Alan Lawson: No scandal here — debunking hyperbole around James Uthmeier

You may or may not like James Uthmeier’s efforts to fight the mass availability of marijuana in Florida, but his actions were certainly not illegal.

Uthmeier, now the Attorney General of Florida, was at the forefront of the Gov. Ron DeSantis administration’s fight against Amendment 3, which sought to constitutionally legalize marijuana for “recreational” use.

The Governor’s team was never quiet about what they were fighting, and they were creative along the way — believing that their fight was about protecting our Constitution and the Florida way of life.

From running public service announcements about the harms of marijuana to drivers, pregnant women, and children to the large number of events hosted by DeSantis, the administration was all in with its efforts to educate the public on the full scope of Amendment 3 — which would have created a functional monopoly and allowed marijuana smoking in public places — even around kids.

Amendment 3 failed. Then came the aftermath.

Some who supported Amendment 3 or appear to be supportive of the very corporation that funded Amendment 3 started looking for ways to exact revenge.

Their targets? The Hope Florida Foundation and Uthmeier, who served as DeSantis’ Chief of Staff during the Amendment 3 fight.

Here’s the timeline I’ve pieced together from media reports and hearings held in the Florida House of Representatives.

As part of a pre-suit settlement with Medicaid provider Centene, the state received $57 million, and the Hope Florida Foundation, a non-profit direct support organization that provides grants to outside entities supporting the administration’s priorities, received a $10 million donation.

These types of settlements are common.

And from all the facts I have seen, Uthmeier had nothing to do with the Foundation getting funds through the settlement.

Not long after the Centene settlement, the Foundation provided grants to two 501(c)(4) organizations for charitable purposes that obviously align with Hope Florida’s mission to promote healthy families and children and support their journey to self-sufficiency.

One group works to keep drugs away from kids, an obvious fit.

The other had already done considerable work to bring the Florida business community into partnership with the Hope Florida program.

Both organizations had previously contributed large sums to the fight against Amendment 4.

According to its Chair, Uthmeier wasn’t on the Foundation Board, didn’t talk to it, and couldn’t direct it to do anything. He wasn’t on the Board of either 501(c)(4) grantee, and he couldn’t “direct” either to submit grant applications or do anything else.

Of course, Uthmeier would have been familiar with both entities because both had contributed to the fight against marijuana use in public spaces. It is also likely that Uthmeier would have regularly communicated with both entities about the Governor’s efforts to defeat Amendment 3.

As substantial investors in the fight, they would have wanted campaign updates.

In fact, both organizations continued donating to the “No on 3” issue committee chaired by Uthmeier (I’ll note that the media has failed to note the important legal distinctions between an issue committee and a candidate committee).

Uthmeier did not direct or ask for those donations. But I am sure that Uthmeier and all those opposed to Amendment 3 were very glad those donations were made.

The Amendment 3 initiative was a “dog fight” to the end and will go down in history as the most expensive ballot amendment campaign in American history.

After successfully defeating Amendment 3 in November, the “No on 3” committee dissolved and distributed its remaining assets.

For his efforts, some politicians are now attacking Uthmeier as a “criminal” — claiming that he “committed federal crimes.”  These hyperbolic attacks are just not true.

From everything I’ve seen, nothing about Uthmeier’s actions or conduct during the Amendment 3 fight was illegal, or even scandalous. The Centene settlement had a common nonprofit component. Hope Florida’s Board made its own decisions about awarding grants. And the grantees also had their own boards and rules that governed their decisions.

Even if (and I haven’t seen real facts to back this up) Uthmeier asked for additional support from two prior donors to the “No on 3″ effort, he had a First Amendment right to ask. And the “No on 3” committee that Uthmeier chaired timely (and publicly) reported the donations from these entities, as required by Florida law.

I have witnessed decades of Florida political maneuvering — and in this case see only smoke — no fire.

For all the posturing, theatrics and rhetoric from those who oppose the position taken by Attorney General Uthmeier on Amendment 3, there is no scandal here — just politicians who appear set on exacting revenge on behalf of a mega-marijuana company that put $150 million into a fight to get special treatment for itself, and a few other privileged companies enshrined into the Florida constitution.

You may not like the stand that Uthmeier took, but none of it was illegal.

For my part, I hope that when future ballot measures are pushed by large corporate interests seeking to profit from them, there are patriots like Attorney General Uthmeier who are willing to step up to make sure that Floridians are fully apprised of the measures that they are about to vote on — which is necessary if we are to protect our Florida Constitution.

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Alan Lawson is a retired Justice of the Florida Supreme Court and a founding shareholder of Lawson Huck Gonzalez PLLC.