Florida’s judicial nominating commission is moving forward with all eleven applicants to replace state Supreme Court Justice James E.C. Perry.
Justice Perry turned 70 in 2015 and that means he’ll have to step down when his term expires. He announced in September he’d resign at the end of the year. Now the judicial nominating commission is in charge of narrowing the field of applicants and submitting three to six names to the governor. Because nominees must come from the Fifth Judicial District in central Florida there were only 11 total applicants. The commission has chosen to invite each candidate to interview for the post in November. This will be the first Supreme Court justice selected by Florida Governor Rick Scott, and it will likely bolster the conservative minority on the bench.
