A plan to split the Florida Supreme Court into two different bodies dealing with civil and criminal cases, fundamentally changing how justices are selected, encountered fierce resistance Thursday in the Florida Senate.
Brainchild of House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, the move is seen by opponents as payback on the Supreme Court for striking two GOP-supported constitutional amendments from the 2010 ballot, wihile allowing two Democrat-backed measures to go before voters last year.
Cannon has been pushing hard for the change to the courts, even holding up budget negotiations with the Senate until the measure made it through the needed committees in the upper chamber.
Under the proposal, the number of Supreme Court justices would increase from seven to 10, and be split into criminal and civil divisions of five members each. The governor would appoint the justices and the Senate would confirm them, just as in the federal government. Currently, the Judicial Nominating Committee recommends judges and the governor appoints them. Also, the Senate version of the proposal includes guaranteed funding for the courts at 2.25 percent of the overall budget; the version passed by the House earlier this month does not.
Several senators, including Republicans, balked at the measure, claiming it was not prompted by any problem with the courts.
"Are you aware that the 2010 Florida Supreme Court has a 102 percent clearance rate?" Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, R-Coral Gables, asked Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, who was tapped to run the bill in the Senate,
If passed into law, it would go before voters in the November 2012 general election as a constitutional amendment. It then would need the approval of 60 percent of the electorate to actually take place. Sen. Eleanor Sobel, D-Hollywood, and other Democrats feared it would be placed on the presidential preference primary ballot in the spring of 2012, when registered Democrats would have little incentive to vote, with President Barack Obama getting no serious primary challenge.
Bogdanoff defended the court shake-up, and stated that business groups have complained about the slow-moving civil court cases as the Supreme Court moves criminal cases along with relative speed.
"We're not doing anything, we're just letting the people decide," Bogdanoff said.
Senate Majority Leader Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, gave the bill backhanded support, noting that members could vote to place the measure on the ballot, then campaign against it when it comes up for a vote by the citizens.
Sen. John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine, who chaired the Republican Party of Florida during last year's successful wave election for the GOP, admitted that if the court reform proposal makes it on the ballot for 2012, precious resources from both sides of the issue would be rerouted away from campaigns and into the constitutional amendment fight.
"For those who want to support it or oppose it, they're going to have to step up. A constitutional amendment is like running a statewide campaign in terms of cost anymore. I mean, if you really want to get your message out, either way, it's very, very expensive," said Thrasher, adding that there won't be any statewide elected offices up for election in 2012 in Florida, leaving more money to put toward constitutional amendments.
The bill is now ready for a final vote in the Senate.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
