Renatha Francis
2022 - Present
2031
3
Renatha Francis is a judge of the Florida Supreme Court. She assumed office on September 1, 2022. Her current term ends on January 7, 2031.
Francis ran for re-election for judge of the Florida Supreme Court. She won in the retention election on November 5, 2024.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Francis to the Florida Supreme Court on August 5, 2022, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of C. Alan Lawson.[1] She joined the court on September 1, 2022.[2] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
DeSantis first appointed Francis to the supreme court on May 26, 2020.[3] On September 11, 2020, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Francis' appointment and 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 this event.
Biography
Renatha Francis earned a bachelor's degree from the University of the West Indies and a juris doctor from Florida Coastal School of Law. Francis' career experience includes owning businesses, and working as an attorney with the firm Shutts & Bowen, LLP, and as an attorney and law clerk with the Florida First District Court of Appeal.[4][5]
Elections
2024
See also: Florida Supreme Court elections, 2024
Florida Supreme Court
Renatha Francis was retained to the Florida Supreme Court on November 5, 2024 with 63.1% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
63.1
|
5,967,833 | ||
No |
36.9
|
3,483,119 | |||
Total Votes |
9,450,952 | ||||
|
|
Campaign finance
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Francis in this election.
Appointments
2022
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court on August 5, 2022.[3] Francis succeeded Alan Lawson, who retired on August 31, 2022.[6] Francis was Gov. DeSantis' fourth nominee to the seven-member court.
At the time of the vacancy, state supreme court justices in Florida were selected through assisted appointment with a governor-controlled judicial nominating commission.
2020
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) appointed Francis to the Florida Supreme Court on May 26, 2020.[3] On September 11, 2020, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Francis' appointment and 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 this event.
2019
- See also: Florida 15th Circuit Court
Francis was appointed to the Florida 15th Circuit Court by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on October 1, 2019, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Meenu Sasser.[7]
2018
Francis served on the Florida 11th Circuit Court from 2018 to 2019. She was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) on June 4, 2018, to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Sarah I. Zabel.[8]
2017
Francis served on the Miami-Dade County Court in Miami-Dade County, Florida. She was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott (R) on August 14, 2017, to fill the vacancy created by the elevation of Judge Jason Dimitris to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court.[4]
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Renatha Francis did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Noteworthy events
Florida Supreme Court rejects Renatha Francis' appointment
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."[9]
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.[10]
Click here for more information.
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.[11] The commission submits a list of three to six nominees to the governor, and the governor must then appoint a judge from the list.[12]
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.[12] 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.[13]
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.[12]
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.[12]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "DeSantis appoints Federalist Society member to Florida Supreme Court," access August 6, 2022
- ↑ WQIK 99.1, "South Florida Judge Renatha Francis Joins Supreme Court," September 1, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Florida Politics, "Gov. DeSantis taps John Couriel, Renatha Francis to Florida Supreme Court," May 26, 2020 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "appt" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 Rick Scott - 45th Governor of Florida, "Governor Scott Appoints Renatha Francis to the Miami-Dade County Court," August 14, 2017
- ↑ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, "Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Judge Renatha Francis to Serve on the Florida Supreme Court," August 5, 2022
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Justice Alan Lawson to retire from Florida Supreme Court," April 29, 2022
- ↑ Ron DeSantis 46th Governor of Florida, "Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Two to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit," October 1, 2019
- ↑ Florida Governor Rick Scott, "Governor Scott Appoints Three to the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court," June 4, 2018
- ↑ Orlando Weekly, "Windermere state representative files lawsuit challenging Gov. DeSantis' Florida Supreme Court pick," July 14, 2020
- ↑ Tampa Bay Times, "Florida Supreme Court rules against DeSantis, rejecting his appointment," September 11, 2020
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Florida; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived January 13, 2012
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 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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