Robert A. Butterworth is an
American attorneyThe law of the United States consists of many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the United States Constitution, the foundation of the federal government of the United States...
and
politicianThe United States is a federal constitutional republic, in which the President of the United States , Congress, and judiciary share powers reserved to the national government, and the federal government shares sovereignty with the state governments.The executive branch is headed by the President...
from the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
.
Early life and career
Butterworth was born in
PassaicPassaic is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 69,781, maintaining its status as the 15th largest municipality in New Jersey with an increase of 1,920 residents from the 2000 Census population of 67,861...
,
New JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, and moved to Florida with his family as a child. He received a
degreeAn academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in business administration from the
University of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in 1965, and a
Juris DoctorJuris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
degree from the
University of MiamiThe University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
in 1969. He is a member of
Tau Kappa EpsilonTau Kappa Epsilon is a college fraternity founded on January 10, 1899 at Illinois Wesleyan University with chapters in the United States, and Canada, and affiliation with a German fraternity system known as the Corps of the Weinheimer Senioren Convent...
and serves on its international board of directors.
Butterworth was a
judgeA judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
in the county and circuit courts of Broward County from 1974 to 1978, when he was appointed
sheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Broward County. He was appointed to head up Florida's
Department of Motor VehiclesIn the United States of America, a Department of Motor Vehicles is a state-level government agency that administers vehicle registration and driver licensing. Similar departments exist in Canada...
in 1982, and
mayorIn many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of
Sunrise, Florida-Overview:Sunrise is a city in southwestern Broward County, Florida, United States. It was incorporated in 1961 by Norman Johnson – a developer whose World Famous Upside-Down House attracted buyers to what was then a remote area...
in 1984.
In 1986, on the eve of his election as attorney general, Butterworth's ex-wife, Saundra, fatally shot their 16-year-old son, Robert A. Butterworth III, and then killed herself on a northeast Miami street. Police said she was mentally ill and had used a gun Butterworth had given her for protection before their divorce in 1976.
http://www.courttv.com/archive/national/decision_2000/111400-butterworth_ap.html
Butterworth currently has two children, BreAnne and Brandon.
Florida Attorney General
A Democrat, Butterworth served as the 33rd Attorney General of Florida, for four consecutive terms, under three governors:
Bob MartinezRobert Martinez was the 40th Governor of Florida from 1987 to 1991. Prior to that, he was the mayor of Tampa from 1979 to 1986.- Education and early career :...
,
Lawton ChilesLawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...
, and
Jeb BushJohn Ellis "Jeb" Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd Governor of Florida from 1999 to 2007. He is a prominent member of the Bush family: the second son of former President George H. W. Bush and former First Lady Barbara Bush; the younger brother of former President George W...
. He was first elected in 1986 and reelected in 1990, 1994, and 1998. His popularity among voters in the state has led to frequent mention of his name as a potential candidate for Governor of Florida or for the
U.S. SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
Tobacco lawsuit
One of Butterworth's key activities during his time in office was the initiation and execution of Florida's lawsuit against the
tobacco industryThe tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any warm, moist environment, which means it can be farmed on all...
, which was one of the early contributions to what eventually became a nationwide effort. As a result of this suit, tobacco companies agreed to pay $11 billion to the state of Florida. Based on his participation in this effort, Butterworth was voted the nation's top state attorney general by attorneys-general from other states.
Involvement in the 2000 election
Butterworth was the Florida chair of
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
's
2000 presidential campaignAl Gore, the 45th Vice President of the United States under Bill Clinton, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Carthage, Tennessee on June 16, 1999. Gore became the nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2000 presidential election on August 17, 2000...
and chose to not use his capacities as Attorney-General to influence court decisions on whether all the votes would be counted, so as not to have a
conflict of interestA conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
. (Butterworth did argue in favor of a statewide recount in the media).
Butterworth's Republican counterpart, Florida Secretary of State
Katherine HarrisKatherine Harris is an American Republican politician, former Secretary of State of Florida, and former member of the United States House of Representatives. Harris won the 2002 election to represent Florida's 13th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. She held that post...
, was the Florida chair of
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's
presidential campaignThis article is about the 2000 presidential campaign of George W. Bush, winner of the 2000 presidential election and re-elected in the 2004 election.See George W. Bush for a detailed biography and information about his presidency, and George W...
. She was criticized by Democrats when she chose to certify the heavily-contested ballot count, despite the conflict of interest.
Later activities
Butterworth left office in 2002. He then unsuccessfully ran for Seat 25 in the Florida Senate, in hopes of representing portions of Palm Beach and Broward Counties. However, he was beaten by
RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
Jeffrey AtwaterJeffrey "Jeff" Atwater, a fifth-generation Floridian, was elected Florida's Chief Financial Officer is currently the Chief Financial Officer of Florida...
.
Butterworth was
deanIn academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of the College of Law at
St. Thomas UniversitySt. Thomas University is a private Roman Catholic university in the Miami, Florida, United States suburb of Miami Gardens.-History:The University traces its roots to the Universidad Católica de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, founded in 1946 in Havana, Cuba, named after Saint Thomas of Villanova, by...
. Butterworth has remained active in politics, endorsing
Rod SmithRod Smith is an American politician from the U.S. state of Florida. A Democrat, Smith was a member of the Florida Senate from Gainesville from 2001 until 2006. Smith ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Florida in the 2006 election but lost to Congressman Jim Davis...
for Governor of Florida in 2006.
On December 19, 2006, governor-elect
Charlie CristCharles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. is an American politician who was the 44th Governor of Florida. Prior to his election as governor, Crist previously served as Florida State Senator, Education Commissioner, and Attorney General...
named Butterworth as the new secretary of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
On July 29, 2008 Secretary Butterworth resigned his post as Secretary of The Department of Children of Families, saying in his resignation letter to Governor Charlie Crist:
“It is time to pass the torch to a new secretary,” says the letter, which was delivered to the
Governor Tuesday morning. “It’s not that all the problems are solved. This agency will never be
able to say, ‘Mission Accomplished.’ We only look at the accomplishments these past 19 months
and say, ‘Keep it going.’
After his resignation from DCF, Butterworth joined the Fort Lauderdale law firm Atkinson Diner
et al.
Electoral history
External links