June 18, 2019.
I am overwhelmed and deeply grateful for the support I received after “going public” with my story on Monday. I have been asked to provide some guidance on how others can get involved and help right this wrong. So I am publishing here (1) a statement about the lawsuit with a link to the amended complaint, (2) reasons I have chosen now to break my silence, and (3) some suggested offices to contact, and how to do so.
You also can help me by helping LawYou America with a sponsorship, advertising, or donation. And a donation to Pursuing Justice Foundation (a s. 501(c)(3) nonprofit) will help me help others.
I have sued both The Florida Bar and the Florida Supreme Court for violating my rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Rehabilitation Act (RA). The ADA and RA are similar, but the ADA was enacted later and is much broader than the RA.
Although I have included more acts of discrimination in my claims against the Bar, the issue at the heart of my claims against both is the absence of any published procedure that conditionally-admitted attorneys can invoke to initiate confidential review by a judge, referee (a type of hearing officer), or by the Florida Supreme Court. “Conditional admission” is a type of probation. Frequently, probationary periods last only for defined periods of time, but others last indefinitely. Mine was indefinite. If there was a procedure for seeking review, I would have used it.
I also sued them for retaliating against me. The ADA prohibits discrimination (i.e., retaliation) against those who have opposed acts or practices that violate the ADA. I had spoken up and asserted my rights under the ADA. I threatened to sue the Bar, and argued that continued enforcement by the Florida Supreme Court of the conditions on my admission would violate the ADA. Considering the innocuousness of my so-called offense, and the fact that countless other attorneys commit contempt of court and are not disbarred, the outrageous punishment inflicted upon me constitutes retaliation.
Why, after nearly two years, am I choosing now to break my silence? To best answer the question, I start with the reasons I stayed silent and conclude with the tipping point.
I am posting daily about this on Facebook (personal and LawYou pages), Twitter, and LinkedIn. If you use social media, feel free to share this website in your posts or just the YouTube video. You also can share the posts I’ve already published on these platforms.
I am using the hashtags #breakthestigma, #stigmafreeyld, #mentalhealth, and #ada. On Twitter I am tagging @TheJusticeDept, @ABADisability, @GovRonDeSantis, and @marcorubio.
Please also feel free to tag @TheFlaBar, @FLBarPresident, and @flcourts. Because they are the defendants, I do not feel comfortable tagging them in my posts. Maybe I’ll change my mind about that.
Here are the defendants and their contact info. Call or email them and tell them whatever moves you: how you feel about what they did to me, that you’re paying attention to what they’re doing now, what you want them to do to make things right, etc.
Joshua Doyle, Executive Director
The Florida Bar
651 E. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-2300
Main: (850) 561-5600
Mr. Doyle: (850) 561-5757
jdoyle@floridabar.org
If you are a Florida resident, you can contact your state representative. These representatives usually are quite accessible and responsive to their constituents. You can find your representative’s contact information here.
Below is suggested text for letters or emails to Senator Marco Rubio and Governor Ron DeSantis with contact info and links for both. The text is the same for both except for the call-to-action paragraphs near the end. Feel free to use it as is or change it as you like.
Dear Senator Rubio:
I write to bring your attention to the matter of Sherri Renner. For many years Sherri has helped self-represented litigants across the nation, most of whom are domestic violence survivors with no means to pay her. Because of that, people across the nation are watching what is happening to her.
She was a Florida attorney for many years before she was unjustly disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court. Her disbarment was unjust because she had never been charged with violating any professional conduct rule. In all the years she was an attorney, her bar membership status was conditional (probationary) because of a history of mental health treatment. We believe her conditional status violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, and she was entitled to have it changed. The problem was that there was no procedure for her to invoke to initiate the required supreme court review. Only the Bar could initiate such a review. We believe the lack of a review procedure also violates the ADA.
Sherri requested the Bar voluntarily initiate judicial review, but the Bar refused. So she forced the issue by intentionally pausing her compliance with the requirements of her conditional status, which obligated the Bar to act. That was the sum total of her “crime.”
Instead of changing her status to unconditional, the Florida Supreme Court found her in contempt of court and summarily disbarred her. Sherri then sued The Florida Bar and Florida Supreme Court in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida for violating her rights under the ADA. That case is still pending.
Although as Senator you have no legal authority over how the state supreme court regulates attorneys, you certainly can use your position and platform to admonish the Florida Bar and Florida Supreme Court to bring their bar regulatory system into compliance with the federal ADA. You also can call attention to the continuing problem of ADA noncompliance, particularly in matters concerning mental health when those issues are in the distant past.
I ask you to do whatever you can to persuade the Florida Bar and Florida Supreme Court to take the necessary steps to correct their mistake and resolve the litigation. For more information you can visit this website: https://slrennerlaw.com.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Senator Marco Rubio
402 South Monroe Street
Suite 2105E
Tallahassee, FL 32399
Dear Governor DeSantis:
I write to bring your attention to the matter of Sherri Renner. For many years Sherri has helped self-represented litigants across the nation, most of whom are domestic violence survivors with no means to pay her. Because of that, people across the nation are watching what is happening to her.
She was a Florida attorney for many years before she was unjustly disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court. Her disbarment was unjust because she had never been charged with violating any professional conduct rule. In all the years she was an attorney, her bar membership status was conditional (probationary) because of a history of mental health treatment. We believe her conditional status violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, and she was entitled to have it changed. The problem was that there was no procedure for her to invoke to initiate the required supreme court review. Only the Bar could initiate such a review. We believe the lack of a review procedure also violates the ADA.
Sherri requested the Bar voluntarily initiate judicial review, but the Bar refused. So she forced the issue by intentionally pausing her compliance with the requirements of her conditional status, which obligated the Bar to act. That was the sum total of her “crime.”
Instead of changing her status to unconditional, the Florida Supreme Court found her in contempt of court and summarily disbarred her. Sherri then sued The Florida Bar and Florida Supreme Court in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida for violating her rights under the ADA. That case is still pending.
Although as Governor you have no legal authority over how the Supreme Court regulates attorneys, you do have influence with the Attorney General and budgetary authority to discuss the expense to the Florida taxpayers of defending against this just lawsuit. You also can set an example for other states to follow by helping encourage ADA compliance and ending mental health stigma.
I ask you to do whatever you can to persuade the Attorney General to take the necessary steps to resolve the litigation. For more information you can visit this website: https://slrennerlaw.com.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Office of Governor Ron DeSantis
State of Florida
The Capitol
400 S. Monroe St.
Tallahassee, FL 32399-0001
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