Legislature left town in May without acting on BK Roberts Hall

Howdy folks, the Florida Legislature finished its regular session for 2023 May 5 without taking any action on BK Roberts Hall at FSU.  Supporters of the campaign to remove the name of a segregationist judge from the building were unable to find any legislator who would sponsor a bill to rename the building, and hopes for an amendment to an existing bill to accomplish the task also proved unsuccessful.  This lack of action was not surprising given the Republican super-majorities in both houses and open hostility toward social justice issues this year.  Despite the long odds, I'm not giving up and am already preparing to try again next year, and would appreciate your continued support. While I am not guaranteeing victory, the only way to guarantee failure is to give up and not try at all.

I am not a professional lobbyist but after enthusiasm from the FSU administrative team waned at the Capitol over the past few years, this year I decided to see what I could do on my own.  I drafted a sample bill, made weekly trips to the Capitol and went door to door to promote it--and got nowhere, quickly learning whatever lawyering skills I possess did not translate well to lobbying.  However, I met a lot of people, found some legislative allies, and got lots of suggestions on how to be more effective in the future.  Several other sympathetic lobbyists were also talking this up and planting the seeds for success in the future.  Plans now are focused on filing a local bill in 2024 that would sunset the BK Roberts moniker and return to FSU the ability to rename the building.

One thing that would help a lot would be more vocal support from FSU, so if you know anyone in the president's or the dean's office, any faculty or student leaders, any influential alumni, etc., please reach out to them and try to get them to put pressure on the FSU administration so we do not end up the last place in the Southeast with a building named for a segregationist judge.  I have been working with the FSU Black Student Union and the Black Law Students Association as well as the law school's Black Alumni Network. I do not see this as a Republican vs Democrat issue, but realistically we have to count the numbers and accept the fact we will need Republican support to get this passed and that cannot be achieved without the enthusiastic backing of FSU's lobbying team. 


Bill to rename BK Roberts Hall did not pass

The Florida legislature ended its 2022 session March 14 without passing the bill that would have opened the door to renaming BK Roberts Hall at FSU's College of Law. Senate Bill 1858, filed in January by Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Ocoee, would have repealed the 1973 law (73-370) that named the building after Roberts. It was referred to the Senate Education committee January 12, but was never set for a hearing and the measure died in committee when the legislature ended last week. The Education Committee is headed by Sen. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, who is also chair of the Florida Republican Party.

Expectations were not high this year since the composition of the legislature was essentially the same as 2021 where the bill also failed to advance, likely due to lack of support from the leadership. Even some long-time backers were less enthusiastic this year given the long odds, many feeling that it was insanity to keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. After 3 years of futility trying to pass a stand alone bill, a new strategy to add an amendment to an existing education bill did not work either. The climate next year is expected to be more favorable with new leadership in the House and Senate taking over for 2023 coupled with the fact the fall elections will probably change at least some of the senators and representatives.

While the building is still officially designated BK Roberts Hall, FSU last summer removed the lettering from the side of the building identifying it as such. Roberts was instrumental in founding the FSU law school in the 1960s, leading the legislature to put his name on the building, despite several opinions Roberts wrote in the 1950s as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court that prevented blacks from enrolling at state universities, even after the US Supreme Court had ordered Florida to admit them.

Bill filed in Florida Senate would remove BK Roberts name from law school

A bill that would repeal the law that designated the main classroom building at the FSU College of Law as “B.K. Roberts Hall” was filed in the Florida Senate on January 7, 2022.

The measure if passed would remove BK Roberts name from the building and give FSU the ability to rename the building for someone else. The bill is known as Senate Bill 1858 and was filed by Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Ocoee, who represents the northwest part of Orange County near Orlando.

The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee for a hearing, the most common next step toward passage once a bill is filed. The 2022 session of the legislature starts tomorrow January 11 and is scheduled to last until mid March.

Bills have been filed the past three years seeking to accomplish the same goal but none have passed the house and senate and been signed by the governor, the path necessary to become law. The legislature has the same members and leadership as last year when the leadership did not back the bill and it died in committee. Supporters hope the result will be different this year, but are prepared to keep fighting if unsuccessful and hope it will be easier to convince the new leadership that would take over the legislature after the fall 2022 elections.

Roberts is known as a segregationist judge who as Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court in the 1950s wrote several opinions that prevented Virgil Hawkins from enrolling in the University of Florida law school because he was black. In one particularly regrettable opinion, Roberts refused to admit Hawkins even after the US Supreme Court had outlawed segregation in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and later in 1956 tersely ordered Florida to let Hawkins enroll, stating there is no reason for delay. Roberts subsequent opinion finding more reasons for delay in defiance of the US Supreme Court is considered unethical since the judicial oath taken by all judges requires them to follow the orders of a higher court.

Roberts was instrumental in founding the FSU law school in the 1960s, which was the main reason the legislature put his name on the building in 1973. Recently, however, FSU has made clear it wants the name off the building. A university committee in 2018 unanimously recommended removing Roberts’ name, and FSU president at the time John Thrasher pushed the legislature to do so. The FSU student and faculty senates as well as the school board of trustees came out in favor of removing the name in 2020, and the law school faculty and administration (including the dean) wrote an open letter in 2020 asking the legislature to change the name, saying they were ashamed to go to work each day in a building named for Roberts, calling his name on the building “painful and offensive.” If Roberts name is ever removed from the building, FSU plans to honor his efforts to found the law school with a display inside the building.

Legislature leaves town without renaming BK Roberts Hall

The Florida legislature ended its 2021 session on April 30 without approving the bill that would have removed BK Roberts’ name from the main classroom building at the FSU College of Law. While HB 977 got off to a good start in early March, it died in committee when the session ended. The bill, sponsored by Tallahassee representatives Ramon Alexander and Allison Tant, was filed and referred to two committees in February and had its first reading before the full house on March 2. After those events it never got any farther, stalling out without getting a committee hearing.

While it is impossible to know exactly what happens behind the scenes in the legislature, lack of support from leadership is the most common explanation for a bill’s failure to advance. Lobbyists also pointed out widespread opposition to the “cancel culture” as a likely factor. In addition, the capitol building was closed to the public throughout the session due to the pandemic, preventing lobbyists and others from personally meeting with legislators to explain the background and need for changes as well as personally trying to persuade legislators to back a bill.

The name change idea enjoys overwhelming support from the FSU community due to Roberts' 1950s opinions as Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice that kept blacks out of state universities for years, even after the US Supreme Court had ordered an end to segregation in 1954 and in 1956 instructed Florida there was no reason for delay. At FSU the student and faculty senates, law school faculty and administration, board of trustees and President John Thrasher (retiring later this year) all endorsed the removal of the name from the building, saying honoring Roberts today did not fit in with the university's values of inclusion. The school feels Roberts' efforts to found the FSU law school in the 1960s, which were significant, would be more appropriately recognized by a contextual display inside the building rather than by his name on the edifice. Since the legislature named the building for Roberts in 1973, only the legislature has the power to remove the name.

The renaming measure has been filed annually in various forms since 2019 but has never passed, but that does not mean we are giving up. The next legislative session is scheduled for January 2022, so we will try again next year. Until then, I will be working with legislators, the FSU lobbyists and other supporters to try to come up with a new bill that will gain enough support to be successful. Danni

Bill to rename BK Roberts Hall clears first hurdle

The campaign to rename BK Roberts Hall at Florida State University's law school is off to a good start in 2021 as the legislative delegation for Leon County last week unanimously agreed to proceed with the filing of a bill that would remove Roberts' name from the building. The bill language repeals the 1973 law that placed Roberts' name on the building, clearing the way for FSU to choose a new name. The four legislators who represent all or part of Leon County--Sen. Loranne Ausley and Reps. Alison Tant, Ramon Alexander and Jason Shoaf--all voted to advance the local bill. The sponsors decided to file the proposal as a local rather than a general bill this year, since local bills sometimes follow a more streamlined path through the legislature. The measure must still pass the house and senate and be signed by the governor before it takes effect. It is expected to get a bill number in a few weeks and be assigned to a committee for a hearing as the next step. The legislative session starts March 2, but committee hearings are already taking place.

FSU Board of Trustees comes out in favor of renaming BK Roberts Hall

The FSU Board of Trustees passed a resolution in favor of renaming BK Roberts Hall at its meeting on August 13. The Board called on the legislature to move swiftly to rename the building to better reflect FSU’s core values of justice, equality, compassion and respect. The Board of Trustees, the governing body which oversees FSU and sets university policy, joins the faculty senate and student government, both of whom recently passed resolutions in favor of removing BK Roberts name from the building.

While this is a welcome development, since the legislature put Roberts’ name on the building, only the legislature can remove it, so the Board of Trustees action did not change the status quo. The legislature is not scheduled to meet until March 2021.

The full text of the resolution passed by the Board of Trustees is as follows:

FSU Board of Trustees Resolution in Support of Renaming B.K. Roberts Hall

The FSU Board of Trustees supports efforts by the University and the College of Law to remove from the main Law building the name of B.K. Roberts, the Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice who openly defied the U.S. Supreme Court in steadfastly resisting the racial integration of Florida’s public law schools. We share the unanimously avowed hope of the College of Law, the FSU Faculty Senate, and countless students and alumni that the building be renamed to reflect FSU’s core values of justice, equality, compassion, and respect. We call on the Florida legislature to move swiftly in enacting the changes that will enable us to right this wrong.

House sponsors found for renaming bill

Two members of the Florida House of Representatives have committed to sponsoring a bill to rename BK Roberts Hall for the 2021 legislative session that begins next March.  Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, is committed to filing the legislation in 2021, according to his staff.  Also, Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windemere, informed me that she would be glad to sponsor a bill.

Lack of a sponsor in the House has been a hurdle the past two years as the measure passed the Senate but was never taken up by the House, partly due to the lack of a sponsor.  Alexander's commitment is significant since he is running unopposed and almost certain to be reelected in November and thus will be in the legislature next spring to file the bill.  Thompson faces opponents and will only be able to sponsor the bill if she is victorious in the upcoming November elections.  Support in the Senate is not yet confirmed since our key proponent for the last two years--Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee--will not be back in 2021 due to term limits.  Current Rep. Loranne Ausley, D-Tallahassee, will not be back in the House next year but is running for Montford's Senate seat.  Ausley says she is committed to working on renaming the building.

FSU Law Faculty & Administration Come Out in Favor of Renaming B.K. Roberts Hall

More than 50 FSU law faculty and administrators have signed a letter (see full text below) sent to legislative leaders stating the BK Roberts name on the building is “shameful” and calling for the legislature to complete the process of removing the name.

Noting that Roberts was vehemently and unmistakably on the wrong side of the battle to end segregation, the group said it was “deeply painful and offensive that most of our faculty offices and classrooms are in a building that carries his name.” Law School Dean Erin O’Connor, who signed the letter, also noted in a weekly law school update that the FSU Faculty Senate also approved a similar statement unanimously last week.

The letter was sent to current Florida House Speaker Jose Oliva and incoming Speaker Chris Sprowls, and also released to the media. The campaign to rename the building has had some success in the senate the last two years, but the house has never taken up a bill to address the measure. The letter was printed June 14 in the Tallahassee Democrat, the newspaper for Florida’s capital city, home to both BK Roberts Hall and the capitol building where the legislature meets.

Since the legislature in 1973 designated the building be known as BK Roberts Hall, only the legislature has the power to remove the name. The next legislative session is set to begin in March 2021. Lets hope at least some of the spirit and momentum of the recent protests calling for racial justice and leading to the removal of Confederate names and monuments carries over to next spring.

Here is the full text of the letter:

FSU law school faculty: 'Reflect our shared values' and rename building | Opinion

(Reprinted from the 6/14/20 edition of the Tallahassee Democrat)

As members of the faculty and administration at the Florida State University College of Law, we write to call on the Florida House of Representatives to complete the legislative work that will allow us to rename the law school building.

As you are aware, the Florida Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill in 2019 that would have allowed B.K. Roberts’ name to be removed from the law school building, but the House did not take up the legislation. In 2020, a Senate committee again approved a measure to allow the renaming of the law school, but Florida lawmakers did not complete the process. It is time to act decisively.

It is shameful that our main building continues to bear the name of B.K. Roberts. Roberts persistently resisted the racial integration of Florida’s public law schools, and it is deeply painful and offensive that most of our faculty offices and classrooms are in a building that carries his name.

As a Florida Supreme Court justice, Roberts openly defied the U.S. Supreme Court in his quest to maintain segregation. The battle for racial integration was waged during a gruesome time in our country’s history. Roberts was vehemently and unmistakably on the wrong side of that battle. The time has long since come to stop celebrating segregationists.

The building was not named for Roberts because he favored segregation. The naming of the building was meant to honor his role in chairing a committee that helped to found the College of Law.

But the fact that Roberts helped to achieve a valuable goal does not, by itself, warrant memorializing him in stone. Many important accomplishments are not acknowledged or honored in such public and enduring ways. Indeed, throughout our country’s history, the significant accomplishments of people of color have been overlooked.

The law school community was never part of naming the building for Roberts, and a strong contingent opposed it when the decision was announced. The law naming the building slid through the Legislature on the back of unrelated legislation without discussion or debate.

The dean of the College of Law at the time declined to support naming the building for Roberts, and a large group of students protested with picket signs on the day of the naming ceremony. We are asking now to be allowed to correct a longstanding error that was imposed upon us and that members of our community have protested from the start.

It is our hope that when the law school’s main building can be renamed, its name will reflect our shared values of justice, equality, respect, compassion and advocacy. As faculty and administrators, it is our moral responsibility to advocate for our students and our community. In these difficult times, we hope that this is just the first of many steps we take to do better by them.

Fred Abbott

Paolo Annino

Rob Atkinson

Shawn Bayern

Nancy Benavides

Richard Benham     

Tamara Blenkhorn

Christopher Busch

Courtney Cahill

Donna Christie

Margaret Clark

Elizabeth Farrell Clifford

Kathryn Crandall

Avlana Eisenberg

Elissa Philip Gentry

Debra Henley

Shi-Ling Hsu

Steve Johnson

Jeffrey Kahn

Jennifer Kessinger

Jay Kesten

Kat Klepfer

Lawrence Krieger

David Landau

Carla Laroche

Jennifer LaVia

Tahirih Lee

Jake Linford

Amy Lipford

Wayne Logan

Patricia Matthews

Catherine Miller

Katrina Miller

Michael Morley

Dean Erin O’Hara O’Connor

Hillary Powell

Adria Quintela

Maribel Roig

Erin Ryan

Lauren Scholz

Darby Kerrigan Scott

Mark Seidenfeld

Justin Sevier

Mark Spottswood

Nat Stern

Sarah Swan

Charlee Taylor

Fernando Tesón

Glenda Thornton

Manuel Utset

Kelli Alces Williams

Mary Ziegler

Note: This letter was sent to Florida House Speaker José Oliva and Speaker-Designate Chris Sprowls and also submitted to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida.


Bill to rename BK Roberts Hall again unsuccessful

The Florida legislature ended its session March 19, 2020 without passing the bill that would have removed BK Roberts' name from the main classroom building at the FSU College of Law.  The bill, SB 7042, earlier passed the Senate Education Committee and was awaiting a hearing in the Rules Committee; but that was as far as it got, effectively dying in committee when the session ended.  Disappointing news, but not totally unexpected and stay tuned as we will try again next year.