Opinion ID: 1773894
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: revisiting our decision in limited political terms

Text: The amici arguing in support of appellants in this case have asked us to revisit our decision in Limited Political Terms, where we held that this amendment complied with single-subject and ballot title and summary requirements. See 592 So.2d at 227-29. The amici argue that our earlier decision was in error, that Justices Kogan and Overton were correct in their dissenting opinions, and that we should now conclude that the petition did not in fact embrace one single subject and was therefore improper. In arguing that we should revisit our decision in Limited Political Terms, the amici have suggested that advisory opinions from this Court have little precedential value and are only persuasive, citing to Ervin v. City of North Miami Beach, 66 So.2d 235, 236-37 (Fla.1953), Lee v. Dowda, 155 Fla. 68, 19 So.2d 570 (1944), and Collins v. Horten, 111 So.2d 746, 751 (Fla. 1st DCA 1959). However, none of these cases concern advisory opinions required by section 16.061, Florida Statutes (1997). At the outset, we point out that when our advisory opinions conclude that there is a defect in the ballot title and summary or a violation of the single-subject requirement, the effect of our advice is the removal of the amendment from the ballot. See, e.g., Term Limits Pledge, 718 So.2d at 804; Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General re People's Property Rights Amendments, 699 So.2d 1304, 1312 (Fla.1997). We addressed the precedential effect of our advisory opinions on single-subject and ballot title and summary issues in Florida League of Cities v. Smith, 607 So.2d 397 (Fla.1992). In Smith, the Attorney General had previously requested this Court's opinion regarding the proposed initiative petition's compliance with article XI, section 3 and section 101.161. 607 So.2d at 398. We held that the petition satisfied both these requirements. See In re Advisory Opinion to the Attorney General Homestead Valuation Limitation, 581 So.2d 586, 588 (Fla.1991). Subsequent to our advisory opinion on the proposed amendment, interested parties brought a petition for writ of mandamus requesting that the proposed amendment be removed from the ballot, bringing to the Court's attention an issue not addressed in our prior opinion regarding the ballot title and summary. Smith, 607 So.2d at 398. [9] Before considering the merits of the petition, we first addressed whether the previous advisory opinion precluded us from considering the petition for mandamus. We acknowledged the principle that advisory opinions are not binding judicial precedent. Id. at 399 n. 3. However, we stressed that relitigation of issues expressly addressed in an advisory opinion on a proposed amendment is strongly disfavored and almost always will result in this Court refusing to exercise its discretionary jurisdiction. Renewed litigation will be entertained only in truly extraordinary cases, such as in the present case where a vital issue was not addressed in the earlier opinion. Id. at 399 (emphasis supplied). Thus, we have previously made clear that although our advisory opinions are not strictly binding precedent in the most technical sense, only under extraordinary circumstances will we revisit an issue decided in our earlier advisory opinions. This case does not present such a circumstance. The argument on whether the amendment complies with the single-subject requirement is not new argument on an important issue not addressed in our earlier opinion. Along with the ballot title and summary discussion, the single-subject question was the precise issue covered in our prior opinion. The subsequent invalidity of the provisions relating to federal legislators due to the Supreme Court's decision in Thornton does not present a basis for us to recede from our earlier decision. Therefore, we conclude that our earlier decision in Limited Political Terms is binding on the single-subject issue and we find no reason to reconsider the issue and recede from that decision.