TALLAHASSEE - In a courtroom that echoed with reminders of the 2000 presidential recount, lawyers for CNN on Wednesday urged a judge to strike down a state law blocking public access to a list of 47,000 voters identified by the state as "potential felons."
CNN sued Secretary of State Glenda Hood for the list, which the state compiled as a guide for Florida's 67 elections supervisors as they cull voting rolls of felons.
Florida is one of seven states that bar felons from voting unless they get their rights restored. Hundreds of voters were wrongly identified as felons in 2000, sparking a lawsuit that led to changes in state procedures.
CNN wants a copy of the list to verify its accuracy, but Hood contends state law forbids access to voter lists by anyone but candidates, political parties, political committees, incumbents and government agencies.
CNN's lawyer, Gregg Thomas of the Holland & Knight law firm in Tampa, argued that the law unconstitutionally limits access to public records.
Miami lawyer Joe Klock, arguing for Hood's office, said the list is preliminary and should remain private until the names are verified by local elections supervisors.
"How is it private when hundreds of people could have copies of the list?" said Circuit Judge Nikki Clark.
"There is a big difference between hundreds and millions," Klock said.
The list should be public so Floridians can determine whether the state did its job, Thomas argued.
"If I was on the list, I'd want to know," Clark said.
State law requires elections supervisors to notify people on the list before barring them from voting. Voters can demand hearings with the supervisors and appeal to a judge.
Thomas argued that felons have no right to privacy and suggested that the 2001 exemption violated a portion of the state Constitution requiring each exemption to the public records law to be the sole subject of a bill and not part of a broader proposal.
Each bill granting an exemption to the records law requires that lawmakers explain the public necessity for the exemption.
Clark gave Klock 10 days to file a written response to the suit and said others would have five more days to respond. Clark said she will issue a ruling shortly after receiving the briefs.
The First Amendment Foundation, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and the Tallahassee Democrat have filed briefs supporting CNN.
The hearing rekindled memories of the legal wrangling that consumed Florida in 2000.
Klock represented then-Secretary of State Katherine Harris.
Clark, who handled some of the lawsuits in 2000, was aware of the memories.
Before the lawyers stood to argue, she called them all to her office for a few words of caution.
"I told them this is a court of law, and there would be a lot of media out there," Clark said after the hearing. "I said they should make their arguments to the court and not the news media."
