State: Justices hear why pigs belong in Constitution

TALLAHASSEE -- For the august justices of the Florida Supreme Court, the question brought a bemused smirk or two: Do pregnant pigs deserve constitutional rights?

Death sentences and disbarment cases waited their turn Monday as justices listened to talk of locking pigs in gestation crates during 4-month pregnancies. How the justices rule will determine whether voters have the last word one year from now on the living conditions of swine.

"I didn't want you to think that this was something that was off the wall," said former Supreme Court Justice Stephen Grimes as he launched into the merits of his client's case.

Grimes represents Floridians for Humane Farms, a political action committee supported by various animal rights groups, such as the New York-based Fund for Animals, Farm Sanctuary of Watkins Glen, N.Y., and the Humane Society of the United States.

The PAC raised $396,000 and spent $171,000 through Sept. 30 as it seeks to collect enough voter signatures to get a petition on the November 2002 ballot proposing an amendment to the Florida Constitution. Organizers say they have collected 200,000 signatures so far.

Animal rights groups say the crates are so cramped that pigs can't turn around, and develop physical and mental problems as a result. They want to ban the crates as inhumane and have chosen Florida to make their statement, even though they can cite only two Florida farms that apparently use the crates, including one in Pasco County.

The proposal, entitled "Limiting cruel and inhumane confinement of pigs during pregnancy," is one of more than two dozen active initiative campaigns in Florida. Others would legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes, ban smoking in all public and private workplaces and allow slot machines at existing racetracks and other parimutuel facilities.

It takes nearly half a million signatures to get on the ballot, but the first stage of the citizen initiative campaign is for the attorney general to ask the court to determine whether the proposal meets two basic legal tests: It must deal with one subject, and the language of the ballot question must be in "clear and unambiguous language" and no more than 75 words.

Animal rights advocates said gestation crates are used mainly by large-scale corporate hog farmers, which are rare in Florida. But they said they want to establish a political foothold in the state so the industry doesn't thrive here.

"We are seeking to prevent large-scale corporate hog farms which use this confinement method from colonizing Florida," said Wayne Pacelle, senior vice president of the Humane Society. "This is arguably the most extreme confinement method that's used in modern agriculture in the United States today."

No one showed up to urge the justices to deny pregnant pigs a place on the ballot next year, but that does not mean there is no opposition to the idea.

Pat Cockrell of the Florida Farm Bureau Federation says it is silly to give pigs legal protection in the state Constitution.

"We're opposed to it, but there's no strong pork producer group in the state because there's not a very strong industry in the state," Cockrell said. "That's one of the reasons you saw no one there."

Animal rights groups said Richland Farms of Pasco County was one of the Florida targets of the campaign. Owner Henry Mathis, who bought the 69-acre farm from the estate of Ernie Nunez five years ago, did not return a call seeking comment.

Allen Altman of the Pasco County Farm Bureau said he was unfamiliar with Richland Farms' operations, but he said it makes no sense for hog farmers to abuse the very source of their livelihood.

"Happy, comfortable animals produce more, and for them (farmers) to do something that's contrary to production is not going to happen. It's just ludicrous," Altman said.

In his oral arguments. Grimes said a citizens' initiative is proper because the state Legislature will not deal with the issue. A group of House Democrats filed a bill in the 2000 session banning the tethering or confinement of breeding sows, but the proposal never got out of the House Agriculture Committee.

@987$temp$ $STPT$

ID:+ Paper:+

Date: 11/06/01 Page: 0+

Section: COLUMNS Byline: MARY JO MELONE+

Headline: Tino, Luis put Tampa on top of the world

Notes:+

Charlie Miranda, Tampa City Council member and son of West Tampa, had quite the dilemma Sunday night. He settled it by giving in

When Luis Gonzalez stepped up for the Arizona Diamondbacks in the last game of the World Series, Miranda cheered.

When Tino Martinez picked up the bat for the Yankees, Miranda cheered.

What else could he do? He knew these guys. He knew their parents. Miranda used to coach Little League on the same fields where the kids played.

This does not make Charlie Miranda special. In West Tampa, where families stay for generations, lots of people know Gonzalez and Martinez. Pride spread Monday in happy contagion. So did amazement that two players who had grown up together and played ball together since the age of 6 could meet in the World Series.

"The odds of this happening, if you were a gambler, are just astronomical," Miranda said.

That's what Miranda said, but I'm not sure he's right.

For Tampa does nothing but play baseball.

It matters far more than football but it draws no attention to itself. It's just a game, played on weekends and at nights, on school lots or city parks, by kids and by adults, all year long, except when the skies open.

Under these circumstances, Tampa can't help but produce extraordinary player after extraordinary player.

Tampa has a long tradition of it.

My list is incomplete, but Tampa's baseball roster includes Lou Piniella, Tony LaRussa, Steve Garvey, Wade Boggs, Dwight Gooden, Gary Sheffield, Sterling Hitchcock, and now, at least Calvin Pickering and Carl Everett of the Boston Red Sox, Fred McGriff of the Chicago Cubs, as well as Gonzalez and Martinez.

"We are the capital of baseball," said Luis Aguela, a firefighter and with his family the owner of a West Tampa landmark lunch place, La Ideal. Like Charlie Miranda, Aguela has a personal tie to the city's heroes of the moment. He is friends with Luis Gonzalez. His mother, grandmother and aunt are also friends with Gonzalez. When Gonzalez visits Tampa, he always stops by La Ideal.

They know a lot about baseball in West Tampa. It is the neighborhood's No. 1 sport, and also this city's No. 1 sport.

Tino Martinez and Luis Gonzalez present Tampa with a wonderful chance to promote itself.

They get this in West Tampa. "This puts us on the map," said Pedro Gonzalez (no relation to Luis), a firefighter eating at La Teresita on Monday.

It puts Tampa on the map in a wonderfully old-fashioned way.

Martinez and Gonzalez chased their dream around ballfield after ballfield.

They first played together in the West Tampa Little League. They were leaders of the 1985 Jefferson High School baseball team.

They parted ways when they went to college but both ended up in the Major Leagues. Their dream never flickered, and their friendship never languished. Before Sunday night's game, Gonzalez approached Martinez and embraced him.

These are men you'd love teaching your kids, or least having your kids try to emulate. These are men you wish you could know.

If you want to talk positive, and if you want to show what Tampa has that other cities do not possess, you would talk more about baseball. You would talk a lot.

You would interview Little League coaches and high school coaches and players, and some of the big names that once walked in humbler shoes, and their passion would be enough to paint the picture.

This is the real gift of Tino Martinez and Luis Gonzalez. The character of these men reflects the character of the city they call home.

-- Mary Jo Melone can be reached at mjmelone@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3402.

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