Senate committee ejects speaker for outburst over divorce bill

TALLAHASSEE — A woman berated members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday as they were considering a bill that deals with shared custody of children after a divorce.

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When the woman, who identified herself as Cynthia Wheeler, was recognized during a public comment period, she began by saying, “Senator Lee is a liar." The bill (SB250) is sponsored by Sen. Tom Lee.

The sergeant at arms promptly attempted to escort her out of the chamber, but Wheeler persisted, calling the lawmakers "a bunch of liars and you’re bought and paid for and you’re damaging families.”

The committee was running low on time and the chair, Miami Republican Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, limited speakers to 30 seconds.

Grumbling as she collected her things before being escorted out of the committee room, Wheeler said “you’ve got time to listen to all kinds of bullshit, but you don’t have time to listen to mothers.”

While the bill originally made controversial changes to the state’s alimony laws, it now only deals with timesharing of children after a divorce, with a presumption that roughly equal time with a child by both parents would be in the child’s best interest. The change was not immediately apparent to some of the speakers who took issue with the alimony section of the bill that had just been cut. The court could establish unequal timesharing if it determines that it would be in the best interest of the child based on certain criteria. The bill passed the committee 7-3.

See the exchange here: http://bit.ly/1Qr9YUz CORRECTION: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that Cynthia Wheeler identified herself as Jessica Wheeler.