Charles Canady
2008 - Present
2029
17
Charles Canady is a judge of the Florida Supreme Court. He assumed office on September 8, 2008. His current term ends on January 2, 2029.
Canady ran for re-election for judge of the Florida Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 8, 2022.
Canady was elected by his peers to serve as chief justice of the court from 2010 to 2012. He was elected a second time in 2018 and re-elected in 2020. He completed his second term in June 2022.[1]
Canady was appointed to the court by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on August 28, 2008, to replace retiring Justice Raoul Cantero.[2][1] He was retained by voters in 2010 and 2016. To read more about judicial selection in Florida, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Canady received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
Canady was a member of the Florida House of Representatives representing House District 44 from 1984 to 1990.[5] He was first elected as a Democrat but later switched his party affiliation to Republican in 1989.[5] He represented Florida's 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House from 1993 to 2001.[5] Before joining the state supreme court, Canady served as a judge on the Florida Second District Court of Appeal.[1]
Biography
Canady was born in Lakeland, Florida, on June 22, 1954.[5] He received a bachelor's degree from Haverford College in 1976 and a law degree from Yale University in 1979.[1] Following his graduation from law school, Canady returned to Lakeland where he worked as an attorney at the law firm of Holland and Knight.[1]
Canady represented House District 44 in the Florida House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990.[5] He was a registered Democrat during his tenure in the state House until 1989, at which point he switched his party affiliation to Republican.[5] In 1990, he ran as a Republican for Senate District 12 in the Florida State Senate and lost. In 1992, he was elected to represent Florida's 12th Congressional District in the U.S. House, a position he held until leaving office in 2001.
After leaving Congress, Canady became general counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush (R), a position he held until Bush appointed him to the Florida Second District Court of Appeal in 2002.[1] Gov. Charlie Crist (R) appointed Canady to the Florida Supreme Court in 2008.[2][1]
Elections
2022
See also: Florida Supreme Court elections, 2022
Florida Supreme Court, Charles Canady's seat
Charles Canady was retained to the Florida Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 64.0% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
64.0
|
4,358,437 | ||
No |
36.0
|
2,455,875 | |||
Total Votes |
6,814,312 | ||||
|
|
Florida Supreme Court (2008-present)
Canady was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on August 28, 2008, to replace retiring Justice Raoul Cantero.[2][1]
2016
- See also: Florida Supreme Court elections, 2016
Canady was retained by voters on November 8, 2016, receiving 68.0% of the vote.[6]
| Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2016 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
Charles Canady 
|
5,300,748 | 68.0% | ||
| Against retention | 2,493,459 | 32.0% | ||
2010
- See also: Florida judicial elections, 2010
Canady was retained by voters on November 2, 2010, receiving 67.5% of the vote.[7]
| Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Charles Canady
|
3,032,766 | 67.5% | ||
| Against retention | 1,457,276 | 32.5% | ||
Florida Second District Court of Appeal (2002-2008)
Canady was appointed to the Florida Second District Court of Appeal by Gov. Jeb Bush (R) to replace retiring judge Oliver L. Green. He assumed office in 2002.[1]
2004
Canady was retained by voters on November 2, 2004, receiving 74.6% of the vote.[8]
| Florida Second District Court of Appeal 2004 general election results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidates | Votes | Percent | ||
| Charles Canady
|
1,296,569 | 74.6% | ||
| Against retention | 441,461 | 25.4% | ||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Charles Canady did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[9]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[10]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Charles
Canady
Florida
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Held political office as a Republican
- Was a registered Republican before 2020
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Canady served as general counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush (R) from 2001-2002. He also served as a Republican member of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Florida House of Representatives. He was a registered Republican prior to 2020. Canady was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in 2008. At the time of his appointment, Florida was a Republican trifecta.
Other Indicators:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Canady received a campaign finance score of 0.87, indicating a conservative ideological leaning.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Canady received a campaign finance score of 0.87, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.51 that justices received in Florida.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[11]
Noteworthy cases
Noteworthy cases may be selected due to their impact on legal precedent, substantial media attention, or overlaps with another area of editorial interest at Ballotpedia. To suggest cases we should cover here, email us.
State v. Phillips (2013)
Due to a calculation error, Steven Phillips, a prisoner serving time for sexual assault and parole violations, was held in state custody several months past his correct release date. Phillips identified the error and asked for it to be corrected, but the error was not officially confirmed until his correct release date had passed. Several months after what should have been his release date, Phillips was transferred to the Florida Civil Commitment Center, and the state petitioned to keep Phillips civilly committed under Florida’s Involuntary Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act.[12]
Previous Florida Supreme Court decisions had determined that the state can petition to have an inmate civilly committed only during the period that the inmate is in lawful custody. Although the court acknowledged that the language of the act included only the word custody, not prefaced with lawful, the supreme court ruled that the legislature intended the custody to be lawful. Citing those cases, Phillips challenged the commitment petition, arguing that he was not in lawful custody at the time of the petition.[12]
A majority of the Florida Supreme Court agreed. The court held that “lawful custody…requires the State to initiate commitment proceedings prior to the expiration of sentence date.” Because Phillips’ sentence expired before the state initiated commitment proceedings, the court held that he was not in lawful custody at the time of the state’s petition.[12]
Justice Canady dissented, joined by Justice Ricky Polston. Canady argued that the court should not prevent the state from seeking civil commitment of an inmate "simply because the commitment process is initiated at time when the person is in custody due to legal error.” Canady would have “recede[d] from the unreasoned pronouncement contained in [the earlier cases].” He wrote, “The judicially imposed lawful custody requirement is based on a serious interpretive error, which resulted in imposing a meaning on the statute that is unsound in principle.”[13][12]
State supreme court judicial selection in Florida
- See also: Judicial selection in Florida
The seven justices of the Florida Supreme Court are selected through the assisted appointment method. A judicial nominating commission consisting of nine members who are appointed by the governor to four-year terms screens potential judicial candidates.[14] The commission submits a list of three to six nominees to the governor, and the governor must then appoint a judge from the list.[15]
Newly appointed judges serve for at least one year, after which they appear in a yes-no retention election held during the next general election. If retained, judges serve six-year terms.[15] Under the Florida constitution, a judge must retire at age 75; however, a judge who reaches 75 after serving at least half of his or her term may complete that term.[16]
Qualifications
To serve on the court, a judge must be:
- a qualified elector;
- a state resident;
- admitted to practice law in the state for 10 years before assuming the bench; and
- under the age of 75.
Chief justice
The chief justice of the supreme court is selected by peer vote. He or she serves in that capacity for two years.[15]
Vacancies
If a midterm vacancy occurs, the seat is filled as it normally would be if the vacancy occurred at the end of a judge's term. A judicial nominating commission recommends three to six qualified candidates to the governor, and the governor selects a successor from that list. The new appointee serves for at least one year before running in a yes-no retention election.[15]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Florida Supreme Court, "Chief Justice Charles T. Canady," accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Crist was a Republican at the time he appointed Canady, but later switched his party affiliation to Democrat.
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Our Campaigns, "Canady, Charles T." accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ Florida Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ Florida Secretary of State, "Official results," accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ Florida Secretary of State, "Official results," accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Justia, "State v. Phillips," accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ Internal citations have been omitted.
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Florida; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived January 13, 2012
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial selection: Florida," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Florida Constitution, "Article V, Section 8," accessed September 10, 2021
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Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Florida, Southern District of Florida
State courts:
Florida Supreme Court • Florida District Courts of Appeal • Florida Circuit Court • Florida County Court
State resources:
Courts in Florida • Florida judicial elections • Judicial selection in Florida
