A Second Constitutionality Opinion in Broward County, Just Like the First

According to a letter (attached; see below) from a Fort Lauderdale attorney hired to provide a second opinion on the constitutionality of a lobbying provision in the proposed Broward County ethics code, the Broward county attorney (who wrote the first opinion) has decided not to continue seeking a declaratory judgment due to its cost to the county and the likelihood that a decision would be too late to serve its purpose (see my recent blog post on the problems with seeking such a declaratory judgment). The attorney, for some reason with no background in first amendment issues, pretty much agreed across the board with the county attorney's own opinion, providing absolutely no analysis or possible arguments against, even though others, including me, set forth such arguments.

I don't know. When I seek a second opinion, I go to a specialist. And if you want a truly independent opinion, you don't go to a local attorney who represents local governments (such lawyers don't like to rock boats, and the issue has nothing to do with municipal law) and you don't show the person the memo you've written.

I hope the county attorney is paying for the second opinion out of his own pocket. It certainly adds nothing to his opinion, other than the reasonable decision not to go ahead with the declaratory judgment.

Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics

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