Q. We are a gay Florida couple, and contacted an adoption agency to start a family by adopting a child. We meet all guidelines for good parenting candidates. But they said we were barred by Florida law solely because we were gay. We assumed these legal obstacles no longer exist. Please explain.
Prospective parents
Florida?s 1977 legislative prohibition against gay adoption was enacted at the height of the Anita Bryant anti-gay crusade. Over the years similar laws in all other states were struck down as being discriminatory. But Florida resisted all legislative and judicial attempts at repeal.
Florida Statute 63.042 allows any minor or adult to be adopted by married or unmarried adults. This includes anyone capable of ?serving as an effective parent.? But it also states: ?(3) No person eligible to adopt under this statute may adopt if that person is a homosexual.?
The law?s many critics pointed out its inconsistencies. Florida law doesn?t prevent gay persons from being foster parents, but bars them from adopting their own foster children. But courts refused to intervene, suggesting that the legislature had to resolve the situation.
This finally changed in the landmark case known as In re: Gill, 45 So. 3rd 79 (Fla. App. 2010), when the 3rd District Appellate Court affirmed a Miami trial court ruling declaring Statute 63.042(3) unconstitutional, and granting adoption of foster children to their gay foster parent. The court ruled there was no rational relationship between the statutory ban and the best interests of children.
?Under Florida law, homosexual persons are allowed to serve as foster parents or guardians, but are barred from being considered for adoptive parents. All other persons are eligible to be considered case-by-case to be adoptive parents, but not homosexual persons ? even where, as here, the adoptive parent is a fit parent and the adoption is in the best interest of the children.?
The effect of this decision was to overturn the long-standing statutory ban on gay adoption, and open the legal doors for all qualified gay persons, whether previous adoptive parents or not.
What is new toll payment program?
Q: We manufacture vitamin supplements. Our sales people sometimes visit health food stores statewide. They noticed that portions of the Florida Turnpike now offer a no-stop payment alternative without having to buy a Sun Pass. Please explain.
Taking a toll
You refer to the Toll ? By ? Plate electronic no-cash tolling program started by Florida Turnpike (FTE) in February, 2011. Its stated purpose was to provide drivers without a Sun Pass transponder the convenient option of not having to slow down or stop to pay their toll.
It uses photographic images of the vehicle?s license plate to identify the registered owner and electronic sensors to determine the number of axles. A bill for the proper toll rate is then sent for payment.
There is a toll surcharge above cash pay or Sun Pass pay for using this option. Electronic toll violation enforcement is by Florida Statute 316.1001.
Failure to comply may result in assessment of a $100 or more civil penalty, assessment of court costs, suspension of vehicle registration and suspension of driver?s license.
Toll ? By ? Plate electronic toll collection is only in effect for the southern 47 miles of the Florida Turnpike in Miami-Dade County, from milepost 47 at the Broward County line south to milepost 0 in Florida City. This is the heavily traveled route to the Florida Keys. Cash pay or Sun Pass is used on the rest of the Turnpike.
Because of its popularity and ease of use, FTE may expand the program northward in the future.
Ask Doctor Law appears every first Monday of the month in Business Monday. Send questions to askdoctorlaw@herald.com. Martin E. Segal, a licensed attorney, lectures in business law at the University of Miami School of Business Administration. Visit him at www.dr-law.com.
Disclaimer: This column is not intended to be a solicitation of legal business or the furnishing of self-help legal advice. Laws vary from state to state. Readers are strongly urged to consult independent and qualified legal professionals before making any business decisions. The views expressed are those of the writer and not of The Miami Herald.
Article source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/03/2831396/gay-couples-no-longer-banned-from.html
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