The Fine Print

100 foot buffer for Florida voters upheld by federal court

Here's a story that I did for the News Service of Florida:

A federal appeals court has upheld a Florida election law that creates a 100-foot no solicitation zone around polling places.

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta struck down a lower court ruling that had found the zone may be unconstitutional. That ruling in August allowed a Fort Myers group to gather signatures for a city charter amendment during the 2008 primary.

A three-judge panel, however, said the 100 foot zone was needed to prevent voters from being harassed by people soliciting signatures and said it was similar to a Tennessee law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1992.

The June 25th ruling by the appeals court says asking for a signature from a voter - even after they have voted - is no different than someone approaching a voter and asking them to vote for a particular candidate.

"As we see it, commotion tied to exit solicitation is as capable of intimidating and confusing the electorate and impeding the voting process - even deterring potential voters from coming to the polls - as other kinds of political canvassing or political action around the polls,'' the judges wrote.

No solicitation zones have had had a tumultuous history in Florida where previous rules have been subject to numerous legal challenges. State lawmakers in 2005 increased the no-solicitation zone from 50 feet to 100 feet, although the law was changed in 2008 to allow exit polling after media organizations successfully challenged that portion of the law.

Lawmakers considered changing the no solicitation law again this past spring as part of a mammoth elections bill but that legislation stalled after a massive outcry from Democrats and voting rights groups.

Jennifer Krell Davis, a spokeswoman for Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning, praised the ruling from the appeals court.

"The voter experience is very important and we want to make sure that's protected and the process of the voting is as unobstructed as possible,'' Davis said.

But Randall Marshall, legal director of the ACLU of Florida, found the ruling confusing. He said it makes no sense to allow media organizations to ask questions of voters but then ban other groups from seeking signatures from voters after they have already voted.

"It's an odd result in that it sets up two classes of individuals,'' said Marshall.

Marshall - whose group represented the Florida State Conference of the NAACP and the Citizens for Police Accountability Political Committee - said he wasn't sure if the case would be appealed because the organization was able to use a lower court injunction in order to get enough signatures to place a charter amendment on the ballot.

But cooperating attorneys James McGuire and Paul McAdoo of the Tampa firm Thomas, LoCicero & Bralow said they would ask their clients whether or not to ask the full appeals court to consider the case, or appeal it on to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"No decisions have been made,'' said McGuire.

Don't be surprised if Crist-Rubio fight follows familiar playbook

In the next few days, Gov. Charlie Crist will likely announce the results of a successful round of fundraising since the governor entered the 2010 race for U.S. Senate. The estimate is that it should probably come in somewhere between $2.5 million and $3 million - a tidy bit of money considering Crist didn't declare his candidacy until May.

(Of course that amount will likely contain both contributions for the primary and the general election - which some will argue blunts the impact.)

Meanwhile, former House Speaker Marco Rubio has picked up endorsements from some well-known GOP figures such as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. On Thursday, he picked up an endorsement from U.S. Rep. Jeff Miller. The recent straw poll results from Pasco County has hyped up expectations that Rubio's conservative stances will help him erode Crist's aura of invincibility. Rubio has done his best to frame the race as a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party: A principled conservative against a moderate who embraced President Barack Obama's billions in stimulus money for Florida.

And despite rampant speculation it highly unlikely Rubio would switch races at the last minute. Rubio himself knows that even former Gov. Jeb Bush - and Crist for that matter - lost the first time they ran a statewide election in Florida.

But the Rubio camp also has to know this: Crist is right now following the same playbook that he used during his run for governor. Crist's first priority was to build a huge warchest which eventually enabled him to get out on television way ahead of rival Tom Gallagher. Crist crushed Gallagher in the GOP primary despite Gallagher's best efforts to question whether or not Crist was conservative enough on issues such as abortion and immigration.

Just as important, hhowever, is that a key part of the 2006 playbook is that Crist also went after Gallagher on numerous fronts. Crist, for example, dramatically waved a copy of the ethics complaint against Gallagher during a televised debate. Backers of Crist helped dig up the damaging information that caused a major headache for Gallagher.

So far Crist has employed a bit of a Rose Garden strategy. He has been off raising money and remaining quiet about the ongoing Senate race (even refusing to discuss in any detail important issues now confronting the U.S. Senate).

That will change, however, especially if Rubio continues to assert himself.

Despite being an incumbent, Crist will go back to the same strategy he has used before.After dispatching Gallagher in the GOP primary, Crist went on to constantly bombard Jim Davis in the general election. Crist ran an ad mentioning a DUI against George Sheldon when he ran for Education Commissioner in 2000. Those working on Rubio's campaign have been warned by former Gallagher veterans to watch for the coming attack.

So despite Crist's always sunny personality, the race between Crist and Rubio will likely take a dark turn at some point. Rubio could be forced to defend himself on things likehis idea to raise sales taxes in exchange for lowering property taxes. And once that happens will Rubio return the favor by pounding Crist's record as governor? Or will both candidates go even further and attack things outside of the record?

Lastly, will any of this translate into an opening for Democrats?

It's way too early to tell on that final point but reporters and pundits watching this race in the next year will probably get the fight they want in the GOP primary.

State agency blasted for "unconscionable" handling of contract

Here's a story that I did on Thursday for The News Service of Florida:

A Leon County Circuit Judge on Thursday gave a blistering order that rips apart the contracting process used by the Florida Department of Corrections, contending the way the agency handled out a $6 million contract was "unconscionable" and maybe even illegal.

But despite saying he was "appalled" at the department's actions, Judge Frank Sheffield said he could not block a deal between the agency and Correctional Medical Services that is set to take effect on July 1.

"The court is also mindful of its jurisdictional limits and requirements of the law even in the face of conduct that is at best, offensive, and at worst, illegal,'' wrote Sheffield.

Sheffield said that scuttling the 4-month contract to provide mental health services to South Florida prison inmates would create "confusion" and "disorder." He also said the request to block the contract from rival vendor MHM Correctional Services was premature since MHM is already battling the agency in a separate case over a longer contract for the same work.

"The people lost today due to the worst abuse of power imaginable,'' said Chris Kise, a Foley & Lardner attorney who was representing Virginia-based MHM. "The department engaged in secret negotiations, blatant violations of the public trust and unconscionable practices, then hid behind the very laws designed to protect the people.''

A spokeswoman for DOC said the agency was still reviewing the ruling. Sandi Copes, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Bill McCollum whose office defended the agency, noted that the judge had agreed with McCollum's office that the "bid protest is the appropriate remedy."

In a statement released by CMS, Spokesman Ken Fields said the negotiation process was allowed by Florida law and would save the state $1.7 million in the first year.

"While MHM's ongoing protest of the contract continues, today's decision allows CMS and the state to work together to ensure a smooth transition in the next few days," Fields said. "Our team has tremendous experience helping states manage such transitions smoothly and efficiently."

The ruling, however, is another slap at the department, which previously had a judge order it to release documents related to the bid dispute. The judge's severe criticism of the contracting process used by DOC comes less than a month after Gov. Charlie Crist vetoed a bill designed to give the Legislature more control over contracts. Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, had pushed the bill to stop what he called "contracts run amok" but Crist contended the law went too far and that there weren't widespread problems with how contracts are handed out.

MHM has the current contract for South Florida mental health services that is set to expire next week. After seeking bidders for a new contract, the department rejected all bids for the work as "non-responsive."

But in April the agency announced it was awarding CMS a five-year deal worth roughly $80 million. MHM has challenged the contract in an administrative hearing, saying the department negotiated in secret in violation of bidding laws. But lawyers for the agency disagree and say Florida law gives them the right to reach the deal outside of normal bidding procedures.

The department in May - because of the ongoing bid dispute - then negotiated a 4-month contract for the same services with CMS. MHM asked Judge Sheffield to block the deal, saying it was willing to extend its current contract at the lower price that CMS had negotiated.

In his ruling, Sheffield noted the department had raised questions about the financial viability of MHM "without a shred of evidence" but at the same time the agency awarded MHM a separate $11 million contract. He also noted that the purchase order used to give CMS the four-month deal was signed in June, but then backdated to May; a move the judge said "blatantly violates the public trust."

He said all the moves leading up to the award of the purchase order were "unconscionable and unacceptable practices."

But Sheffield also said he could not allow MHM to "forum shop in one court, while another court has the same matter under consideration."

Surprise! There's confusion with new insurance law

Florida lawmakers spent hours and hours crafting a comprehensive insurance law designed to scale back the size of the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and give Citizens Property Insurance Corp. permission to once again seek rate hikes for its more than 1 million customers.

But maybe in a move that should not surprise anyone the new law is causing confusion - and could lead to a showdown between Citizens and state regulators. More here.

The upshot: Did lawmakers intend for all Citizens customers to get hit with a 10 percent rate hike? Or is Citizens supposed to give "acturially sound" rates to everyone - even if the current rating models call for a decrease? This is not a matter of mere conjecture: Thousands of homeowners outside of South Florida could be affected since models right now suggest decreases in places such as Duval, Escambia, Pinellas, Santa Rosa, Wakulla and Sarasota counties. The same models suggest the maximum 10 percent hike for South Florida residents.

A Citizens panel voted Monday that no one should get a rate decrease at a time when Citizens' finances are still far from solid. But that runs counter to the opinion of the Office of Insurance Regulation - and the general counsel for Citizens. OIR general counsel Steve Parton bluntly told Citizens officials on Monday that other state laws compel them to give decreases to those who deserve it. Citizens' top lawyer has suggested that the state's largest property insurer have the decreases mirror the increases: Limit both to 10 percent.

That lead to a half-hour discussion of just what lawmakers meant with the new law and the meaning of statutory construction. A final decision by the Citizens Board of Governors is now scheduled for July 8. OIR will then get to rule on the rate filing, which would take effect in 2010.

Interestingly enough, the legislators who helped craft the bill say they had no intention of excluding possible rate decreases.

Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples and chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, said that he has no problem with the idea of allowing rate decreases up to 10 percent to run with the permitted 10 percent rate hikes also authorized by the law.

"One of the primary goals of the legislation was to become more fiscally responsible in the state of Florida,'' said Richter in an interview for my Citizens story for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. "Allowing 10 percent up and 10 percent down would still generate $130 million toward fiscal responsibility."

Rep. Bryan Nelson, R-Apopka and sponsor of the House bill, said he was surprised to hear about the debate over whether rate decreases were allowed under the new law. But he did say that he did not know how Citizens could charge someone more than an acturially sound rate. Nelson said to do that would continue the division between "haves and have-nots" that already exists in Citizens rates.

Ethics panel grounds complaint against Crist's travels

The Florida Commission on Ethics has rejected a complaint filed against Gov. Charlie Crist by a Marion County man who said articles about Crist's plane trips "demands an investigation."

In a ruling made public this week, the commission rejected the complaint by Anthony Wiseman of Umatilla as legally insufficient, saying he had done nothing to show that Crist may have violated the state's ethics laws by his use of private jets that was detailed by the Sun-Sentinel.

The Sun-Sentinel raised questions in March as to who was paying for dozens of trips taken by Crist, many of which the paper said appeared to be paid by Harry Sargeant and Dr. Steven Scott. Some of the trips, however, were reported as donations to the Republican Party of Florida.

The commission also rejected allegations that Crist's high-profile trip last summer to Europe - also dissected by the Sun-Sentinel - was in violation of law. The commission noted that it had previously ruled that Enterprise Florida can pick up the tab for the governor and it's not a gift.

The commission noted that it does "not have the authority just to examine innuendo or speculation not grounded in factual allegations." Yet the report by the commission does note that the way Enterprise Florida handled Crist's airfare to Europe was legal because the economic development agency credited the ticket toward a sponsorship for a Miami travel agency.

Read the commission ruling here: Download Commission ruling

 

Aronberg vs. Gelber Round 1

One of the best things about the prospect of a Democratic primary for Attorney General between State Sen. Dan Gelber and State Sen. Dave Aronberg is that Democratic voters will have a easy way to compare two lawmakers before they go to the polls.

Since the two Democrats served side by side during the 2009 session it's not too hard to go back and take a look at how they voted on several key measures that will impact some things that the AG is involved in - such as regulating insurance. (The AG sits on the panel that hires and fires the state's top insurance regulator.)

And yes, the two men parted ways on some important bills, including ones that would deregulate the state's insurance industry and allow Citizens Property Insurance to raise insurance rates by 10 percent a year until the rates are actuarially sound.

This is not to say that Aronberg and Gelber will use these votes against each other on the campaign trail. But the votes could have reverberations in future endorsements - and just as importantly - the money trail when business organizations mull over whether to donate to either one of them.

The Tale of the Tape:

HB 1171, the insurance deregulation bill  or "consumer choice bill" that would allow well-capitalized companies such as State Farm to bypass state rate regulation. Now sitting on the desk of Gov. Charlie Crist, who has hinted he plans to veto the measure.

Aronberg: Yes  - Gelber: No

HB 1495, the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund and Citizens bill which allows Citizens to raise rates and requires private insurance carriers to pay into a cash build up fund to boost the size of the Cat Fund, the state-created reinsurance fund. Crist signed this bill into law.

Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

SB 360, the controversial growth management bill that was roundly criticized by environmental groups but still signed into law by Crist.

Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

SB 1122, the measure that requires insurers to pay directly to doctors even if the doctor is not in the insurer network. This bill was a top priority for the Florida Medical Association yet opposed by some consumer groups, Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida and the state's insurance consumer advocate.

Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: Yes

SB 1696, Higher education. This legislation made several changes to Florida's higher education system, including revising the state's Bright Futures scholarship program (forcing students to refund money they received for a dropped course), cracking down on students who don't graduate quick enough or students who try to establish residency to avoid higher tuition costs, and raising the amount that universities can increase out-of-state or graduate tuition.

Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No

Rounding several other important bills: The two lawmakers voted against the bill that puts back in place a cap on attorney fees in workers' compensation cases. They both voted against the state budget and both men voted in favor of SB 714, the condominium insurance bill that Crist vetoed. Crist vetoed the bill because it pushed back a deadline for when local governments could require condos to put in fire sprinklers.

(UPDATE: Here's another interesting one that I forgot to add earlier - CS/CS/HB 453. This bill expanded the revenue sources available for one of Florida's private school voucher programs. It would allow insurance premium tax dollars to be used to help fund scholarship funding organizations, which then hand out vouchers to low-income children.

Aronberg: Yes - Gelber: No.)

Multi-million deal leads to clash between state and vendor

Here's a story I did on Friday for The News Service of Florida:

The Department of Corrections and a contractor accusing the agency of reaching a secret deal with a competitor clashed in a courtroom on Friday in the opening round of a hostile bid dispute.

The end result in the case could decide which company gets a contract worth at least $15 million a year to provide mental health services to roughly 17,000 inmates in South Florida prisons. The current contract for the services expires at the end of this month.

But it's clear that the department, MHM Correctional Services and successful bidder Correctional Medical Services have starkly different accounts on how the contract was awarded in April. And the ultimate decision in the case will hinge on several factors, including whether or not the department even had to follow certain procurement laws when it decided to give a 5-year contract to CMS.

The now public fight over the contract comes at the same time that state lawmakers have ratcheted up complaints about how state agencies award contracts and the terms and conditions included in them. Gov. Charlie Crist recently vetoed a bill that would have given the Legislature more say over contracts.

Both vendors have brought on high-powered and politically-connected firms to represent them.

MHM is represented by a team of lawyers from Foley & Lardner LLP, while the St. Louis based CMS is represented by GrayRobinson.

Attorneys for the state and for CMS argued at the start of a day-long hearing Friday that after the department initially deemed the four bids for the mental health contract as "non-responsive" the agency was allowed under Florida law to proceed with negotiations outside a normal bidding process. Administrative Hearing Judge Suzanne Hood, however, allowed the hearing to begin without ruling on this key point.

Hood also began the hearing despite the attempts of attorneys for Virginia-based MHM to delay its start. Lawyers for the company asserted they needed more time to conduct additional depositions and evidence requests after the department was ordered this week by a Leon County circuit judge to turn over e-mails it had initially contended were not subject to Florida's public records law.

Susan Stephens, assistant general counsel for DOC, asserted that new information that was handed over "is not a revelation" and that it cited the same legal arguments the agency made when it publicly noticed the contract award.

The key e-mail was from Stephens to another DOC employee stating that the agency could "deviate" from the bidding requirements and that the state was not obligated to negotiate with the "next best proposal.''

MHM has been providing mental health services for two and a half years now. When it submitted a new bid to keep the current contract, the company offered up a bid worth $15.54 million a year, keeping in line with a request by DOC to cap expenses at $70 per inmate per month. The initial bid by CMS was worth $16.53 million annually.

But evaluators with the department concluded that all four bids it received for the contract did not satisfy bidding requirements, contending that MHM did not meet standards for financial viability because a stock repurchase plan had affected the company's debt ratios, while CMS did not meet the per inmate price cap.

Susan Ritchey, the chief Financial Officer for MHM, testified on Friday that she was surprised when her company lost the bid. She said her company had no idea the state was negotiating with CMS until the bid award was announced.

"It's baffling to us how they choose the vendor they did,'' Ritchey said.

Ritchey also testified that the ultimate contract reached between CMS and the state had significant differences that were not allowed under the initial request for proposal, or RFP. The final 5-year deal allows CMS to raise the per-inmate cost each year and they have flexibility in staffing levels. The contract also gives the company 30 days to correct any problems before the state can assess penalties. The contract is worth an estimated $83.2 million or about $5.5 million more than what MHM said it wanted.

Ken Fields, a spokesman for CMS, however, pointed out that the final deal reached with the state is cheaper than what the state is paying MHM under its current contract.

"While we cannot comment in detail on the litigation filed by MHM, the negotiation process is specifically allowed by Florida law and will save the state nearly $1.7 million in the first year compared to what the current vendor is charging the state for the same services,'' said Fields.

The hearing is scheduled to resume on Wednesday.

Judicial election spurs lawsuit against elections panel

Here's a story that I did on Thursday for News Service of Florida:

A contentious Broward County judicial election has spawned a lawsuit pitting that county's top election official against the state panel charged with regulating elections.

Brenda Snipes, the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, has asked a Leon County judge to block an ongoing investigation by the Florida Elections Commission. The commission overruled its own staff and gave the green-light to investigate a complaint filed against Snipes by Mardi Levey Cohen, who lost a bid for Broward County circuit court last November.

But Snipes' lawsuit - which was filed in late April - contends that the commission has no legal authority to proceed with an investigation.

"We want to ask the court to prevent any further movement on the matter,'' said Burnadette Norris-Weeks, a Fort Lauderdale attorney representing Snipes.

Jon Glogau, a lawyer representing Attorney General Bill McCollum, has asked that the lawsuit be dismissed. Glogau's two page-filing contends that a Leon County court lacks jurisdiction over the elections commission and that Snipes cannot file a lawsuit yet because she has "failed to exhaust administrative remedies.''

Cohen filed her complaint against Snipes last December following a tumultuous election. She came in second during a three-candidate primary in August, only to have the incumbent judge - who came in third - challenge whether Cohen was qualified because she had used her maiden name on the ballot.

A retired Miami-Dade judge ruled that Cohen's name should be stricken from the ballot and replaced with the name of incumbent judge Pedro Dijols. But that ruling was appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal which reinstated Cohen on the ballot. Snipes was instructed to give a notice to voters about the change if it was too late to change ballots for the November election.

But Cohen contends that Snipes broke state election laws by not posting notices in all the precincts so voters would know that a vote for Dijols was in fact a vote for Cohen.

Barbara Linthicum, the executive director of the Florida Elections Commission at the time, dismissed Cohen's complaint, saying it lacked legal sufficiency. Linthicum said there was no evidence that Snipes had "willfully neglected her duty or corruptly failed to perform her duty" as required under Florida law.

The commission, however, overruled Linthicum during a testy exchange at a confidential February meeting. The transcript from the meeting, which was included in the Leon County court filing, shows that while Linthicum conceded that some notices were not handed out she argued it didn't merit further investigation.

Jorge Cruz-Bustillo, an attorney and chairman of the commission, compared the Snipes case to that of Miriam Oliphant, the embattled previous Broward County supervisor who was removed from office by Gov. Jeb Bush and replaced with Snipes.

According to the transcript, Cruz-Bustillo argued during the closed-door hearing that since the commission took action against Oliphant - whose elections were marred by precinct places failing to open on time - then it should at least investigate the case against Snipes.

Linthicum "took offense" at comparing Snipes to Oliphant, saying that Oliphant had failed to follow her duties under the law, as opposed to a court order. Cruz-Bustillo shot back that a court order should be considered part of the same duty as the law.

Cohen, for her part, said during the hearing that she wants the commission to investigate Snipes so that people will know the election "wasn't done right.'' Cohen also has a separate motion pending in Broward County that is asking a judge to find Snipes in contempt of court and that Broward County reimburse her filing fees and other expenses. That motion is expected to be taken up next week.

Cohen said Wednesday that confidentiality laws prohibit her from discussing her actual complaint. She did say, however, that she probably had grounds to contest the election but that it would have cost taxpayers extra to hold a special election. But what happened was unfair, she said.

"If someone goes out to vote and they don't know a vote for one guy is actually a vote for another, how's that a fair election?'' said Cohen. "It's un-American.''

Think college students don't go to school on Friday? You're right

As Florida's state universities move ahead with 15 percent tuition hikes at most of their institutions this fall it might be worth noting an audit that came out in April that received scant attention at the time.

The report from the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability points out that college classrooms in Florida remain empty a lot of the time during the week, especially on Fridays. The report from these legislative auditors concluded that on Fridays only about 16 percent of classrooms are used by community colleges and only 32 percent are used by state universities. And classes on Saturdays remain limited at best, averaging less than 10 percent.

Even though the audit notes that the Board of Governors have responded to past suggestions on efficiency the actual numbers have changed little since a report issued in 2006. Some administrators told auditors that some of the numbers could be influenced by distance learning initiatives and their efforts to use facilities more efficiently.

(Ok - but it might be worth noting that this year alone the state's higher education system is getting nearly $200 million in new construction dollars, with some of it going to build new classrooms. Plus the audit notes that per-square-foot classroom construction amount has shot up 50 percent in the last decade, although the Florida amount is below the national average.)

According to the audit, Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers has the best overall classroom utilization with 70.5 percent between Monday and Friday. University of North Florida in Jacksonville uses its classrooms 70.4 percent of the time. Florida A&M University in Tallahassee had the lowest overall rate at 40.3 percent, compared to 49.2 percent for University of South Florida and 48.5 percent for University of West Florida in Pensacola.

Florida International University in Miami used its classrooms 57.7 percent of the time and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton was 52.2 percent.

At the community college/state college level, Florida Keys Community College used its classrooms just 26.8 percent of the time Monday through Friday, while Chipola College in North Florida had a utilization rate of 26.9 percent. Those with the highest numbers were Valencia Community College, Tallahassee Community College, Miami-Dade College and Santa Fe Community College which ranged between roughly 47 percent and 49 percent.

And how about Fridays? Lake City Community College had a utilization rate of .7 percent, while St. Petersburg College was 2.9 percent, Brevard Community College's rate was 8.1 percent, North Florida Community College was 5.6 percent, and Palm Beach Community College was 7.4 percent.

The two universities with the lowest Friday utilization rate were USF In Tampa at 16.3 percent, and FAU with 21.2 percent.

In the responses to auditors, Education Commissioner Eric Smith took exception to the numbers related to community colleges. Smith asserted that it was unfair to compare state universities to community colleges because community colleges rely more on commuter and part-time students. Both Smith and John Delaney, who has been running the state university system as the Board of Governors looks for a new chancellor, say auditors aren't capturing non-scheduled events also held in classrooms. Delaney also said that when it comes to Friday courses that state universities don't schedule as many classes during that time period because there may not be demand for them.

Crist on Morrison pardon: "I'll give it a little thought now."

Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday acknowledged that he hasn't given much thought of granting a posthumous pardon to Jim Morrison, the famed lead singer of The Doors who was convicted nearly 30 years ago in Miami-Dade County for indecent exposure.

As noted in a previous post, fans of the Florida native have continued to ask that Crist grant Morrison a pardon. Morrison's case was on appeal when he died in a Paris bathtub back in 1971. The conviction stemmed from a notorious 1969 concert at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Coconut Grove.

Crist back in 2007 said he was considering a pardon but the governor only has a handful of clemency meetings left before he leaves office next year. In order for Morrison to win a pardon, he needs the backing of the governor and other members of the Cabinet.

When asked about it again on Wednesday, the fellow Florida State University alumnus said: "Thank you for reminding me of it. I'll give it a little thought now."

Meanwhile, former Orlando sentinel reporter John Van Gieson says he attended the infamous show in 1969 and that Morrison did not expose himself. Van Gieson wrote on a Sentinel blog that Morrison was "framed."