Florida Constitutional Law 45

Question 1

Article 10, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution provides:

Answer 1

Local governments have the power to take private property provided the taking is for a public purpose, upon a reasonable necessity, and full compensation is paid.

Question 2

What is full compensation?

Answer 2

Full compensation is generally considered to be the fair market value of the property on the date of the taking.

Question 3

Florida’s “public nuisance” exception to the compensation requirement

Answer 3

No compensation need be paid and due process need not be followed when the state, pursuant to the police power, destroys private property to protect public health, safety, or other property, if a threat is sufficiently serious and immediate.

Question 4

What is the process of obtaining/executing a warrant?

Answer 4

As under the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, search warrants may be issued only upon a showing of probable cause and must describe the persons or places to be searched and the things to be seized.

• For a warrant to be required, a person must have a reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the place searched or the item seized

Question 5

What showing is required to justify the issuance of an administrative warrant?

Answer 5

No showing of individualized suspicion is required. Instead, a showing of a general and neutral enforcement plan will justify the issuance of an administrative warrant.

Question 6

What does Florida’s Equal Protection Clause prohibit?

Answer 6

It prohibits the government from discriminating between similarly situated persons absent sufficient justification. The same standards of review that apply under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause apply under the Florida Constitution.

Question 7

Florida Constitution’s provision on due process

Answer 7

The Florida Constitution provides that government cannot take a person’s life, liberty or property without due process of law. There are two parts:

• Substantive due process;
• Procedural due process

Question 8

Procedural Due Process

Answer 8

Procedural due process contemplates fair process/procedure, which requires adequate notice and an opportunity to present objections to the deprivation before a neutral decisionmaker

• These procedures come into play ONLY when individualized decisions are made

Question 9

When does a charter county have the authority to enact an ordinance?

Answer 9

So long as the ordinance is not inconsistent with general law or special law.

Question 10

When does a noncharter county have the authority to enact an ordinance?

Answer 10

If such authority is provided by general or special law and the ordinance is not inconsistent with state law.