Florida Senate - 2018                              (NP)    SR 94
       
       
        
       By Senator Gibson
       
       
       
       
       
       6-00197A-18                                             201894__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution remembering the life and legacy of
    3         William D. Brinton.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton was born in Kansas City,
    6  Missouri, and moved to Jacksonville in 1959, where he graduated
    7  from Robert E. Lee High School, and
    8         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton earned his bachelor’s degree
    9  from the University of Virginia and his law degree from the
   10  University of Florida, and
   11         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton interned in the summer of 1976
   12  with the law firm Freeman, Richardson, Watson, Slade, McCarthy &
   13  Kelly, P.A., and became a partner of the firm in 1977, and
   14         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton co-founded Citizens Against
   15  Proliferation of Signs in 1987 and Citizens for Tree
   16  Preservation, which later merged to become Scenic Jacksonville,
   17  and
   18         WHEREAS, in 1989, William D. Brinton formed Allen, Brinton,
   19  Simmons & McCarthy, P.A., where he became known as an expert in
   20  the areas of complex First Amendment issues, land use litigation
   21  involving billboards and sign regulation, preservation of scenic
   22  landscapes, and commercial and construction litigation, and
   23         WHEREAS, in 2000, William D. Brinton became a shareholder
   24  of the prominent law firm Rogers Towers, P.A., and
   25         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton was recognized in Jacksonville
   26  and nationally as an expert on city charter amendments through
   27  citizen petitions and referendums, and he spearheaded successful
   28  efforts to limit and gradually reduce the number of off-site
   29  billboards, impose term limits on the election of Jacksonville
   30  City Council members, and require preservation mitigation for
   31  the removal of protected trees, and
   32         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton’s court admissions included the
   33  United States District Courts for the Northern, Middle, and
   34  Southern Districts of Florida and the Western District of
   35  Tennessee; all 13 United States Circuit Courts of Appeal,
   36  including the District of Columbia Circuit; the Federal Circuit
   37  Court and the Supreme Court of the United States, and
   38         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton was an active and effective
   39  member and leader of numerous civic organizations, including
   40  Leadership Jacksonville; the Jacksonville Community Council,
   41  Inc.; the Jacksonville Bar Association; City Beautiful Jax; the
   42  Jacksonville Landscape Commission; and Scenic America, and
   43         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton was the founder, a board
   44  member, and the counsel of Scenic Jacksonville, and he founded
   45  three Friends of the Library organizations for the Murray Hill,
   46  Brentwood, and Dallas Graham branches, and
   47         WHEREAS, William D. Brinton received numerous recognitions
   48  and awards, including Lawyer of the Year in 1995 from the
   49  Financial News and Daily Record; the International Municipal
   50  Lawyers Association’s Amicus Service Award in 2015 and 2017; the
   51  Milestone Award for Citizen Advocacy from the Jacksonville
   52  Community Council, Inc.; the Prize for Civic Engagement Award
   53  from the Community Foundation for Northeast Florida; the Keep
   54  Jacksonville Beautiful-Jake Godbold Award; the 2014 Mayor’s
   55  Environmental Award; Scenic America’s Distinguished Advocacy
   56  Award for Scenic Beauty and Law; and the Cynthia Pratt
   57  McLaughlin Medal for environmental protection from The Garden
   58  Club of America, among others, NOW, THEREFORE,
   59  
   60  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   61  
   62         That the members of the Senate express sympathy on the
   63  passing of William D. Brinton, a stalwart leader devoted to his
   64  community and his nation.
   65         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
   66  the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to the family of
   67  William D. Brinton as a tangible token of the sentiments of the
   68  Florida Senate.