Every year, around the middle of the summer, with the Legislature long gone and the governor's office mostly silent, comes a time when courts are the center of the action in Tallahassee.
That season has come.
Courts were dealing this week with everything from quality of schools to the governor's authority to appoint Supreme Court justices to a state abortion law. The earliest decision in any of those matters is probably weeks away, and some will take even longer.
Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Scott turned to a familiar face to fill a high-ranking state post, a reminder that his inner circle remains relatively small more than six years after he first set up shop in the Capitol.
'A COMPLETE RECORD'
Sometimes, judges are able to keep observers guessing about future rulings. Other times, the outcomes are pretty clear. And it seems obvious where Leon County Circuit Judge Terry Lewis is headed on a two-year-old law requiring women to wait 24 hours before receiving abortions.
Lewis during a hearing Wednesday gave Deputy Solicitor General Denise Harle --- the state lawyer defending the law --- another 60 days to make her case. But he also chastised her for not being ready to move forward two years after the legal challenge began, and left a hint that even the delay was a case of legally going through the motions.
"If I were in your shoes, I think I would have been ready a long time ago," Lewis said during the hour-long hearing. "On the other hand, I think it's very important that, whatever happens here, there is a complete record."
The law is on hold while the case continues.
Harle told Lewis on Wednesday that the state needs more time to gather data about women in other states who have changed their minds after having to wait 24 hours before getting the procedure.
The evidence could show that what Harle called "a very short period of time," meaning 24 hours, would be the minimum required for women to give "informed consent" prior to abortions.
But Julia Kaye, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union's Reproductive Freedom Project, argued that whether women have changed their minds about the procedure is irrelevant.
The state's focus on women changing their minds is rooted in the desire to protect an unborn child, Kaye said. But courts have already ruled that the "point of viability" doesn't occur until at least after the second trimester begins, while the disputed abortion law deals with first-trimester procedures.
ROLE OF THE COURTS
A day earlier, a lawyer for a coalition of advocates and parents challenging the state's education system also faced a skeptical court, this time a three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal.
At least two judges directed sharp questions at Jodi Siegel, an attorney for plaintiffs in the long-running suit that alleges the state has failed to provide a quality education system.
The central issue in the appeal is whether courts can evaluate the state's obligations under a 1998 constitutional amendment that declares it is a "paramount duty of the state to make adequate provision for the education of all children residing within its borders."
But Leon County Circuit Judge George Reynolds ruled last year that the judiciary should be hesitant to wade too deeply into the issue and should give deference to the Legislature under the separation of powers. The appellate judges at Tuesday's hearing seemed more likely than not to agree.
"Not everybody can be in an 'A' school. ... Is it adequate to have every school that's a 'C' school?" asked Judge James Wolf.
In another case that revolves around the role of the justice system, Scott's lawyers filed a brief this week in a battle in the Florida Supreme Court. Justices there could decide soon whether the governor has the authority to appoint replacements for three of the court's current members when they leave the bench in early 2019 due to a mandatory retirement age.
Scott has said he intends to appoint the new justices, while critics say those appointments belong to the next governor. But that's not enough to ask a court to intervene, Scott's office said, because nothing has actually happened yet.
"Petitioners do not challenge any specific executive action that has been taken by the governor, but rather seek the court's opinion regarding the scope of the governor's executive authority to act in the future under a hypothetical set of facts," attorneys for the governor wrote.
`TEAM PLAYER'
As governor, Scott has made a habit of turning to a relatively small group of insiders for key positions that crop up in state government. This week, South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Pete Antonacci was tapped to take over Enterprise Florida, a business-recruitment agency dear to the governor's heart.
Enterprise Florida's executive committee Wednesday unanimously approved a recommendation by agency Vice Chairman Stan Connally to offer the president and CEO position to Antonacci rather than to go through a search.
Scott called Antonacci, who for two years served as the governor's top official lawyer, someone who can "get deals done."
Connally noted that Antonacci expressed a desire to the governor's office for the Enterprise Florida position.
“The more I learned about Pete … I learned things like his ability to quickly get up to speed on topics that may not be naturally as familiar to him,” Connally said during a conference call with the committee. “Some would call that a quick study. And I think, given the circumstances in front of us, I think that would be important.”
The agency has been working under interim director Mike Grissom since March, following the abrupt departure of Chris Hart from the top position.
Antonacci's job offer must still be approved by the Enterprise Florida Board of Directors, which is chaired by Scott. The board will hold a conference call Monday.
“My experience with Pete is he is able to negotiate a lot of good deals. That's part of what you have to do both as general counsel and running the water management district,” Scott told the committee members during this week's call. “I think he will do a good job. He'll work hard. He'll get deals done. And he'll also be a good team player.”
Antonacci served as Scott's general counsel from January 2013 until early 2015. He took over the water management district, with its approximately $660 million budget, in September 2015.
Between working for the governor and water management district, Antonacci worked as a registered lobbyist with the law firm GrayRobinson. His client list included Accelerated Learning Solutions, Key West, Corizon, JP Morgan Chase Bank, the National Notary Association and PC Solutions & Integration.
STORY OF THE WEEK: A two-year-old law requiring women to wait 24 hours before getting abortions looked to be on thin ice after a hearing before a Leon County judge.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: "This is not Lake Wobegon, and that's exactly what the plaintiffs over and over again were coming up with." --- Rocco Testani, a lawyer for the state in the education case, questioning whether performance on accountability measures can determine whether the state is living up to its obligations.
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