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Florida Supreme Court justice vacancies (November 2019)

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Florida Supreme Court
State-Supreme-Courts-Ballotpedia.png
Barbara Lagoa vacancy
Vacancy created:
December 2019
Vacancy filled:
May 26, 2020
Appointee:
John Couriel
Robert Luck vacancy
Vacancy created:
November 2019
Appointees:
Jamie Grosshans
Renatha Francis (withdrawn)
Vacancy filled:
September 14, 2020

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed John Couriel and Jamie Grosshans to the Florida Supreme Court to succeed Justices Robert J. Luck and Barbara Lagoa. Couriel and Grosshans joined one other DeSantis nominee, Justice Carlos Muñiz, on the seven-member supreme court.[1][2] The state supreme court seats became vacant after Luck and Lagoa were confirmed to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in November 2019.

The governor had originally appointed Couriel and Renatha Francis, but a five-member Florida Supreme Court ruled against Francis' appointment due to a constitutional requirement of the office and ordered the governor to select a different nominee. Under Florida law, state supreme court justices were chosen through a process of assisted appointment, where the governor chose a nominee from a list of potential candidates provided by a judicial nominating commission.

Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the two Florida Supreme Court vacancies:

Timeline

  • September 14, 2020: Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Jamie Rutland Grosshans to the Florida Supreme Court.
  • September 11, 2020:
    • Renatha Francis withdrew her nomination to the state supreme court.
    • The Florida Supreme Court rejected the governor's appointment of Francis and ordered the governor to select a new nominee.
  • September 8, 2020: The state supreme court allowed State Rep. Geraldine Thompson (D-District 44) to revise her legal complaint challenging Francis' appointment.
  • August 27, 2020: The state supreme court ruled the governor exceeded his authority in appointing Francis, but held her appointment would stand.
  • July 2020: State Rep. Thompson filed a lawsuit challenging Francis' appointment.
  • May 26, 2020: Gov. DeSantis appointed John Couriel and Renatha Francis to the state supreme court.
  • March 19, 2020: Gov. DeSantis announced he would delay selecting replacements until at least May 1, 2020.
  • January 23, 2020: The judicial nominating commission submitted a list of nominees to the governor.
  • November 2019: Two Florida Supreme Court seats became vacant after Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck joined the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

The appointees

John Couriel

See also: John D. Couriel
John Couriel

Couriel was an attorney at Kobre & Kim in Miami, Florida, when he was appointed to the state supreme court. Before joining Kobre & Kim, Couriel was a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice, working as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida's Criminal Division. Couriel previously practiced at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP. After law school, he was a law clerk to Judge John Bates of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[3]

Couriel obtained his bachelor's degree (A.B.) and his J.D. from Harvard. During his legal studies, he was a supervising editor of the Harvard Law School Journal on Legislation.[3]

Couriel was a 2016 Republican candidate for District 114 of the Florida House of Representatives. He ran for the Florida State Senate in 2012.[4]

Jamie Grosshans

See also: Jamie Rutland Grosshans
Jamie Grosshans

At the time of her state supreme court appointment, Grosshans was a judge on the Florida 5th District Court of Appeal. She was appointed to that court by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2018. She was a judge for the Orange County Court in Florida from 2017 to 2018. Before that, Grosshans was a solo practitioner for Plant Street Law. She also previously worked as an assistant state attorney for the Ninth Judicial Circuit.[5]

Grosshans earned a bachelor's degree from Thomas Edison State College and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Mississippi School of Law.[5]

Renatha Francis (withdrawn)

See also: Renatha Francis
Renatha Francis

Gov. DeSantis appointed Francis to the Florida Supreme Court on May 26, 2020.[1] Francis withdrew her nomination on September 11, 2020, after the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled against her appointment.[6] The court ordered the governor to select a different nominee. State Rep. Geraldine Thompson (D-District 44) had filed a lawsuit challenging Francis' appointment in July 2020. Click here for more information about the lawsuit.

At the time of her state supreme court appointment, Francis was a judge on the Florida 15th Circuit Court. She was appointed to that court by Gov. DeSantis on October 1, 2019. Before that, she served on the Florida 11th Circuit Court and the Miami-Dade County Court.[7]

Before becoming a county court judge in 2017, Francis was an attorney in private practice with the firm Shutts & Bowen, LLP. She also previously worked as an attorney and law clerk for the Florida First District Court of Appeal.[7]

Francis earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the West Indies and a J.D. from Florida Coastal School of Law.[7] Francis was born in Jamaica. She would have been the first Caribbean-American to serve on the Florida Supreme Court.[4]

Appointee candidates and nominations

Finalists

On January 23, 2020, the judicial nominating commission submitted nine nominees to Gov. DeSantis.[8]

Normally, the governor would have needed to select the replacement by March 23, 2020. Article V, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution says the governor "shall make the appointment within sixty days after the nominations have been certified to the governor." However, DeSantis announced on March 19 that he would delay selecting replacements for Lagoa and Luck until at least May 1. Click here for more information on the delay.

The nominees were:[8]

Applicants

Thirty-two candidates applied to fill the two vacant positions.[9]

The selection process

See also: Judicial selection in Florida

At the time of the vacancy, Florida Supreme Court justices were chosen through a process of assisted appointment, also known as the Missouri Plan. A judicial nominating commission screened potential judicial candidates and submitted a list of three to six nominees per seat to the governor. The governor was required to appoint a judge from the list.[11]

Newly appointed judges would serve for at least one year, after which they would appear in a yes-no retention election held during the next general election. If retained, judges would serve six-year terms.[11]

Judicial nominating commission

At the time of the vacancy, there were 27 separate judicial nominating commissions (JNCs) in Florida: one for the Florida Supreme Court; one for each of the five district courts of appeal; one for each of the 20 circuit court and the county courts contained in those circuits; and one Statewide Commission for Judges of Compensation Claims.[12]

The JNC for the Florida Supreme Court consisted of nine members, all appointed by the governor. The governor appointed four of the nine members from a list of nominees certified by the Florida Bar. The remaining five JNC members were directly appointed by the governor.[12]

Noteworthy events

Florida Supreme Court rejects Renatha Francis' appointment

State Rep. Geraldine Thompson

State Rep. Geraldine Thompson (D-District 44) filed a lawsuit challenging Francis' appointment in July 2020. Thompson argued Francis was unqualified because she had not been a member of the Florida Bar for the amount of time (10 years) required under the Florida Constitution. Francis reached the 10-year membership requirement on September 24, 2020. In the lawsuit, Thompson argued, "The plain and unambiguous language of the Florida Constitution requires that an individual satisfy that requirement prior to being eligible for appointment."[13]

On September 11, 2020, five members of the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of Thompson. Justice Couriel recused himself. The court held that Francis was not eligible because she did not meet the eligibility requirements under the state constitution. The court also ordered the governor to select a different nominee from the seven remaining nominees recommended by the judicial nominating commission.[14]

The Florida Supreme Court had ruled in a 5-0 opinion on August 27, 2020, that Gov. DeSantis had exceeded his authority in appointing Francis to the state supreme court. However, the court held at that time that Francis' appointment would stand.[15] On September 8, 2020, the court allowed Thompson to revise her complaint.[16]

Lawyers for Gov. DeSantis said that the governor had not appointed Francis before she was eligible, but rather had announced his intent to appoint her.[17] At a press conference in Miramar, Florida, the governor said the lawsuit was politically motivated.[18]

Gov. DeSantis delays appointment due to coronavirus

See also: Ballotpedia: Political responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

On March 19, 2020, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced he would delay selecting replacements for Lagoa and Luck until at least May 1. The governor said he had not had time to review the candidates' application materials because of the coronavirus pandemic. Normally under state law, DeSantis would have needed to select the two new justices by March 23.[19]

DeSantis had declared a state of emergency on March 9 in response to the coronavirus pandemic. At the time of the emergency declaration, the Florida Department of Health confirmed that 13 residents had tested positive for the virus.[20]

Click here for more information on state government policy changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Media coverage

This section includes excerpts from articles about the appointment process. Coverage of the process focused on issues of diversity and questions surrounding the eligibility of appointee Judge Renatha Francis.

Diversity

Racial diversity

  • Scott Maxwell, Orlando Sentinel (September 9, 2020): "This crowd of Francis supporters — many of them Black and Democratic — argued that Francis' unconstitutional appointment would bring needed diversity to a court that currently has no Black justices.
Without Francis, there might be no Black justices, they claimed.
That argument sets Thompson’s hair on fire — the suggestion that the only Black applicant suitable for appointment is an unqualified one.
Of course, Thompson wants diversity on the bench. She has been fighting for equality her entire life, and has long championed the appointment of qualified Black justices, noting many have applied.
The problem appears to be that none of those qualified applicants struck DeSantis' fancy quite like Francis, who is a member of the Federalist Society — a conservative legal group that DeSantis has frequently turned to for appointments.
DeSantis wasn’t looking for qualified appointees. He wanted ideological ones. ...
This week, DeSantis tried to recast his partisan desires as altruistic ones, saying he simply wants judges who believe in 'fidelity to the constitution.'
The irony was rich; Florida’s governor professing passion for a constitution that a court full of conservative judges said he had just violated. ...
Keep in mind: DeSantis had multiple opportunities to nominate Black justices before … and took none of them. Yet now he wanted to claim he was the Martin Luther King Jr. of judicial activism and that Thompson — a 71-year-old Black woman who has crusaded for civil rights her whole life — was the enemy of diversity. That takes gall."[21]
  • State Rep. Bruce Antone (D), Press release, Office of the governor of Florida (May 28, 2020): "I applaud Governor DeSantis’ appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court. Judge Renatha Francis is highly qualified to serve on the Florida Supreme Court, and she brings diversity and diversity of experiences to the Florida Supreme Court."[22]
  • Broward County Mayor Dale V.C. Holness (D), Press release, Office of the governor of Florida (May 28, 2020): "Judge Francis is a highly regarded circuit court judge who has demonstrated strong work ethic, intellect and integrity which is recognized by the legal, civic and business community of Florida. As a first-generation Jamaican immigrant, Judge Francis bears the distinction of being only the second black female, in the history of Miami Dade County, to be appointed to the circuit court bench. Judge Francis will add a desired balance to the court from the perspective of race, ethnicity and gender and her service to the Florida Supreme Court will be of great benefit for all the residents of our state."[22]
  • Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association President Brendalyn Edwards, Press release, Office of the governor of Florida (May 28, 2020): "Governor DeSantis’ recent appointments send a clear signal that diversity and representation on the bench need not be sacrificed in appointing well-qualified candidates. As one of many organizations long advocating for a diverse judiciary that represents the community it serves, the Gwen S. Cherry Black Women Lawyers Association celebrates the most recent appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court. Judge Francis will be the second black woman and the first Jamaican-American to serve on the state’s highest court. Her advancement from her humble beginnings is an inspiration and a testament to perseverance."[22]
  • Michael Moline, Florida Phoenix (March 19, 2020): "The nominees give DeSantis a chance to add some diversity to the seven-member court — three have Hispanic roots, four are men, five are women, and one is African American. The court hasn’t had an African-American justice since Peggy Quince (and the rest of the court’s liberal wing) were forced into retirement at the end of 2018.
DeSantis, a conservative Republican with a law degree from Harvard, has been using his judicial appointments to push the state’s courts to the right. Like the governor himself, every one of the nine nominees have ties to the ideologically conservative-libertarian Federalist Society."[23]
  • Editorial Board, The Palm Beach Post (January 15, 2020): "With two new vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court, DeSantis can appoint an African-American justice and rightfully bring racial diversity back to the state’s highest court.
Five conservative white men now sit on the court; and after 36 years, there hasn’t been a black state supreme court justice since Justice Peggy Quince’s mandatory retirement last year. President Donald Trump recently appointed two members of the state court to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That opened the door for DeSantis, and his hand-picked Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC), to appoint two new justices and bring some racial diversity and possibly moderation to the bench. ...
There are six black judges -- all well-qualified -- among the 32 applicants. It shouldn’t be that difficult for the JNC to include the name of at least one of them for the governor’s consideration."[24]
  • State Sens. Perry Thurston (D) and Darryl Rouson (D), Tampa Bay Times (January 8, 2020): "The Florida Supreme Court lacks the diversity needed to satisfy the many legal needs of Florida’s divergent, ethnic and racial communities. Justice Thurgood Marshall once said: 'one-sided justice' does not allow for our adversary system to fully consider the impact that a decision can have on 'all the people it will affect.' Gov. Ron DeSantis can right this wrong and enhance public confidence in our judicial process by appointing an African American to Florida’s high court. ...
'Sat Cito Si Recte' is the Florida Supreme Court motto. It’s Latin for 'Soon enough if done rightly,' a phrase indicating how important it is to take the time to achieve true justice. But, given the governor’s influence in picking judges, what message does the selection process send to Florida’s 3.5 million black residents? Will they and the rest of Florida’s diverse population have confidence they will get justice?
The upcoming appointments to the Florida Supreme Court remain a true indicator of how seriously any governor regards an independent judiciary that represents all of Florida. DeSantis can show he’s taking a pragmatic stand and appoint a black jurist to the High Court."[25]

Ideological diversity

  • Editorial board, South Florida Sun Sentinel (June 3, 2020): "As expected, Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed two more Florida Supreme Court justices who are members of the Federalist Society, a private organization with virtually exclusive access to seats on the highest courts of our state and nation.
You can expect the appointments of Renatha Francis and John Couriel to make Florida’s highest court even more stridently conservative than it has lately become. ...
With the appointment of Couriel, 42, a Miami attorney, three of the seven people on Florida’s highest court will be Hispanic and four will have come from Miami-Dade or Palm Beach counties.
Their ethnic diversity is a plus. Where they lived when they were appointed doesn’t matter.
But there should also be diversity of philosophy on Florida’s appellate bench, where it matters even more than in the lower courts that try cases, but don’t have the last word on interpreting the laws and the Constitution."[26]
  • Editorial Board, South Florida Sun Sentinel (February 9, 2020): "Federalist credentials have become virtually a requirement for appointment to the federal bench under President Trump and to Florida’s courts under Scott and DeSantis. The politicization of the judiciary has intensified since 2001, when the Legislature agreed to let the governor appoint all nine members of each nominating commission, not just three. ...
Diversity of thought has all but vanished from the Florida Supreme Court, where Jorge Labarga is now the only justice not committed to the Federalist Society’s controversial creed of 'textualism.' Under that legal philosophy, law and legal documents are interpreted based on the ordinary meaning of the legal text. ...
It is fundamentally destructive of the integrity of the courts to make any particular creed a criterion for appointment."[27]
  • Editorial Board, South Florida Sun Sentinel (January 7, 2020): "Daniel Nordby, a Federalist who chairs Florida’s Supreme Court Nominating Commission, asserted in an e-mail to the Sun Sentinel that Federalist membership is not a de facto requirement for nomination to the court.
'The only qualifications…,' he said, 'are those specified in the Florida Constitution.'
Speaking for himself, 'I am looking for potential Florida Supreme Court justices who are individuals of great personal integrity and intellectual ability, mindful of their critically important but limited role under the Constitution, hard-working with a steady judicial temperament and a demonstrated commitment to the faithful and impartial interpretation and application of the law.'"[28]

Eligibility of Judge Francis

  • Carrie Campbell Severino, National Review (September 9, 2020): "When DeSantis announced that Francis’ appointment, he said that it would take effect on September 24, when she meets an eligibility requirement for ten years of membership in the Florida Bar. The Florida constitution requires justices to serve ten years in the Florida Bar prior to holding office. The text of the Florida constitution, however, does not require ten years of bar membership before a lawyer or judge may apply or be nominated and selected for office.
Moreover, the Florida supreme court previously held in Miller v. Mendez that the eligibility requirements must be met at the time a justice takes office, not earlier. Another Florida supreme court opinion (Lawson v. Page) held that the governor’s appointment is not complete until the governor issues a commission to the justice, which in this case will happen on September 24, when Francis will meet all eligibility requirements, including the ten-year bar-membership threshold."[29]
  • Richard Tribou and Gray Rohrer, Orlando Sentinel (May 26, 2020): "'I’m pleased with [Renatha Francis'] selection to the court; she’s qualified,' said Rep. Bruce Antone, an Orlando Democrat and chairman of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus. 'Of course, it’s going to take a couple of months before she can actually sit on the bench. I think she brings diversity and diversity of thought and experience to the bench, and I think it’s a notable achievement that she’s the first Caribbean-American.'"[4]
  • Adam Richardson, Slate (April 1, 2020): "DeSantis is not authorized to issue [Renatha Francis] a commission—to make the appointment—until she is eligible on Sept. 24. The governor can’t simply announce his intent to appoint her and satisfy the constitutional appointment requirement. Nor can he leave the vacancy open until Sept. 24. Yet DeSantis appears to reject these constitutional limitations on his authority. His top aide said in March that 'the governor is open to waiting until September to name' Francis to the court.
The Florida Supreme Court needs to be diverse. It needs different perspectives; it should be representative of our state. But the words of the state constitution are paramount, and those words are unequivocal. The Florida Constitution forbids DeSantis from appointing Francis to the court by issuing her a commission while she is ineligible, and he cannot lawfully hold the seat open until she becomes eligible. If the governor ignores these rules, he will demonstrate that he feels unbound by 'the fundamental law of the state.'"[30]
  • Rep. Geraldine Thompson (D), Orlando Sentinel (February 14, 2020): "[Renatha Francis], in my opinion, is not the best qualified choice for the position. If you review the qualifications of some of the other African American candidates who applied for appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, you might conclude that JNC members, after determining their racial belonging, saw them as interchangeable regardless of experience and qualifications. ...
When making this recommendation, the JNC had essentially given members of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus a 'take it or leave it' proposition on Francis. The FLBC opted to support diversity on the Supreme Court. I support diversity as well and view it as highly important on the Florida Supreme Court as well as other areas in American society, but diversity can be achieved simultaneously with qualifications."[31]
  • Eugene K. Pettis, Tallahassee Democrat (February 7, 2020): "Despite these credentials, [Renatha Francis'] nomination has drawn some criticism because she wouldn’t become eligible to be sworn in as a justice until September. Critics have mistakenly conflated qualifications to be nominated or appointed with eligibility to be sworn in. ...
DeSantis should not be dissuaded from appointing Francis to our Supreme Court. He has the power and precedent to appoint her now and commission her at a later date. These appointments will shape this court for the next decade.
Eliminating Francis from consideration and appointment to the high court is contrary to past practices and is an unconscionable statement of disregard as to the importance of judicial diversity. The option of delaying her appointment for a few months in order to appoint a well-qualified jurist, who happens to be a minority, far outweighs the ramifications of our high court lacking diversity for years to come.
A few months is worth the wait to allow the Supreme Court to be more reflective of the state’s population, and ensure fairness and justice at the highest level of our court system."[32]
  • James L. Rosica, Tallahassee Democrat (February 2, 2020): "The state's black lawmakers are formally calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint Palm Beach Circuit Judge Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court — though they acknowledged she is not yet technically qualified to serve, calling it a 'small detail.'
The 29-member Legislative Black Caucus made the request in a one-page letter delivered to DeSantis' office on Friday.
Francis is the only black nominee on the list of nine names recommended to DeSantis by the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) last month."[33]

Other issues

  • Editorial board, The Palm Beach Post (September 16, 2020): "Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to pull a fast one. Faced with pressure to diversify the state’s highest court, the governor thought he had a shot at making a notable pick and a bit of Florida history by picking a Black jurist of Caribbean descent. Too bad that the nominee didn't have the minimum qualification set in the Florida Constitution: 10 years as a member of the Florida Bar. ...
Give the Supreme Court credit. The justices — half of them appointed by DeSantis — could have found a way to preserve the appointment by merely allowing DeSantis again to pick Francis’ name from the JNC list. Instead, they ordered the governor to choose another name from the original JNC list, someone who'd pass muster.
The real profile in courage in this drama was state Rep. Geraldine Thompson, a Black Democrat from Orange County. The longtime lawmaker has always advocated for Black judicial appointments but believed Francis, who has spent just three years as a judge, fell short of the qualifications for the Supreme Court. ...
The lawsuit that blocked the Francis appointment, Thompson v. DeSantis, should be considered a landmark case against a politically tainted judicial nominating process. How else to describe a vetting procedure that gave an OK to a constitutionally unqualified nominee?
The outcome closes the door on any Black jurist being appointed to the state Supreme Court in the foreseeable future. It also solidifies the hold of conservatives judges in key roles in the state's legal system.
And it exposes just how vulnerable Florida’s judicial nominating process, which exists to shield the selection of judges from partisan politics, is to abuse from a determined governor."[34]
  • Mary Ellen Klas, Tampa Bay Times (September 14, 2020): "The announcement [of Judge Grosshans' appointment] came after DeSantis pulled all the political stops to defend his first choice, Palm Beach County Judge Renatha Francis. He announced that after the Florida Supreme Court rejected her as ineligible, he asked President Donald Trump to appoint her to the federal bench.
'I did not feel that she had been treated very well throughout this process, and so I picked up the phone and I called the president of the United States,' DeSantis said at a late Monday news conference in which he took no questions. 'The president was very receptive to that. All I can say is that that is actively under consideration.' ...
The back-and-forth between the two branches of government, both comprised of conservatives, took some legal observers by surprise.
'For well over 200 years, our system has depended on the branches respecting one another when exercising their lawful powers,' said Bryan Gowdy, a Jacksonville appellate lawyer from the firm Creed & Gowdy. 'The unanimous court, including one justice appointed by the governor, are exercising their lawful power to make the appointment and he has disregarded it. If I ever had a client that did not follow the judges' order, they would be held in contempt.'"[35]
  • Gray Rohrer, Orlando Sentinel (September 14, 2020): "The rejection of Francis and the admonition of DeSantis was unusual for the Supreme Court, which DeSantis has bragged about flipping from liberal-leaning to conservative early on in his term in office."[36]
  • Steve Contorno, Tamba Bay Times (May 30, 2020): "For all the accolades and credentials on the resumés of newly appointed Florida Supreme Court Justices John Couriel and Renatha Francis, perhaps the most consequential are their ages.
Couriel and Francis are 42 years old.
Gov. Ron DeSantis is turning the state’s high court over to Gen X. His previous appointees were all born in the same era. And in tapping lawyers with the prime of their legal careers ahead of them, DeSantis has all but guaranteed that a generation of legal precedent will be forged by justices put in place by Republicans.
It’s a reality that distresses Democrats and delights Republicans, who nevertheless agree that the reverberations of this younger, more conservative court will be far-reaching. Abortion, redistricting, public education, voting rights — this court, shaped more by DeSantis than any of his predecessors, will likely tackle all of it."[37]
  • Adam Richardson, Slate (March 23, 2020): "There’s no denying that Florida is in a state of emergency—although the governor has come under criticism for his reluctance to invoke his emergency powers in ways that might more adequately address the current crisis. But let’s be clear: DeSantis has absolutely no authority to postpone the appointments. ...
In fact, there is a controlling Florida Supreme Court decision that explains why DeSantis must appoint new justices immediately. In 2009, the court decided Pleus v. Crist. A judge retired from one of our appellate courts, creating a vacancy there. The JNC for that court certified a list of nominees to the governor. Then-Gov. Charlie Crist rejected the list, citing the need for greater diversity; he requested the JNC send him a new one, which it refused to do; and the governor failed to make the appointment by the deadline. In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court held the constitution required the governor to make the appointment within 60 days of certification."[38]

Makeup of the court

Following Luck's and Lagoa's federal confirmations, the Florida Supreme Court included the following members:

■ Charles Canady Appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in 2008
■ Jorge Labarga Appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in 2009
■ C. Alan Lawson Appointed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) in 2016
■ Carlos Muñiz Appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2019
■ Ricky Polston Appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) in 2008

About the justices

Justice Lagoa

See also: Barbara Lagoa
Barbara Lagoa

President Donald Trump (R) nominated Lagoa to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on October 15, 2019. The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination on November 20, 2019, by an 80-15 vote.[39]

At the time of her federal judicial confirmation, Lagoa was a justice on the Florida Supreme Court. She joined the supreme court in 2019 after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Before joining the state supreme court, Lagoa was a judge on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal from 2006 to 2019. She was appointed to this court by Gov. Jeb Bush (R).

Lagoa graduated from Florida International University in 1989 with a B.A., cum laude, and received her J.D. from Columbia University School of Law in 1992. During her legal studies, Lagoa served on the Columbia Law Review.[40]

Justice Luck

See also: Robert J. Luck
Robert Luck

President Donald Trump (R) nominated Luck to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on October 15, 2019. The U.S. Senate confirmed Luck on November 19, 2019, by a vote of 64-31.[41]

At the time of his federal judicial confirmation, Luck was a justice on the Florida Supreme Court. He joined the supreme court in 2019 after being appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Luck was a judge on the Florida Third District Court of Appeal from 2017 to 2019. He was appointed to this court by Gov. Rick Scott (R). Luck also served as a judge on the Florida 11th Circuit Court from 2013 to 2017, also after an appointment from Gov. Scott.

Luck received his bachelor's degree in economics, with highest honors, from the University of Florida in 2000. He obtained his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Florida College of Law, where he was Order of the Coif, in 2004. During his legal studies, Luck served as editor-in-chief of the Florida Law Review.[42]

Florida Supreme Court

See also: Florida Supreme Court

Founded in 1845, the Florida Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Carlos Muñiz.

As of May 2023, all seven judges on the court were appointed by a Republican governor.[43]

The Florida Supreme Court meets in Tallahassee, Florida. The court hears oral arguments from August through June of every year, typically during the first full week of each month.[44]

In Florida, state supreme court justices are selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission. Justices are appointed by the governor with the assistance of a commission with a majority of members selected by the governor. There are 10 states that use this selection method. To read more about the assisted appointment of judges, click here.

Other state supreme court appointments in 2019

See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2019

The following table lists vacancies to state supreme courts that opened in 2019. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.

Click here for vacancies that opened in 2020.

2019 judicial vacancies filled by appointment
Court Date of Vacancy Justice Reason Date Vacancy Filled Successor
Florida Supreme Court January 7, 2019 Fred Lewis Retirement January 9, 2019 Barbara Lagoa
Florida Supreme Court January 7, 2019 Barbara Pariente Retirement January 14, 2019 Robert J. Luck
Florida Supreme Court January 7, 2019 Peggy Quince Retirement January 22, 2019 Carlos Muñiz
Kentucky Supreme Court January 31, 2019 Bill Cunningham Retirement March 27, 2019 David Buckingham
Mississippi Supreme Court January 31, 2019 William Waller Retirement December 19, 2018 Kenny Griffis
North Carolina Supreme Court February 28, 2019 Mark Martin Private sector[45] March 1, 2019 Cheri Beasley
North Carolina Supreme Court March 1, 2019 Cheri Beasley Apppointed to new post[46] March 11, 2019 Mark Davis
Arizona Supreme Court March 1, 2019 John Pelander Retirement April 26, 2019 James Beene
Oklahoma Supreme Court April 10, 2019 Patrick Wyrick Elevation to a federal judgeship[47] November 20, 2019 Dustin Rowe
Oklahoma Supreme Court April 30, 2019 John Reif Retirement September 17, 2019 M. John Kane IV
Arizona Supreme Court July 3, 2019 Scott Bales Private sector[48] September 4, 2019 Bill Montgomery
Texas Supreme Court July 31, 2019 Jeff Brown Elevation to a federal judgeship[49] August 26, 2019 Jane Bland
New Hampshire Supreme Court August 23, 2019 Robert Lynn Retirement January 7, 2021 Gordon MacDonald
Virginia Supreme Court September 1, 2019 Elizabeth McClanahan Retirement February 15, 2019 Teresa M. Chafin
Vermont Supreme Court September 1, 2019 Marilyn Skoglund Retirement December 5, 2019 William Cohen
Kansas Supreme Court September 8, 2019 Lee Johnson Retirement December 16, 2019 Evelyn Z. Wilson
Delaware Supreme Court October 30, 2019 Leo E. Strine Jr. Retirement November 7, 2019 Collins Seitz Jr.
Iowa Supreme Court November 15, 2019 Mark Cady Death January 28, 2020 Dana Oxley
Florida Supreme Court November 19, 2019 Robert J. Luck Elevation to a federal judgeship[50] September 14, 2020 Jamie Rutland Grosshans
Florida Supreme Court November 20, 2019 Barbara Lagoa Elevation to a federal judgeship[51] May 26, 2020 John D. Couriel
Kansas Supreme Court December 17, 2019 Lawton Nuss Retirement March 11, 2020 Keynen Wall
Maine Supreme Court December 2019 Jeffrey Hjelm Retirement January 6, 2020 Catherine Connors


See also

Florida Judicial Selection More Courts
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Courts in Florida
Florida Court of Appeals
Florida Supreme Court
Elections: 2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017
Gubernatorial appointments
Judicial selection in Florida
Federal courts
State courts
Local courts

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Florida Politics, "Gov. DeSantis taps John Couriel, Renatha Francis to Florida Supreme Court," May 26, 2020
  2. ↑ WESH, "DeSantis appoints state Supreme Court justice with ties to Central Florida," September 14, 2020
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Kobre & Kim, "John D. Couriel," accessed May 26, 2020
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Orlando Sentinel, "Gov. DeSantis appoints 2 to state Supreme Court, including first Caribbean-American," May 26, 2020
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Florida 5th District Court of Appeal, "Judge Jamie R. Grosshans," accessed September 15, 2020
  6. ↑ Yahoo News, "Renatha Francis withdraws, hours after Supreme Court invalidates her appointment and orders DeSantis to pick a new justice," September 11, 2020
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Rick Scott - 45th Governor of Florida, "Governor Scott Appoints Renatha Francis to the Miami-Dade County Court," August 14, 2017
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Tallahassee Democrat, "Nine Florida Supreme Court nominees sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis," January 23, 2020
  9. ↑ Spectrum News 13, "Here are the 32 Attorneys, Judges Applying for 2 Florida Supreme Court Seats," December 26, 2019
  10. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Ron DeSantis to pick from 31 candidates for Florida Supreme Court," December 26, 2019
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial selection: Florida," archived October 2, 2014
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 FLgov.com, "Judicial and Judicial Nominating Commission Information," accessed February 3, 2020
  13. ↑ Orlando Weekly, "Windermere state representative files lawsuit challenging Gov. DeSantis' Florida Supreme Court pick," July 14, 2020
  14. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Florida Supreme Court rules against DeSantis, rejecting his appointment," September 11, 2020
  15. ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "DeSantis overstepped authority in picking justice but no going back now, Florida Supreme Court rules," August 27, 2020
  16. ↑ Florida Supreme Court, Representative Geraldine F. Thompson v. Governor Ron DeSantis, accessed September 11, 2020
  17. ↑ WUFT, "Florida Supreme Court Threatens Governor’s Appointment Of New Black Justice," September 10, 2020
  18. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "DeSantis blasts Florida Supreme Court over decision on his appointment," September 9, 2020
  19. ↑ Florida Politics, "Ron DeSantis delays decisions on Supreme Court picks," March 19, 2020
  20. ↑ WPTV, "Gov. DeSantis declares state of emergency amid coronavirus concerns," March 9, 2020
  21. ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Shocker! Supreme Court may force DeSantis to follow the law when appointing judges," September 9, 2020
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Office of Gov. Ron DeSantis, "WHAT THEY ARE SAYING: Florida Leaders Applaud Governor Ron DeSantis’ Appointments of Judge Renatha Francis and John Couriel to the Florida Supreme Court," May 28, 2020
  23. ↑ Florida Phoenix, "FL Supreme Court nominees will just have to wait — Gov. DeSantis is tied up fighting COVID-19," March 19, 2020
  24. ↑ The Palm Beach Post, "Editorial: Florida Supreme Court could stand some racial diversity, moderation," January 15, 2020
  25. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Florida Supreme Court needs a black justice," January 8, 2020
  26. ↑ South Florida Sun Sentinel, "Diversity of thought is vanishing at Florida Supreme Court," June 3, 2020
  27. ↑ South Florida Sun Sentinel, "Judges should not all look alike or 'think the same,'" February 9, 2020
  28. ↑ South Florida Sun Sentinel, "In appointing Florida Supreme Court justices, this truth is no better than this fiction," January 7, 2020
  29. ↑ National Review, "Renatha Francis’s Appointment to the Florida Supreme Court in Jeopardy," September 9, 2020
  30. ↑ Slate, "Ron DeSantis May Illegally Appoint a Florida Supreme Court Justice," April 1, 2020
  31. ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "Rep. Thompson: Nominee was the wrong choice for state Supreme Court," February 14, 2020
  32. ↑ Tallahassee Democrat, "A diverse Florida Supreme Court is worth the wait," February 7, 2020
  33. ↑ Tallahassee Democrat, "Black Caucus asks DeSantis to hold Florida Supreme Court seat open so black judge can qualify," February 2, 2020
  34. ↑ The Palm Beach Post, "Editorial: The governor abused the judge-appointing process," September 16, 2020
  35. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "DeSantis names Central Florida woman as next Supreme Court justice after legal standoff," September 15, 2020
  36. ↑ Orlando Sentinel, "DeSantis names Central Florida appeal court judge to Supreme Court," September 14, 2020
  37. ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "DeSantis has the dream Supreme Court Republicans have always wanted," May 30, 2020
  38. ↑ Slate, "Ron DeSantis Is Breaking the Law," March 23, 2020
  39. ↑ Congress.gov, "PN1171 — Barbara Lagoa — The Judiciary," accessed October 17, 2019
  40. ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Questionnaire for judicial nominees: Barbara Lagoa," accessed October 17, 2019
  41. ↑ Congress.gov, "PN1172 — Robert J. Luck — The Judiciary," accessed October 17, 2019
  42. ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Questionnaire for judicial nominees: Robert Joshua Luck," accessed October 17, 2019
  43. ↑ Gov. Charlie Crist switched parties from Republican to Democratic during his term. The judges he appointed were during his time as a Republican, so they are considered appointed by a Republican governor.
  44. ↑ Florida Supreme Court, "Visiting the Court," accessed September 13, 2021
  45. ↑ Martin left the court to become the dean of Regent University Law School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
  46. ↑ Beasley was appointed chief justice of the court.
  47. ↑ Wyrick was confirmed to a seat on the Western District of Oklahoma on April 9, 2019.
  48. ↑ Bales left the court to become executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver.
  49. ↑ Brown was confirmed to a seat on the Southern District of Texas on July 31, 2019.
  50. ↑ Luck was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 19, 2019.
  51. ↑ Lagoa was confirmed to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on November 20, 2019.
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