Making Modern Florida: How the Spirit of Reform Shaped a New State Constitution.

AuthorEmmanuel, Christopher S.
PositionBook review

Making Modern Florida: How the Spirit of Reform Shaped a New State Constitution

by Mary E. Adkins

As our state embarks on its third vicennial Constitution Revision Commission (CRC), University of Florida Law Professor Mary Adkins' new book Making Modern Florida could not be timelier. This book, her first, is an accessible history of the fall of Florida's outdated Reconstruction Era Constitution and the rise of the modern document beloved by many in our profession. For followers of Florida politics and jurisprudence, this largely untold story shows how much, and how little, has changed over the past 50 years.

The book begins in a time of political turmoil. Court decisions on redistricting have placed significant uncertainty into established power centers. Single-party control has led to new political factions within the caucus. Adding to the pressure, Florida's rapid expansion has strained both resources and government. With this backdrop, 37 individuals from across the state were chosen to move Florida from a "horse and buggy" constitution into the Space Age.

The commissioners debated every article of the current Florida Constitution, including the makeup of the legislative and executive branches, the rights to be granted by the document, and a complete overhaul of the judicial system. The creation of the 1968 Constitution was no easy feat. Through many interviews of the living commissioners, Adkins shows that the product was far from inevitable. In the end, many individuals...

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