From the Wool-sack

• Jurisdiction: Florida,United States
• Citation: Vol. 31 No. 10 Pg. 85
• Pages: 85
• Publication year: 2002

31 Colo.Law. 85 Colorado Lawyer 2002.

2002, October, Pg. 85. From The Wool-Sack

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85

Vol. 31, No. 10, Pg. 85

The Colorado Lawyer
October 2002
Vol. 31, No. 10 [Page 85]

Departments
From The Wool-Sack
From The Wool-Sack
by Christopher R Brauchli

Chris Brauchli practices law in the firm of Hutchinson Black & Cook LLC in Boulder, Colorado. He can be reached at crbrauchli @attbi.com

On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth,
surrounded with an elaborate embroidery
and fantastic flourishes of gold thread,
appeared the letter A

Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter

How one law was conceived by its creator to do so much the rest of us can only wonder. Not only will the law stigmatize those who engage in extramarital sex and discover, to their amazement, that it has produced a child, but it will almost certainly discourage others from engaging in similar conduct And the law comes from Florida, the state that produced Secretary of State Katherine Harris, whose interpretation of Florida law contributed so much to the election of George W. Bush.

(Without detracting from Harris's dazzling performance in the 2000 election, it should be noted in passing that she was less skilled at interpreting Florida law when it came to her own candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives, a race she now has entered. She learned in early August - and to her apparent surprise - that Florida election law, about which she demonstrated her knowledge in 2000, required her to resign as Secretary of State on July 15, the day she qualified to run in the state's Thirteenth Congressional District. She failed to do so, because she didn't understand that the law she so eagerly construed to help George Bush become President of the United States also applied to her. To solve the problem, she simply resigned in August and backdated her letter of resignation to July 15. She'll let others decide on the legal effect of actions she took after July 15, because she's now busy running for Congress. But back to the new statute.)

The law in question is called "The Scarlet Letter Law." It is part of the Florida adoption proceedings statute. Its goal is to bring certainty to the lives of those adopting a child and a sense of shame to those relinquishing a child.

Democratic Senator Walter Campbell is the guiding genius behind this legislation. He was inspired by the case of Baby...