Floridians have overwhelmingly chosen to retain three state Supreme Court justices in Tuesday’s election. But a limited-government advocacy group is trying to block Sec. of State Ken Detzner from being allowed to certify the judges’ re-election.
The challenge, filed with the Florida Supreme Court late on Monday, comes from the Southeastern Legal Foundation. It’s the same group that tried to get Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis thrown off the ballot in June.
The Foundation’s Shannon Goessling says, the justices failed to file the correct paperwork before the qualifying deadline in April.
“In fact, judges have been disqualified that were sitting on the bench and that they failed to meet the standards," she said. "And we’re just saying that the same rule of law and the same standards should apply to the supreme court justices."
Goessling said, the foundation did not take a position in the justices’ retention race and the motive for filing the petition is not political. If the justices are disqualified, Gov. Rick Scott would appoint their replacements.
The court has not yet responded to the petition.