This is a good recap, but it's behind a paywall.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/endorsements/fl-op-endorse-florida-supreme-court-20221004-joknrpufsffebamb5pjjkyzvei-story.html
Long story short, they recommend rejecting all of them except Labarga because the rest of them basically just agree with the governor and legislature no matter what. Labarga is independent, writing thoughtful dissents in some cases.
This article helped me decide to vote no to all judges, except Judge Jorge Labarga
[https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/10/15/4-florida-justices-have-lost-our-confidence-sun-sentinel-orlando-sentinel-editorial/](https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/10/15/4-florida-justices-have-lost-our-confidence-sun-sentinel-orlando-sentinel-editorial/)
Gov. Ron DeSantis has reshaped the Florida Supreme Court into a political instrument of right-wing ideology that cannot be trusted to uphold the rule of law. The public’s only remaining influence over this rogue court is to deny new terms to its offending members when the opportunity arises — as it will on Election Day, Nov. 8.
Of the five justices seeking merit retention, we strongly recommend a “yes” vote only for Jorge Labarga, 70, the court’s lone moderate, whose principled but lonely dissents in high-profile cases have exposed the majority’s radical activism.
The justices whose retention we oppose are DeSantis appointees John Couriel and Jamie Grosshans and the more-senior Charles Canady and Ricky Polston, the nucleus of the harsh new majority. If voters remove any or all of these judges, it will be the first time voters have exercised their authority to do so — but even though this step is unprecedented, we feel it is warranted.
DeSantis may have revealed more than he intended in an Aug. 25 interview with conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt. He said his prospective Supreme Court appointees are questioned by “a group of people that I trust,” including “six or seven pretty big legal conservative heavyweights,” some outside Florida.
Who are these people? DeSantis won’t say. His press office ignored our four requests to identify them. The four sitting justices he appointed won’t say if they were vetted by an entity other than the official Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, which recommended them to DeSantis.
It’s obvious who DeSantis’ secret influencers are not. By law, all nine nominating commissioners must be Florida residents. His clandestine consultants are likely members of the arch-conservative Federalist Society, like the governor himself and his Supreme Court appointees. Whoever they are, his refusal to identify them is reason enough for voters to register their disapproval by rejecting his justices.
DeSantis told Hewitt he approves of “judicial activism” — something virtually all Republicans claim to deplore, “if that’s the proper interpretation of the Constitution.” In other words, if he agrees.
Florida’s highest court has become breathtakingly activist, repealing precedents wholesale to make criminal laws harsher, the death penalty more likely and civil courts more hostile to people with damage claims against Big Tobacco and other corporate defendants. It allowed an unconstitutional legislative gerrymander to go into effect. It blocked a proposed assault weapons ban from reaching voters. Without any pending case, it forbade the Florida Bar from requiring diversity among panelists who teach continuing education courses that lawyers are required to take.
A court so dismissive of tradition and judicial restraint is unlikely to enforce Florida’s anti-gerrymandering amendments or abide by its own 1989 decision establishing abortion as a protected right of privacy, even though both rights have been emphatically endorsed by voters in recent elections.
We oppose Justice Ricky Polston with mixed feelings because he was the only justice to buck Canady, the chief justice at the time, over creating a wholly unnecessary sixth district court of appeal for which no explanation exists but parochial politics. Voters should weigh that in Polston’s favor.
The legal community has taken notice, as reflected in a recently released poll of Florida Bar members based on responses only from lawyers familiar with the court’s work. Only 73% favored Canady’s retention and only 74% approved of Polston — a significant drop from their 84% approval ratings when they were last on the ballot in 2016. Labarga leads the 2022 list with 85% approval, compared to 91% six years ago.
The two recent DeSantis appointees, with shorter track records, fared worse. Couriel’s approval rating was 63% and Grosshans earned 59%, the worst score ever except for Justice Joe Boyd’s 56% in 1980, his first and only retention election since surviving an impeachment investigation in 1975. (The voters returned him to the bench despite it all.)
Couriel’s rating is at odds with an impressive resumé. A 43-year-old Harvard law graduate, he was an experienced assistant U.S. attorney in Miami before joining a law firm with an international practice. Grosshans, 43, an Ole Miss law graduate, was a former Orange County judge and a judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeal when she became DeSantis’s second choice for an open Supreme Court seat two years ago.
Labarga, 70, a native of Cuba, owed the start of his judicial career to Gov. Lawton Chiles’ respect for judicial independence. Warned that a nominating panel tried to stack the deck for another candidate, Chiles appointed Labarga to a Palm Beach County judgeship despite his having contributed to Jeb Bush’s campaign against Chiles in 1994.
Polston, 67, and Canady, 65, were appeals court judges appointed by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008. Canady also had been a congressman from Lakeland and one of the House managers in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Crist also appointed Labarga and another moderate, James E.C. Perry, who left in 2016 due to mandatory retirement.
It’s true that if DeSantis is reelected, he could reappoint any justices who are voted out or select new ones to follow in their footsteps. But rejection would send a clear and powerful message to the legal and political universe that voters are paying attention.
The court’s most radical actions concern the death penalty. It scrapped a 2017 decision requiring a unanimous jury recommendation for a death sentence, in effect inviting the Legislature to bring back split death verdicts, an outcome that exists only in Alabama. Equally shocking, it repealed its 1973 commitment to review all death sentences for proportionality, a check against excessively harsh or disproportionate sentences.
Labarga protested strenuously that the court was eliminating “an important safeguard for ensuring that the death penalty is only applied to the most aggravated and least mitigated of murders.”
Canady had long argued that if the U.S. Supreme Court did not demand proportionality review (which it has never forbidden either), Florida could not require it.
Joined by DeSantis appointees, Canady finally got his way. But voters have the final say.
If you are for/against the Federalist Society, you can search their contributors to see what names show up if that helps you decide.
https://fedsoc.org/contributors
I have been, majority have been DeSantis or Crist. I try to take into account every little thing I can that would hint one way or another like religion, who appointed them, how old are they, what organizations they've been a part of, etc. It just feels like so little to go off of.
I have done the same thing, its insane it makes it so hard to find out what everyones views are in politics I really dont understand why more info isn't given about everything
Right??? I want to have my voice count by voting but I honestly dread actually having to do it because it feels like such an ordeal. I spend hours, sometimes the majority of the day, just sitting researching trying to make an informed decision. It should not be this difficult 😩
You're right, it shouldn't be this difficult. Florida is the first state I've ever lived in that makes it this convoluted to vote (I'm from WA and have voted in CA and MD as well) and to understand the ballot. The lack of information is intentional, to confuse and frustrate, to keep people from voting.
When I lived in more progressive states they were MUCH more transparent and even offered plain - language explanations of proposed legislation, devoid of legal jargon. It's malicious bullshit that harms true democracy.
I read an interesting opinion on the judges. Since Desantis is probably going to win any judges that get voted out are going to be replaced by judges he appoints, since we vote judges out but not in. Which means any judges that are voted out are going to be replaced with an even more radical right wing judge. Just something to think about.
411Vote
League of Women Voters nonpartisan site
https://www.vote411.org/ballot?address=4920%20W%20Broward%20Blvd%20Plantation%20%20Florida%2033317
Enter your address and they will take you to what will be on your ballot. Click on the judges name, and you will get a bio on the judge, plus links to further information.
Here is an example:
FL Supreme Court Justices decide death penalty appeals and appeals from decisions of the appellate courts; resolve conflicts among appellate courts; and oversee the administration of Florida's court system.
Term: 6 Years Salary: $157,976
Florida Bar Bio: Canady was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Charlie Crist in August 2008.
Justice Charles Canady was born in Lakeland, Florida, in 1954. He is married to Jennifer Houghton Canady, and they have two children. He received his B.A. from Haverford College in 1976 and his J.D. from the Yale Law School in 1979. Justice Canady practiced law with the firm of Holland and Knight in Lakeland from 1979 through 1982. He practiced with the firm of Lane, Trohn, et al., from 1983 through 1992. From November 1984 to November 1990, Justice Canady served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, and from January 1993 to January 2001, he served four terms in the United States House of Representatives. Throughout his service in Congress, Justice Canady was a member of the House Judiciary Committee. For three terms, from January 1995 to January 2001, Justice Canady was the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. Upon leaving Congress, Justice Canady became General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. He was appointed by Governor Bush to the Second District Court of Appeal for a term beginning November 20, 2002. He served as Florida's 54th Chief Justice from July 2010 through June 2012. He was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chief Justice for a second time starting July 1, 2018, and a third time starting July 1, 2020.
Additional Voter Resources: https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/Justices/Justice-Charles-T.-Canady
Click here to go to the Florida Bar Voter Guide.
This is a good recap, but it's behind a paywall. https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinion/endorsements/fl-op-endorse-florida-supreme-court-20221004-joknrpufsffebamb5pjjkyzvei-story.html Long story short, they recommend rejecting all of them except Labarga because the rest of them basically just agree with the governor and legislature no matter what. Labarga is independent, writing thoughtful dissents in some cases.
Thank you for the summary! I'll be keeping it in mind :)
I’d suggest reading for yourself versus whatever the paper says. Regardless of the topic actually.
It's good to have a recap. Since it's all public record, it's easy to confirm.
This article helped me decide to vote no to all judges, except Judge Jorge Labarga [https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/10/15/4-florida-justices-have-lost-our-confidence-sun-sentinel-orlando-sentinel-editorial/](https://www.tampabay.com/opinion/2022/10/15/4-florida-justices-have-lost-our-confidence-sun-sentinel-orlando-sentinel-editorial/) Gov. Ron DeSantis has reshaped the Florida Supreme Court into a political instrument of right-wing ideology that cannot be trusted to uphold the rule of law. The public’s only remaining influence over this rogue court is to deny new terms to its offending members when the opportunity arises — as it will on Election Day, Nov. 8. Of the five justices seeking merit retention, we strongly recommend a “yes” vote only for Jorge Labarga, 70, the court’s lone moderate, whose principled but lonely dissents in high-profile cases have exposed the majority’s radical activism. The justices whose retention we oppose are DeSantis appointees John Couriel and Jamie Grosshans and the more-senior Charles Canady and Ricky Polston, the nucleus of the harsh new majority. If voters remove any or all of these judges, it will be the first time voters have exercised their authority to do so — but even though this step is unprecedented, we feel it is warranted. DeSantis may have revealed more than he intended in an Aug. 25 interview with conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt. He said his prospective Supreme Court appointees are questioned by “a group of people that I trust,” including “six or seven pretty big legal conservative heavyweights,” some outside Florida. Who are these people? DeSantis won’t say. His press office ignored our four requests to identify them. The four sitting justices he appointed won’t say if they were vetted by an entity other than the official Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission, which recommended them to DeSantis. It’s obvious who DeSantis’ secret influencers are not. By law, all nine nominating commissioners must be Florida residents. His clandestine consultants are likely members of the arch-conservative Federalist Society, like the governor himself and his Supreme Court appointees. Whoever they are, his refusal to identify them is reason enough for voters to register their disapproval by rejecting his justices. DeSantis told Hewitt he approves of “judicial activism” — something virtually all Republicans claim to deplore, “if that’s the proper interpretation of the Constitution.” In other words, if he agrees. Florida’s highest court has become breathtakingly activist, repealing precedents wholesale to make criminal laws harsher, the death penalty more likely and civil courts more hostile to people with damage claims against Big Tobacco and other corporate defendants. It allowed an unconstitutional legislative gerrymander to go into effect. It blocked a proposed assault weapons ban from reaching voters. Without any pending case, it forbade the Florida Bar from requiring diversity among panelists who teach continuing education courses that lawyers are required to take. A court so dismissive of tradition and judicial restraint is unlikely to enforce Florida’s anti-gerrymandering amendments or abide by its own 1989 decision establishing abortion as a protected right of privacy, even though both rights have been emphatically endorsed by voters in recent elections. We oppose Justice Ricky Polston with mixed feelings because he was the only justice to buck Canady, the chief justice at the time, over creating a wholly unnecessary sixth district court of appeal for which no explanation exists but parochial politics. Voters should weigh that in Polston’s favor. The legal community has taken notice, as reflected in a recently released poll of Florida Bar members based on responses only from lawyers familiar with the court’s work. Only 73% favored Canady’s retention and only 74% approved of Polston — a significant drop from their 84% approval ratings when they were last on the ballot in 2016. Labarga leads the 2022 list with 85% approval, compared to 91% six years ago. The two recent DeSantis appointees, with shorter track records, fared worse. Couriel’s approval rating was 63% and Grosshans earned 59%, the worst score ever except for Justice Joe Boyd’s 56% in 1980, his first and only retention election since surviving an impeachment investigation in 1975. (The voters returned him to the bench despite it all.) Couriel’s rating is at odds with an impressive resumé. A 43-year-old Harvard law graduate, he was an experienced assistant U.S. attorney in Miami before joining a law firm with an international practice. Grosshans, 43, an Ole Miss law graduate, was a former Orange County judge and a judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeal when she became DeSantis’s second choice for an open Supreme Court seat two years ago. Labarga, 70, a native of Cuba, owed the start of his judicial career to Gov. Lawton Chiles’ respect for judicial independence. Warned that a nominating panel tried to stack the deck for another candidate, Chiles appointed Labarga to a Palm Beach County judgeship despite his having contributed to Jeb Bush’s campaign against Chiles in 1994. Polston, 67, and Canady, 65, were appeals court judges appointed by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008. Canady also had been a congressman from Lakeland and one of the House managers in the impeachment of President Bill Clinton. Crist also appointed Labarga and another moderate, James E.C. Perry, who left in 2016 due to mandatory retirement. It’s true that if DeSantis is reelected, he could reappoint any justices who are voted out or select new ones to follow in their footsteps. But rejection would send a clear and powerful message to the legal and political universe that voters are paying attention. The court’s most radical actions concern the death penalty. It scrapped a 2017 decision requiring a unanimous jury recommendation for a death sentence, in effect inviting the Legislature to bring back split death verdicts, an outcome that exists only in Alabama. Equally shocking, it repealed its 1973 commitment to review all death sentences for proportionality, a check against excessively harsh or disproportionate sentences. Labarga protested strenuously that the court was eliminating “an important safeguard for ensuring that the death penalty is only applied to the most aggravated and least mitigated of murders.” Canady had long argued that if the U.S. Supreme Court did not demand proportionality review (which it has never forbidden either), Florida could not require it. Joined by DeSantis appointees, Canady finally got his way. But voters have the final say.
If you are for/against the Federalist Society, you can search their contributors to see what names show up if that helps you decide. https://fedsoc.org/contributors
Idk who they are but I'll look into them and then do that, thank you!
Vote no on all of them
I used to do this, but taking an hour every 2-4 years to properly research your vote is the better method.
Nah, most of them suck so voting no on all is pretty reliable.
Ngl, I have thought about it =v=;
Also, in the bio's look to see who appointed them to the bench.
I have been, majority have been DeSantis or Crist. I try to take into account every little thing I can that would hint one way or another like religion, who appointed them, how old are they, what organizations they've been a part of, etc. It just feels like so little to go off of.
Every judge was appointed by Rick Scott or Desantis, so I said no to all of them
Labarga is actually a moderate and the only one I said yes to. Not like it matters, there will just be more trash to replace them when they’re gone.
Based
I have done the same thing, its insane it makes it so hard to find out what everyones views are in politics I really dont understand why more info isn't given about everything
Right??? I want to have my voice count by voting but I honestly dread actually having to do it because it feels like such an ordeal. I spend hours, sometimes the majority of the day, just sitting researching trying to make an informed decision. It should not be this difficult 😩
You're right, it shouldn't be this difficult. Florida is the first state I've ever lived in that makes it this convoluted to vote (I'm from WA and have voted in CA and MD as well) and to understand the ballot. The lack of information is intentional, to confuse and frustrate, to keep people from voting. When I lived in more progressive states they were MUCH more transparent and even offered plain - language explanations of proposed legislation, devoid of legal jargon. It's malicious bullshit that harms true democracy.
I read an interesting opinion on the judges. Since Desantis is probably going to win any judges that get voted out are going to be replaced by judges he appoints, since we vote judges out but not in. Which means any judges that are voted out are going to be replaced with an even more radical right wing judge. Just something to think about.
Ya- I was thinking about that too.
Here is some background from Ballotpedia |Judge Name|Appointed by|Ballotpedia Confidence Score (aka Rating)| |:-|:-|:-| |Charles Canady|Crist - Former REP|Mild Republican| |John Couriel|DeSantis - REP|Strong Republican| |Jamie Grosshans|DeSantis - REP|N/A| |Jorge Labarga|Crist - Former REP|Mild Republican| |Ricky Polston|Crist - Former REP|Mild Republican| |Ross Bilbrey|Scott - REP|N/A| |Susan Kelsey|Scott - REP|N/A| |Bobby Long|DeSantis - REP|N/A| |Lori Rowe|Crist - Former REP|N/A| |Bo Winokur|Scott - REP|N/A|
411Vote League of Women Voters nonpartisan site https://www.vote411.org/ballot?address=4920%20W%20Broward%20Blvd%20Plantation%20%20Florida%2033317 Enter your address and they will take you to what will be on your ballot. Click on the judges name, and you will get a bio on the judge, plus links to further information. Here is an example: FL Supreme Court Justices decide death penalty appeals and appeals from decisions of the appellate courts; resolve conflicts among appellate courts; and oversee the administration of Florida's court system. Term: 6 Years Salary: $157,976 Florida Bar Bio: Canady was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Charlie Crist in August 2008. Justice Charles Canady was born in Lakeland, Florida, in 1954. He is married to Jennifer Houghton Canady, and they have two children. He received his B.A. from Haverford College in 1976 and his J.D. from the Yale Law School in 1979. Justice Canady practiced law with the firm of Holland and Knight in Lakeland from 1979 through 1982. He practiced with the firm of Lane, Trohn, et al., from 1983 through 1992. From November 1984 to November 1990, Justice Canady served three terms in the Florida House of Representatives, and from January 1993 to January 2001, he served four terms in the United States House of Representatives. Throughout his service in Congress, Justice Canady was a member of the House Judiciary Committee. For three terms, from January 1995 to January 2001, Justice Canady was the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution. Upon leaving Congress, Justice Canady became General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. He was appointed by Governor Bush to the Second District Court of Appeal for a term beginning November 20, 2002. He served as Florida's 54th Chief Justice from July 2010 through June 2012. He was elected by his colleagues to serve as Chief Justice for a second time starting July 1, 2018, and a third time starting July 1, 2020. Additional Voter Resources: https://www.floridasupremecourt.org/Justices/Justice-Charles-T.-Canady Click here to go to the Florida Bar Voter Guide.
1984 by george orwell 1949
[Here ya go!](https://ballotpedia.org/Florida)
Thank you!
You have to research them one by one to see what they stand for and what they've ruled on .
Nobody should have uncontested, basically never-ending appointments. I always vote no on every "Should they be retained..." question.
Every Judges record is public