Dems Attack Dean Cannon's Plan for Two State Supreme Courts

House Democrats fired back at the plan unveiled by Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, on Monday morning which would create two state Supreme Courts, one for civil matters and one for criminal cases.

Were at a time when the judiciary in Florida is underfunded, so the Legislature should fund the courts properly before we expand the number of judges, said House Democratic Leader Ron Saunders of Key West. I have talked to the judges and, essentially, 90 percent of their budget is personnel costs. The judges say that if they dont get proper funding, theyll have to cut services that will impact the public. In my opinion, its not a good time to expand the number of judges when the ones we have arent properly funded.