Taxes pay for pro-GOP lawyers

The Legislature hires three out-of-state lawyers to dispute the Florida Supreme Court's okay of delayed vote recounts.

By JULIE HAUSERMAN

© St. Petersburg Times, published November 28, 2000

TALLAHASSEE -- When the legal showdown over the presidency hits the U.S. Supreme Court Friday, Florida taxpayers will pick up the tab for three of the lawyers there.

Two Harvard professors and a dean from a Bible-based correspondence law school that encourages students to "glorify God through their legal education" will be representing the Republican-led Florida Legislature.

The Legislature is arguing that the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its bounds last week when it delayed the certification of the election results to include the manual recount.

So far, the Legislature has agreed to pay two of the lawyers a combined fee of up to $350 an hour, with the bill for the pair capped at $60,000 -- not including travel reimbursements or "other costs incurred in providing the services." The contract for the third lawyer hasn't yet been made public.

Democratic lawmakers are outraged that the Republican-dominated Legislature is joining the Bush campaign's challenge, and paying outside lawyers to do it.

"If we're going to spend any money at all, we should be updating the election machinery," said state Rep. Lois Frankel of West Palm Beach, the House Democratic leader. "The state Legislature should not become an arm of any one presidential campaign."

The two men who decided to hire the lawyers and join the U.S. Supreme Court challenge -- Republican House Speaker Tom Feeney of Oviedo and Senate President John McKay, a Bradenton Republican -- are both electors who have pledged their votes to George W. Bush.

On Monday, McKay defended spending state money on outside lawyers.

"We've got some very competent attorneys on the payroll," McKay said. "This issue is of such gravity, I think we need the finest minds in the country."

The House is paying the two Harvard professors, Charles Fried and Einer Elhauge, for work on the U.S. Supreme Court case and to advise lawmakers how, exactly, the Legislature might step in and pick electors for the Electoral College.

Fried, who was U.S. solicitor general under president Ronald Reagan, is a former member of the Massachusetts Supreme Court. He advised the Bush presidential campaign this year.

The Senate has hired Roger Magnuson, who is from Minnesota but is also dean of the Oak Brook College of Law in Fresno, Calif. The correspondence law school believes that "our nation has strayed from its Biblical moorings, and that its legal system is in need of reform," according to its Web site.

Magnuson also represented the Minnesota Twins baseball team and wrote a book, Are Gay Rights Right?

Magnuson was referred to the Legislature by state Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Orlando, a conservative Christian and former Florida House speaker.

The three lawyers filed a "friend of the court" brief Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court. In it, lawmakers warned that they ultimately may have to pick Florida's 25 electors.

If "deviations" in the state's electoral process are not corrected by Dec. 12, "it will be necessary for the Florida Legislature to exercise its authority to appoint Electors to assure Florida is represented in the Electoral College," the lawmakers wrote. That would be the Legislature's "constitutional duty," they added.

The 16-page filing agreed with the Bush campaign that the Florida Supreme Court overstepped its authority last week.

The court "rewrote" state law on the timing and deadlines for the counts, the lawmakers argued. By delaying the certification, the state's highest court "significantly shortened the time" for people to contest the results.

Today, the Legislature will convene a special committee of 14 lawmakers to examine "voting irregularities in the presidential 2000 election."

There was no agenda available for the meeting, and Democratic lawmakers complained that the only items mentioned as topics were complaints from the Republican camp, dealing with military ballots, inconsistent counting standards in each county and "changes in standards ... adopted after the election" -- a nod to the Florida Supreme Court ruling that has riled Republicans.

"I think the only reason they are holding this committee is so they can call a special session" to choose electors for Bush, complained Ken Gottlieb, a Miramar Democrat who will sit on the committee today. The Democrats oppose a special session.

Just last week, Democratic and Republican state lawmakers were pledging to get along in the 2001 legislative session. Democratic Minority Leader Frankel even did an impromptu ballroom dance with Republican Gov. Jeb Bush last week at a legislative reception in the Governor's Mansion.

But the bipartisan honeymoon is clearly over before it began.

Both Feeney and McKay said they have had "discussions" with Gov. Jeb Bush, who will be left to lead the state and decide whether to run for re-election after the elections dispute is over.

Frankel said those discussions are inappropriate. And in a Monday meeting, she asked Feeney if Democrats would have the same access to the newly hired lawyers as the Republicans would.

Feeney said he'd try to arrange that, but added, "There will be certain tactical and strategic discussions that won't be available to the public at all."

- Times staff writer Bill Adair contributed to this report.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright