Lee E. WeissenbornLee Edward Weissenborn, a progressive force in the Florida legislature in the 60s and 70s, and a legal champion for the powerless in the years following, passed away on May 7, 2017 in Miami. He was 88.Lee was born on March 19, 1929 in St. Louis, Missouri. He moved to Miami with his mother, Pauline, when he was 9. Lee studied journalism at the University of Florida, where he served as associate editor and columnist for The Florida Alligator, the university-sanctioned student newspaper which was, in the 50s, still subject to university censorship; more satisfying, for Lee, was his role as editor of an alternative paper, The Shuffle, which cast a satirical eye on the political issues of the day. He went on to earn his law degree from the University of Florida. Though his children think him the unlikeliest Marine ever, he did, in fact, attain the rank of Captain in the United States Marine Corps, serving during the Korean conflict.From 1956 onward, Lee was active in the Young Democratic Clubs of Florida. He was a Delegate to the 1960 Democratic National Convention. In 1961, as Host Chairman of the Young Democratic National Convention, he welcomed President John F. Kennedy to Miami Beach.Lee served in Florida's House of Representatives from 1963-67, and in the Florida Senate from 1967-72, representing the citizens of Dade County. His legislative accomplishments were many, and showed him to be, if not a man ahead of his time, then one on the cusp of it. Of note: Lee's first legislative effort was a bill designed to extend Florida's then limited state kindergarten program to Dade and other counties of the state, which had been excluded from the program. He successfully amended the state kindergarten law, first as a House member and then as a member of the Senate, but when, even after these changes to the statute there was no actual expansion of the state kindergarten program, he filed a lawsuit at his own expense attacking the existing state kindergarten law as discriminatory. The court declared the existing scheme unconstitutional, and Lee was able to finally prevail upon his legislative colleagues to appropriate the necessary millions of dollars to expand the kindergarten program so that every child in Florida would be eligible to participate.Lee introduced and successfully steered to passage legislation prohibiting discrimination in state employment practices by reason of race, color or national origin, and providing a workable administrative and judicial appeal procedure. He subsequently led the effort that extended the employment discrimination ban to counties, municipal governments and all other agencies of the State of Florida.Arising out of his interest in the plight of Florida's migratory farmworkers, Lee educated himself in the overall problem of hunger. He championed legislation mandating a statewide, state-administered food stamp program in every county in Florida (more than a dozen counties lacked such a program at the time). He led the floor fight to fully fund Florida's free and reduced school lunch program. In the migrant area, his efforts led to the creation of a distinct Division of Migrant Labor, and he spearheaded laws requiring the licensing and regulation of all farm labor contractors (or crew chiefs), and eliminating the exclusion of farmworkers from the worker's compensation laws.Lee is probably best remembered for the furor he created in 1967, when he filed a bill to create a commission to study the feasibility of moving the capitol. The campaign to move the capitol to Orlando gained serious traction, and it shook Tallahassee's civic leaders to their cores. In 1967, Tallahassee was a provincial Southern town. It opted to close its public swimming pools rather than integrate them. It was officially "dry"; if you wanted to buy a bottle of liquor, you'd have to go to a bootlegger. In response to Lee's movement, Tallahassee opened its bars and swimming pools, and broke ground on a new capital building, where today hangs a plaque:"This plaque is dedicated to Senator Lee Weissenborn, whose valiant effort to move the Capitol to Orlando was the prime motivation for construction of this building."In later years, Lee devoted himself to his law practice. There, as in his legislative career, and much like his good friend and initial employer as an attorney, U.S. Representative Claude D. Pepper - Lee was at his most electrifying and indefatigable when taking up the cause of the underdog. For years Lee fought Dade County to prevent it from razing the home of his elderly widowed client and putting up a parking garage. But his real love was criminal law. He toiled for decades as a special assistant public defender representing the indigent accused. He was fearless in trial, and resourceful on appeal. He had a nose for creative constitutional challenges. Lee regularly handled capital cases, expending his all in the defense of his clients, and following their cases all the way to (and making a terrible ruckus at) the doors of the United States Supreme Court.Lee loved the New York Times, maps, thunderstorms, peanut butter, history, dogs, cats, the mountains of North Carolina, and cheesy science fiction. He never outgrew the impulse for mischief: he'd whisk your dessert off the table when you weren't looking, or call your office and ask for you in his Winston Churchill voice. He was irrepressible, a raconteur. When the stories began to fade along with his memory, it felt like something quirky and irreplaceable was vanishing from the world.Lee is survived by his loving wife Sheridan, his soulmate; his children, Jim (Cathy) Weissenborn of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, Carol Weissenborn of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Stephen Weissenborn of Hollywood, Florida; his grandchildren, Clay, Zach and Marcus; and his many beloved animals. Private services have been held. Memorials appreciated to: Paws 4 You Rescue, Miami ( https://paws4you.org) and The Cat Network of South Florida ( http://thecatnetwork.org).