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.[3] Butterworth has two surviving children, a daughter, BreAnne and her brother, Brandon.
Butterworth was attorney general during the final years of use of the electric chair in executing death row prisoners. It was notorious for frequent malfunctions in the 1990s, namely in the cases of Jesse Tafero (executed May 4, 1990), Pedro Medina (executed March 25, 1997) and Allen Lee Davis (executed July 8, 1999). Reportedly, six-inch flames shot out of Tafero's head and 12-inch flames shot out of Medina's head, raising the question whether use of the electric chair was cruel and unusual punishment. After the Medina execution, Butterworth commented, "People who wish to commit murder, they'd better not do it in the state of Florida because we may have a problem with the electric chair."[4]
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 industry, 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.
Involvement in the 2000 election
Butterworth was the Florida chair of Al Gore's 2000 presidential campaign and chose not to use his capacities as Attorney General to influence court decisions on whether all the votes would be counted, given the obvious conflict of interest that would have been involved in doing so. (Butterworth did argue in favor of a statewide recount in the media.)
In 2002, Butterworth ran for Seat 25 in the Florida Senate, in hopes of representing portions of Palm Beach and Broward Counties. He resigned as Attorney General because of Florida's "resign-to-run laws.[5] However, he was defeated by RepublicanJeffrey Atwater.
Butterworth was dean of the School of Law at St. Thomas University. On December 19, 2006, governor-elect Charlie Crist 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 and Families and joined a Fort Lauderdale law firm.
