Reams sues to get job back

Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Suspended Clerk of Court Kirk Reams is suing Governor Rick Scott and Senate President Joe Negron in a bid to regain his clerk job.
Reams filed suit in federal court in Tallahassee on Tuesday, March 20. The suit, according to media reports, seeks to bar Scott and Negron from enforcing state statues and Senate rules relative to the suspension of public officials. The suit essentially seeks the reinstatement of Reams, whom the Governor suspended without pay last fall shortly after the former was charged with petit theft for loaning a county-owned laptop computer to his former girlfriend for her personal use for about a year.
A six-member jury in January exonerated Reams of the petit theft charge. The Governor, however, declined to reinstate him following the jury's verdict. Instead, the Governor's office said it would leave it to the Senate to decide Reams' reinstatement. The Senate, however, never addressed the issue during its recent session, which concluded on March 11.
Reams' attorney, David Collins, is calling the state officials' actions unconstitutional and a violation of the 14th Amendment, which addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws. Collins suggests that the Governor's suspension had little to do with the legal process.
“There are additional sections in the executive order accusing Mr. Reams of malfeasance and misfeasance in office that the Governor, I believe, relies upon to keep his suspension in effect,” Collins is quoted saying.
The malfeasance and misfeasance refer to allegations unearthed by the FDLE investigation of Reams engaging in sex and taking nude photo’s with his former girlfriend in the courthouse, for which he was never charged, as the investigation determined that the alleged actions didn't legally constitute wrongdoing.
Reams' complaint maintains that unless a special legislative session is called to give him his 'due process' hearing, his case won't be addressed until as late as May 2019, which is a violation of his basic rights under the law.
Reams was elected to office in 2006 and reelected in 2008, 2012 and 2016 without opposition.