Claims that the Florida Bar has beaten back judicial reforms proposed by House Republicans were denied by House Speaker Dean Cannon's office Wednesday.
Reacting Tuesday to an e-mail issued by three Palm Beach County attorneys and a Palm Beach County judge, Cannon spokeswoman Katie Betta said GOP leaders are continuing the push to reform courts and curb the Bar's influence.
"These people don't represent the Bar. Speaker Cannon is working with the Bar, but the notion that a deal was cut is wrong," Betta told Sunshine State News.
But the signatories of the circulated e-mail --Gregory W. Coleman, David C. Prather, Lisa Small and Michelle Suskauer -- sit on the Bar's 52-member board of governors. Small is the attorney who also serves as a Palm Beach County circuit judge.
In their e-correspondence titled "Latest on Florida Bar and the Legislature," the quartet appeared to declare victory on several fronts:
"At the beginning of last week, there were multiple, intensive meetings between Florida Bar leadership and the leadership in the House of Representatives. Our lobbyist and legal counsel were able to explain the negative consequences of many of these legislative proposals, which ultimately led to an agreement by leadership of the House of Representatives to withdraw most of the proposed legislation. It is anticipated that replacement legislation will be forthcoming, which will confirm these discussions.
"The leadership of the House of Representatives has agreed to withdraw its request to eliminate the role of the Florida Bar in the judicial nominating process. This is true at every level of the judicial nominating procedure.
"The House leadership agreed to withdraw its request to increase from 50 percent to 60 percent, the percentage of votes required to retain a Supreme Court Justice or DCA judge. The House leadership agreed to withdraw its request to remove the rule-making authority from the judicial branch.
"Lastly, the House leadership agreed to retain a single Florida Supreme Court, although the House leadership would still like to split the Supreme Court into criminal and civil divisions.
"In essence, with the exception of splitting the Supreme Court into criminal and civil divisions, virtually all of the other requests concerning legislation will be withdrawn and replaced."
Judge Small did not return a phone call from Sunshine State News seeking comment about her e-mail and the scope of its distribution. The other signers could not be reached.
Florida Bar President Mayanne Downs acknowledged that the e-mail "had a tone that the Bar had pushed Speaker Cannon off of some of his reforms. It's not the language I would have used to describe what happened."
"I would characterize [the meetings] as Cannon magnanimously agreeing to hear from the Bar about specific issues," Downs told Sunshine State News.
Unlike Downs, the foursome who authored the e-mail were not involved in the Bar conversations with GOP leaders.
As for the ultimate outcome, Downs offered, "Who knows where we will be in two weeks? The Senate may have different ideas. Our goal is to provide information to ensure that the end product is better."
As evidence of the give-and-take nature of the discussions, the Bar opened the door ever so slightly to Cannon's push for greater transparency by the affiliated body that polices the ethics and activities of judges.
In a statement, the Bar said it "opposes legislation that would amend the Constitution to remove confidentiality from most Judicial Qualifications Commission proceedings after a determination of whether or not to file formal charges. The Bar will, however, support allowing the speaker of the House of Representatives meaningful access to the files and records of the JQC but providing for confidentiality unless the House initiates an impeachment proceeding."
Betta confirmed that meetings between House and Bar leaders continue on an amicable basis.
"We don't just want to ram [reforms] through. We want to get reform that's amenable to both sides," Betta said.
Jesse Phillips, a legal-reform activist based in Orlando, said he sees no sign of weakening by Cannon, yet.
"I understand it's a process of negotiation. The thought that he would cave at the first sign of opposition is pretty implausible.
"I trust that the House leadership remains committed to its efforts to significantly reform the appointment and retention system," said Phillips, who heads the group Citizen2Citizen.
But, he added, "We're in for a long process."
Read the Bar's March 25 "Legislative Policy Position Statement" here.
tp://www.bclclaw.com/uploads/files/Posn6-BoG.pdf
--
Reach Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 801-5341.
