ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — 10 Investigates has confirmed that the Florida Bar will get rid of its Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
According to Florida Bar Communications Division Director Jennifer Krell Davis, the Florida Supreme Court directed the Florida Bar to remove funding for diversity and inclusion from its upcoming budget. That includes funding for the Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
“As an official arm of the Florida Supreme Court, The Florida Bar operates under the Court’s exclusive authority, pursuant to Article V, Section 15 of the Florida Constitution, which includes oversight of the Bar’s budget,” Krell Davis told 10 Investigates in an emailed statement on behalf of the Bar.
She said Bar leadership met with the Court last week as part of their annual budget discussions.
The director of the Florida Supreme Court’s public information office sent 10 Investigates an emailed statement on Thursday, which reads in part, “…The Florida Bar, under the structure created by the state’s constitution, is a governmental entity. This makes it incumbent on the Bar, as with the state courts, to treat all members and all people equally, with fairness and without bias.”
“I was shocked, saddened and disappointed,” said Florida House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, a Hillsborough County Democrat and attorney. “I really do view this as an extension of Gov. DeSantis’s culture wars which, frankly, have just been distractions and getting people to look away from the real issues facing everyday Floridians – like the fact that property insurance rates are so high or that housing is unaffordable. This is not anything that the people have asked for, that lawyers have asked for.”
Starting the next budget cycle, which begins on July 1, Krell Davis said the Bar will transition the Diversity and Inclusion Committee and its funding to an Outreach and Engagement Committee. That committee will be focused on encouraging all members to increase their involvement with The Florida Bar.
According to the Diversity and Inclusion Committee’s website, its mission has been to “increase diversity and inclusion in The Florida Bar so that the Bar will reflect the demographics of the state, to develop opportunities for community involvement, and to make leadership roles within the profession and The Florida Bar accessible to all attorneys, including those who are racially, ethnically and culturally diverse, women, members of the LGBTQ community and persons with disabilities.”
The Diversity and Inclusion Committee will meet on Thursday as part of the Florida Bar’s Winter Meeting in Orlando.