Janet Reno on Government Reform

Former Attorney General; Democratic Challenger FL Governor

Applied “sunshine laws” to open federal government

As Reno was quizzed about cases by the White House screening team [during her Attorney General nomination], “I was amazed [that we could] look back and watch how my office responded. We were able to do this because we had participated in open government, and we had explained ourselves to the people in an appropriate way.” She brought Florida’s government-in-the-sunshine approach to Washington, launching a long-overdue overhaul of the federal Freedom of Information Act within 8 months of taking office. Source: Doing the Right Thing, by Paul Anderson, p.124-25 , Jan 1, 1993

Authored Florida’s no-fault divorce law & civil court code

In March 1971, Reno was hired as general counsel to the Florida House Judiciary Committee to assist with a major rewrite of the Florida Constitution. In a matter of months, Reno authored Florida’s no-fault divorce law and tackled the constitutional amendment to reform Florida’s courts. She studied the often conflicting ideas of committee members, judges, academics, and others, then sorted reality from rhetoric.

When a workable compromise emerged, she drafted the legal terminology that abolished municipal courts and created a uniform two-tiered trial system: county courts for small cases; state circuit courts for large civil cases and major crimes. Under the plan, appeals would be heard by state district courts and then the state supreme court.

Voters ratified the amendment the next year. Reno had earned a reputation as the consummate legislative staffer-someone who did the hard work but let the politicians take the glory.

Source: Doing the Right Thing, by Paul Anderson, p. 60-61 , Mar 1, 1971

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Page last updated: Apr 29, 2013