As Florida courts have struggled in recent years with a flood of foreclosure cases, retired judges have played a key role in reducing backlogs.
But a pair of Pinellas County lawyers this week filed a petition in the Florida Supreme Court arguing that the heavy reliance on retired --- or, as they are known, "senior" --- judges violates the state Constitution. The document asks the Supreme Court to curb the practice in the circuit that includes Pinellas and Pasco counties and, possibly, to review the use of senior judges statewide.
The petition, filed by attorneys Matthew Weidner and Michael Fuino on behalf of clients Diane L. and Dominic Bengivengo, contends that the Constitution only allows retired judges to be used for temporary assignments and that they are effectively serving in a "permanent capacity." Also, it points to other constitutional requirements that don't apply to retired judges, such as having to go before voters.
"It should seem quite extraordinary to this court the fact that every single Supreme Court justice and every single appellate, circuit and county court judge sitting on benches across the entire state appears before the public on ballots every six years but senior judges, who now serve in perpetual terms, are never presented to the general public,'' the lawyers, who are with Weidner Law P.A., wrote. "Surely this court must recognize that the Florida Constitution does not contemplate, and in fact it expressly forbids, the permanent maintenance of a corps of 'super' senior judges, who sit entirely immune from the constitutional restrictions that every other judge in this state complies with."
The document, known as a petition for writ of prohibition, challenges an administrative order by the chief judge of the 6th Judicial Circuit, which is made up of Pinellas and Pasco. That administrative order deals with how senior judges will be used in foreclosure cases.
The meltdown of Florida's housing market inundated courts with foreclosure cases. Meanwhile, in recent years, the Legislature has largely rebuffed requests from the Supreme Court to create more judicial positions in various areas of the state.
The Supreme Court, in a November document that outlined a need for additional judges, noted that "foreclosure filings appear to have stabilized and are even below pre-recession levels,'' though it pointed to circuits in the Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Miami areas that continued to report about 600 foreclosure filings each month.
In the petition filed this week, the Weidner Law attorneys argued that any foreclosure "crisis" has abated and requested that the Supreme Court review the constitutional issues involving senior judges. It said the "vast number of retired judges serving for unlimited periods of time in positions when they will never face electors is not at all contemplated by the 'temporary duty' exception articulated in Florida's Constitution."
