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.