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John D. Couriel
2020 - Present
2029
5
John Daniel Couriel is a judge of the Florida Supreme Court. He assumed office on June 1, 2020. His current term ends on January 2, 2029.
Couriel ran for re-election for judge of the Florida Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 8, 2022.
Couriel first became a member of the Florida Supreme Court through assisted appointment. He was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2020 to fill one of the seats vacated by Barbara Lagoa and Robert J. Luck.[1][2] To learn more about this vacancy, 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] Couriel received a confidence score of Strong Republican.[4] Click here to read more about this study.
The Florida Supreme Court is the court of last resort in Florida. The court has mandatory appellate jurisdiction over certain types of cases such as death penalty and public utilities cases, discretionary appellate jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the state constitution, and exclusive and non-exclusive jurisdiction over writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, and prohibition.[5] It also hears cases on appeal from the Florida District Courts of Appeal.
Couriel was a 2016 Republican candidate for District 114 of the Florida House of Representatives. In 2012, he was a Republican candidate for Florida State Senate District 35.
Biography
Couriel obtained his bachelor's degree (A.B.) from Harvard College and his J.D. from Harvard Law School. During his legal studies, he was a supervising editor of the Harvard Law School Journal on Legislation.[6]
Couriel was an attorney at Kobre & Kim in Miami, Florida, when he was appointed to the Florida 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 (2003-2004).[6]
Elections
2022
See also: Florida Supreme Court elections, 2022
Florida Supreme Court, John D. Couriel's seat
John Daniel Couriel was retained to the Florida Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 63.7% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
63.7
|
4,305,014 | ||
No |
36.3
|
2,457,705 | |||
Total Votes |
6,762,719 | ||||
|
|
2016
Elections for the Florida House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 30, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 24, 2016.
Daisy Baez defeated John D. Couriel in the Florida House of Representatives District 114 general election.[7][8]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 114 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Daisy Baez |
50.99% | 34,302 | |
| Republican | John D. Couriel | 49.01% | 32,966 | |
| Total Votes | 67,268 | |||
| Source: Florida Division of Elections | ||||
Daisy Baez defeated Alberto L. Santana in the Florida House of Representatives District 114 Democratic primary.[9][10]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 114 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Daisy Baez |
83.76% | 5,834 | |
| Democratic | Alberto L. Santana | 16.24% | 1,131 | |
| Total Votes | 6,965 | |||
John D. Couriel ran unopposed in the Florida House of Representatives District 114 Republican primary.[9][10]
| Florida House of Representatives, District 114 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | John D. Couriel (unopposed) | |
2012
- See also: Florida State Senate elections, 2012
Couriel ran in the 2012 election for Florida State Senate District 35. Couriel ran unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14, 2012, and was defeated by incumbent Gwen Margolis (D) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.[11]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Gwen Margolis Incumbent |
61.7% | 103,109 | |
| Republican | John Daniel Couriel | 38.3% | 63,929 | |
| Total Votes | 167,038 | |||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
John Daniel Couriel did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Couriel's campaign website highlighted the following issues:[12]
| “ |
Prosperity and economic opportunity
Educational excellence
Fair administration of justice
Accessible and affordable healthcare
|
” |
Appointments
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][14] 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.
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.[15]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[16]
- 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.
John
Couriel
Florida
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Strong Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Assisted appointment through governor controlled judicial nominating commission - Key Factors:
- Donated over $2,000 to Republican candidates
- Was a registered Republican before 2020
- Received donations from Republican-affiliated individuals or organizations
Partisan Profile
Details:
Couriel donated $126,865 to Republican candidates and organizations. He was a registered Republican prior to 2020. He received donations and endorsements from the Florida Republican Party and the Republican Party of Miami Dade County. Couriel was appointed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in 2020. At the time of his appointment, Florida was a Republican trifecta.
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 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.[17] The commission submits a list of three to six nominees to the governor, and the governor must then appoint a judge from the list.[18]
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.[18] 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.[19]
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.[18]
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.[18]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Florida Politics, "Gov. DeSantis taps John Couriel, Renatha Francis to Florida Supreme Court," May 26, 2020
- ↑ Florida Supreme Court, "John D. Couriel," accessed July 15, 2020
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Florida Supreme Court, "History of the Florida Supreme Court," accessed June 22, 2021
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Kobre & Kim, "John D. Couriel," accessed May 26, 2020
- ↑ Florida Department of State, "Candidate listing for 2016 general election," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ Florida Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed November 23, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Florida Department of State, "Candidates and Races," accessed July 1, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Florida Division of Elections, "August 30, 2016 Official Election Results," accessed September 22, 2016
- ↑ Florida Elections Division, "Candidate List," accessed June 14, 2012
- ↑ John Couriel, "John on the issues," accessed September 28, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ WESH, "DeSantis appoints state Supreme Court justice with ties to Central Florida," September 14, 2020
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Florida; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived January 13, 2012
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial selection: Florida," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Florida Constitution, "Article V, Section 8," accessed September 10, 2021
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
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