Conservative Groups Gunning for Florida Judges Who 'Play Politics' on Bench

Attacking "judicial activism" in Florida, a conservative coalition says it will target selected judges in the 2012 elections.

Citizen2Citizen, the East Side Tea Party and the Central Florida Tea Party Council will announce their campaign Monday evening in Orlando.

We believe that judicial activism is a serious problem in Florida. Judges play politics and cater to special interests in ways that disrespect the Constitution and threaten our protection under the law, said Jesse Phillips, head of Citizen2Citizen. Fortunately, our state provides a way to remove judges when necessary through the merit retention vote."

Citizen2Citizen led a last-minute campaign last fall to unseat Supreme Court Justices Jorge Labarga and James Perry over their votes to strike down the Florida Health Care Freedom Act contesting Obamacare.

Though the ouster campaign fell short, the 58.9 percent voter approval for Labarga was the lowest for a high court justice since retention votes began in 1978.

We were able to historically affect the merit retention vote last November with a six-week word-of-mouth campaign," said Jason Hoyt, of the tea council.

Mayanne Downs, president of the Florida Bar, in a statement to Sunshine State News, said:

"A fair and impartial judiciary -- able to make decisions without fear of political reprisal -- is a fundamental value of America, and was central to our Founding Fathers' core values about this country.

"The idea of attacking judges who have served this state admirably and well on the basis of a single opinion is disturbing, and not in keeping with these American values, in my opinion," Downs said.

Supreme Court Justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and Fred Lewis -- all of whom agreed with Labarga and Perry to strike down the Florida Health Care Freedom Act -- are up for retention votes in 2012.

Phillips said additional judges likely will be in the crosshairs over other issues, still to be determined.