Hearing Set for Lawsuit to Block Supreme Court Justices’ Retention

Oral arguments have been set for Aug. 8 in Leon County Court in the effort by the Southeastern Legal Foundation to block the states three Supreme Court justices up for merit retention from having their names on the November ballot.

Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and R. Fred Lewis have already filed a motion asking a Leon County judge to block the discovery phase from starting until their motion can be heard to dismiss the lawsuit.

The hearing comes as the Florida Bar, which has set up a webpage on the retention process, announced plans to conduct a poll of its members next month if any of the District Court of Appeal and Supreme Court jurists up for retention this year should continue in their jobs.

The poll results are set to be released in September.

The Atlanta-based foundation, in a June 27 lawsuit on behalf of Florida residents Bernard Long and Veronico L. Ron Flores, claims the justices violated state law by using court employees to prepare the campaign documents needed to qualify for the merit retention election.

Two weeks ago, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, concluding an investigation without uncovering any violations, called the use of a court employee a common practice.