. The voter is essentially being asked to give one "yes" or "no" answer to a proposal that actually asks ten questions. For example, a voter may want to support protection from discrimination for people based on race and religion, but oppose protection based on marital status and familial status. Requiring voters to choose which classifications they feel most strongly about, and then requiring them to cast an all or nothing vote on the classifications listed in the amendment, defies the purpose of the single-subject limitation. Therefore, the proposed amendment fails the single-subject requirement of article IV, section 3 of the Florida Constitution.
To be placed on the ballot, the ballot summary also must be legally sufficient under section 101.161, Florida Statutes (1993). The proposed ballot title and summary provide:
LAWS RELATED TO DISCRIMINATION ARE RESTRICTED TO CERTAIN CLASSIFICATIONS
Restricts laws related to discrimination to classifications based upon race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, handicap, ethnic background, marital status or familial status. Repeals all laws inconsistent with this amendment.
Subsection 101.161(1) provides, in pertinent part:
Whenever a constitutional amendment or other public measure is submitted to the vote of the people, the substance of such amendment or other public measure shall be printed in clear and unambiguous language on the ballot.... The substance of the amendment or other public measure shall be an explanatory statement, not exceeding 75 words in length, of the chief purpose of the measure. The ballot title shall consist of a caption, not exceeding 15 words in length, by which the measure is commonly referred to-or spoken of.
The purpose of section 101.161 is "to assure that the electorate is advised of the true meaning, and ramifications, of an amendment." Askew v. Firestone, 421 So.2d 151, 156 (Fla.1982). This Court essentially previews the ballot summary to determine if the chief purpose of the amendment is explained with sufficient clarity. Although we are wary of interfering with the public's right to vote on an initiative proposal, Smith v. American Airlines, 606 So.2d 618 (Fla.1992), we are equally cautious of approving the validity of a ballot summary that is not clearly understandable.
The critical issue concerning the language of the ballot summary is whether the public has "fair notice" of the meaning and effect of the proposed amendment. In Smith v. American Airlines, we held that the proposed ballot summary concerning taxation of leaseholds of government-owned property was defective because it failed to explain that post-1968 leases would be taxed at a different rate than pre-1968 leases. We also noted in Smith that, although voters are expected to inform themselves about the details of a proposed amendment, the ballot title and summary are expected to be "accurate and informative." Id. at 621.
Both the summary and the text of the amendment omit any mention of the myriad of laws, rules, and regulations that may be affected by the repeal of "all laws inconsistent with this amendment." The summary also fails to state that the proposed amendment would curtail the authority of government entities. Instead, the summary merely states that the proposed amendment "restricts laws related to discrimination." Thus, a voter might conclude from the summary that the amendment would restrict existing laws when in fact the amendment would restrict the power of governmental entities to enact or adopt any law in the future that protects a group from discrimination, if that group is not mentioned in the summary. The omission of such material information is misleading and precludes voters from being able to east their ballots intelligently. Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General — Limited Political Terms in Certain Elective Offices, 592 So.2d 225 (Fla.1991). We cannot approve an ambiguity that will in all probability confuse the voters who are responsible for deciding whether the amendment should be included in the state constitution.
Accordingly, we hold that the initiative petition and ballot summary should be stricken from the ballot for failure to comply with the legal requirements of article XI, section 3 of the Florida Constitution and section 101.161, Florida Statutes (1993).
It ⅛ so ordered.
OVERTON, SHAW, GRIMES and HARDING, JJ., concur.
KOGAN, J., concurs with an opinion.
BARKETT, C.J., recused.
. The opponents of the proposed amendment have urged this Court to consider all of the facial constitutional issues that may be implicated by the petition. We decline to do so. We do not have jurisdiction to rule on the constitutionality of the proposed amendment when the case challenging the proposed amendment originates in this Court upon a petition of the Attorney General filed pursuant to section 16.061, Florida Statutes (1993). We have original jurisdiction to determine only whether the proposed amendment complies with the technical legal requirements concerning the single-subject rule and the clarity of the ballot title and summary. Art. IV, § 10, Fla. Const.; § 101.161, Fla.Stat. (1993); see Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General— Limited Marine Net Fishing, 620 So.2d 997 (Fla. 1993).