Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Snipes sues to have job returned
Former Broward elections chief forced out by Gov. Scott
Former Broward elections supervisor Brenda Snipes is taking Gov. Rick Scott to federal court, looking to clear her name and professional reputation by filing a lawsuit calling her suspension “malicious” and “unnecessary.”
Snipes wants her job back, with back pay, and she wants a federal judge to strike down the governor’s right to remove her as unconstitutional.
The lawsuit does not address what Snipes will do if she prevails — days before her resignation she said it was “time to move on” after holding the job for 15 years.
But that was before Scott forced her out.
Accusations of misconduct from Scott and President Donald Trump resulted in death threats against Snipes in the weeks after the November general election, according to the lawsuit.
Snipes was appointed in 2003 after her predecessor, Miriam Oliphant, was removed from office for incompetence. Like Oliphant, Snipes was not accused of criminal wrongdoing, for which removal from office has been routine. But Snipes was accused of mismanaging numerous elections, including the November races for governor and U.S. senator.
This year’s gubernatorial and senatorial races
were so close that they triggered statewide recounts. The Broward elections office was slow to report results and missed a state recount deadline by two minutes.
Shortly after the recount started, Scott accused the Broward Canvassing Board of overseeing a fraudulent process, though he never offered any concrete examples.
“Governor Scott and others working on his behalf tried in every way to damage Snipes’ reputation and inject doubt into the minds of Broward voters that the Broward County elections process was being conducted properly,” the lawsuit alleges. “Tweets from the President of the United States and untrue allegations made by Governor Scott resulted in death threats against Snipes and her family members.”
Hours after the recount was over, Snipes resigned effective Jan. 4. She has since rescinded that. She had two years remaining on her term of office. But days later, Scott, who won the Senate race, moved to strip her of her office immediately and replace her with Pete Antonacci, who has held several posts at the request of the governor.
“Snipes seeks to fight for her reputation and stand up against the embarrassment that has been caused by Governor Scott’s unnecessary and malicious suspension,” states the lawsuit. “At this point Governor Scott’s allegations have gone unchallenged as he sits high on a throne utilizing state resources to continually humiliate Snipes.”
The suit names Scott and Florida Senate President Bill Galvano as defendants. Both are Republicans. Snipes is a Democrat, and Broward is the state’s biggest Democratic stronghold.
The lawsuit contends that Snipes’ due process rights were violated and that the law allowing the governor to suspend elected officials is unconstitutional because it does not allow for a hearing where she could defend herself, either before or after the suspension.
“We want the court to correct
this wrong,” said her attorney, Burnadette Norris-Weeks, in an interview Tuesday. “She still has due process rights.”
Snipes contends that lawsuits filed by Scott’s Senate campaign forced ballot counting delays that could have been avoided.
John Tupps, a spokesman for Scott, criticized the lawsuit.
“This lawsuit is a desperate move from someone who has already officially submitted her resignation,” Tupps said. “This is simply an attempt by Ms. Snipes to rewrite the history of her failed leadership.”
The lawsuit targets Galvano because he announced last week that the state Senate would not review her case. Florida law requires the Senate to either remove or reinstate county officials who are suspended by the governor.
But Galvano sent a memo to senators saying there is not enough time to investigate the allegations against Snipes before her resignation takes effect Jan. 4. He said a legal review by Senate attorneys had concluded that Snipes had rescinded her “unconditional” resignation too late.
“I guess that’s going to be up to the court to decide,” Norris-Weeks said.