A Leon County Judge has dismissed a case to knock three Supreme Court Justices off the November ballot. Now, the conservative group that brought the case says they plan to appeal the ruling all the way to the Supreme Court if it comes to that.
During a contentious hearing about the state’s new voting district maps, the Florida Supreme Court took what Chief Justice Charles Canady had said would be a 10-minute break, but that turned into about an hour long recess.
It turns out, during that time three of the justices, Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and Fred Lewis, who are all up for a public vote on whether they should be allowed to stay behind the bench, were filing some last minute paperwork to make sure they’d be on the ballot. But now, a conservative group called the Southeastern Legal Foundation wants to get them kicked off. The justices used court employees to help them file their papers, and the foundation said that’s against the law. Shannon Goessling is the group’s lawyer, and is representing two Florida voters. She said it doesn’t matter that the court employees helped the justices voluntarily.
The lawyer representing the justices, John Devault, said the decision about whether the justices should be removed from the ballot is up the Florida Elections Commission or a state attorney. And State Attorney Willy Meggs has already dismissed the claims against the justices as trifle. And a Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigation found that using court employees to help with such paperwork is a relatively standard practice.
Judge Terry Lewis dismissed the case. He said the plaintiffs have no standing because they didn’t prove they were personally harmed by the justices’ actions. But Goessling said her group will appeal the ruling.
“I don’t believe any legislature or governor who signs anything into law thought that the appellate judges would be able to conduct themselves in a way that is contrary to law and still be qualified," Goessling said.
Goessling said she doesn’t think the court should have made its decision based on standing and she adds she’s willing to an appeal as far as is necessary – including to the Florida Supreme Court.
“Those justices, I’m sure would recues themselves and appropriate replacements would be made by Chief Justice Canady," Goessling said.
The case will first go to the First District Court of Appeals, but if it does get to the Florida Supreme Court, Florida rules require five of the seven justices to be present in order to constitute a quorum, and the rules give the chief justice the power to appoint new justices to fill in, in the event a Supreme Court Justices is unable to perform his or her duties.
Former American Bar Association President and Florida State University President and law School Dean, Sandy D’Alembert attended the Wednesday hearing. He called the lawsuit a political ploy and said the case is frivolous.
“I’d think it would rank somewhere in the top three or four in the category that I’ve seen in my life," he said.
And here’s what D’Alembert had to say about the group’s chances for an Appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Well, Good luck to them.”
No dates are set yet for an appeal. As it stands now, the three justices will be up for a merit retention vote on the November ballot. If voters decide to keep the justices behind the bench they’ll be in for another six –year term.
