The League of Women Voters of Florida (LWVF) is warning the public that legislation slugging its way through the House threatens the independence of the state's judicial branch of government.
The measure, HB 7033, would provide that the five members of each court's Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) appointed by the governor serve at his pleasure, whereas under current law they can only be removed before their term expires for cause -- i.e., in the case of crime or some serious ethical lapse.
"If the Florida Legislature was listening, they would know the result of the 2012 election showed an overwhelming support by Florida voters for the continued and the need to strengthen the independence and impartiality of the judicial branch," LWVF president Deidre Macnab told reporters during a Wednesday morning teleconference, in an apparent reference to voters' rejection of last year's Florida Supreme Court amendmentand their decision to retain three controversial Supreme Court justices.
"The purpose [of HB 7033] clearly is to diminish the independence of the nominating commissioners and to increase the likelihood that they will nominate people who are philosophically aligned with the governor [even] if they're not the most qualified for the position," echoed Peter Webster, former state appeals court judge and past president of the American Judicature Society.
Freshman Rep. Charlie Stone, R-Ocala, who is shepherding the bill on behalf of the House Civil Justice Subcommittee, declined to comment for this story; his legislative aide told Sunshine State News, [the] bill is not moving forward this session. HB 7033 has no Senate companion and appears to be languishing in the House Judiciary Committee.
Still, the League is taking no chances. Webster told reporters legislative leaders have a history of employing any number of procedural moves to tack controversial measures onto other bills that have little to do with the subject.
Rep. Larry Metz, R-Yalaha, tells SSN that HB 7033 is not about compromising judicial independence, but is intended to ensure that governors have their perspective adequately represented in the judicial nominating process. JNC terms often outlast those of a particular governor, he explains, which might mean a new governor has no real representation on the JNCs.
The philosophy behind the bill is that the governor is the elected official who's in charge of appointing these judges ... He or she should have their own people on the JNC, providing his input in that process of nomination, Metz says. These [JNC members] should be people responsible to the governor, who is in turn responsible to the voters who elect him or her.
Under current Florida law, five members of the JNC are appointed directly by the governor, while four are appointed by him from a list submitted by the Florida Bar. Under HB 7033, the four Bar nominees would not serve at the governor's pleasure; they would continue to be removable only for cause.
Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.
