A freshman Democrat is vowing to keep a close eye on the House debate over judicial term limits.Tampa Representative Sean Shaw watched his father, former Chief Justice Leander Shaw, survive a bruising merit retention race in 1990 after he wrote an opinion striking down parental notification of abortion. Representative Shaw serves on a subcommittee that was briefed on the concept Thursday, but he says it left him unconvinced.
“Everyone knows we have three branches of government that are equal, and one should not infect the other. And I certainly don’t want to get in the way of the judicial branch and how they make their decisions and the process over there.”
A House attempt to impose 12-year term limits on state Supreme Court justices and appellate judges failed in the Senate last year, but House Speaker Richard Corcoran is determined to revive it. Voters would have to approve a constitutional amendment.
