Opinion ID: 1756463
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of Official Discrimination

Text: Florida has a longstanding general history of official discrimination against minorities that has influenced the electoral process. For example, our state constitution of 1885 provides: § 8. Poll tax Section 8. The Legislature shall have power to make the payment of the capitation tax, a prerequisite for voting, and all such taxes received shall go into the school fund. Art. VI, § 8, Fla. Const. (1885), reprinted in 25 Fla. Stat. Ann. 568 (1970). § 12. White and colored; separate schools Section 12. White and colored children shall not be taught in the same school... . Art. XII, § 12, Fla. Const. (1885), reprinted in 25 Fla. Stat. Ann. 617 (1970). § 24. Intermarriage of white persons and negroes prohibited Section 24. All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation, inclusive, are hereby forever prohibited. Art. XVI, § 24, Fla. Const. (1885), reprinted in 25 Fla. Stat. Ann. 645 (1970). As recently as 1967, section 350.20, Florida Statutes, provided in part: The Florida public service commissioners may prescribe reasonable rules and regulations relating to the separation of white and colored passengers in passenger cars being operated in this state by any railroad company or other common carrier. Section 1.01(6), Florida Statutes (1967), further stated in part: The words negro, colored, colored persons, mulatto or persons of color, when applied to persons, include every person having one-eighth or more of African or negro blood. In addition to the state's record of general discrimination against minorities, federal precedent has addressed numerous recent discriminatory election practices in Florida, including at-large election schemes, white primaries, majority-vote requirements, and candidate filing fees. See, e.g., Solomon v. Liberty County, 899 F.2d 1012 (11th Cir.1990) (en banc), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 111 S.Ct. 670, 112 L.Ed.2d 663 (1991); Tallahassee Branch of NAACP v. Leon County, 827 F.2d 1436 (11th Cir.1987), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 960, 109 S.Ct. 402, 102 L.Ed.2d 391 (1988); McMillan v. Escambia County, 748 F.2d 1037 (5th Cir.1984); NAACP v. Gadsen County School Board, 691 F.2d 978 (11th Cir.1982); James v. City of Sarasota, 611 F. Supp. 25 (M.D.Fla. 1985). Because of this history of disfranchisement, it was not until 1964 that a majority of Florida's adult black citizens were registered to vote.