Florida Supreme Court

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Florida Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	7
Founded:	1845
Judicial selection
Method:	Comm. select., Gov. appt.
Term:	6 years
Active justices
Fred Lewis  •  Barbara Pariente  •  Peggy Quince  •  Charles Canady  •  Ricky Polston  •  Jorge Labarga  •  James Perry  •
Former justices

Founded in 1845, the Florida Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort.

Justices

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by	Party
Justice Fred Lewis	1998-1/2019	Lawton Chiles
Justice Barbara Pariente	1997-1/2019	Lawton Chiles
Justice Peggy Quince	1998-2019	Lawton Chiles
Justice Charles Canady	2008-2017	Charlie Crist
Chief Justice Ricky Polston	2008-2017	Charlie Crist
Justice Jorge Labarga	2009-2017	Charlie Crist
Justice James Perry	2009-2017	Charlie Crist

2012

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Judge	Incumbency	Retention vote	Retention Vote %
ParienteBarbara Pariente   A	Yes	4,934,296	68.0%A
LewisFred Lewis   A	Yes	4,899,667	67.5%A
QuincePeggy Quince   A	Yes	4,894,677	67.7%A

Jurisdiction

The Florida Constitution gives the Supreme Court manditory appellate jurisdiction over certain types of cases such as death penalty and public utilities cases, discretionary appellate jurisdiction over matters pertaining to the state constitution, and exclusive and non-exclusive jurisdiction over writs of habeas corpus, mandamus, quo warranto, and prohibition.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Florida

Judges are selected using the commission selection, political appointment method, where the Governor of Florida chooses from a list of three to six candidates recommended by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. Justices serve six year terms. The appointment of a justice must be confirmed by a retention vote in the next general election at least one year after taking office.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications for appoint to the court are:

• Registered to vote in Florida.
• Resident of Florida.
• Under 70 years of age.

Removal of justices

Judges may be removed in one of two ways:

• At the recommendation of the judicial qualifications commission, the supreme court may discipline, retire, or remove a judge.
• Impeached by a two-thirds vote of the Florida House of Representatives and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Florida State Senate.

Caseloads

Florida Supreme Court justices, from left to right, top row: Jorge Labarga, Charles Canady, Ricky Polston, James Perry bottom row: Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince, Fred Lewis

Year	Filings
2009-2010	2,506
2008-2009	2,386
2007-2008	2,505
2006-2007	2,478
2005-2006	2,502
2004-2005	2,403
2003-2004	2,473
2002-2003	2,549
2001-2002	2,916
2000-2001	2,975

Salaries

The Associate Justices of the court receive $157,976 annually, and the Chief Justice makes the same $157,976.

Notable decisions

The Florida Supreme Court has heard many cases of note, including the 2000 presidential election Florida recount case Bush v. Gore.

Florida Supreme Court upholds pension reform law January 17, 2013 On January 17, the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of a 2011 law that requires state employees to contribute 3% of their salary to the state's pension fund. The 4-3 decision reversed a lower court ruling, eliminating the possibility of a $900 million refund to employees for money collected by the Florida Retirement System (FRS) since 2011. The Florida Education Association (FEA), along with other state labor unions, challenged the 2011 law (Senate Bill 2100) soon after it was passed. They argued that employee pension benefits were under a contract and could not be changed without negotiations. FEA President Andy Ford, stated: “ "Balancing the state budget on the backs of middle-class working families is the wrong approach for legislative leaders and the governor to take." ” Supporting the law, was the state of Florida--specifically, the Governor, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and the Secretary of the Department of Management Services. Gov. Scott, following the Supreme Court's ruling, stated, "The court’s ruling today supports our efforts to lower the cost of living for Florida families." The lawsuit was appealed from the Second Circuit Court to the First District Court of Appeal. Both courts ruled in favor of the unions before being overturned by the Supreme Court. Writing for the majority, Justice Jorge Labarga explained: “ "The preservation of rights statute was not intended to bind future legislatures from prospectively altering benefits for future service performed by all members of the FRS." ”

History of the court

Florida Supreme Court building

The composition of the Florida Supreme Court owes its origins to the influencing colonial powers of Spain and England. The resulting rules are a mixture of British Common Law and Spanish Crown Law. The 1838 constitution of the Territory of Florida provided for a Supreme Court, but the territory had no Justices specific to the Supreme Court, instead borrowing judges from the four judicial circuits in the state. When Florida became a state in 1845, this constitution was adopted. A 1940 amendment increased the number of judges to seven. Florida District Courts of Appeal were not founded until 1957 in an effort to reduce the caseload before the supreme court. From the courts founding until 1971 judges were chosen by direct election, but the court was changed to a commission selection, political appointment method.

Notable firsts

• Justice Peggy Quince is the first African American woman to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. She is also only the second African-American and third female to serve on the court.
• Justice Joseph Hatchett was the first African-American to serve on the court.
• Justice Rosemary Barkett was the first woman to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. She is also the first female, Arab-American and Hispanic woman to be appointed to the court.
• Justice Raoul Cantero was the first person of Hispanic decent to serve on the court.

See also

• Courts in Florida
• Judicial selection in Florida
• Florida judicial news
• Florida blogs

External links

• Florida Supreme Court website
• The Florida Supreme Court: Judicial Activism & Judicial Self-Restraint – Some Examples
• Tallahassee.com, "Supreme Court Justices are in a hot race to keep jobs", February 21, 2012

References

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2010

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Charles Canady		3,032,766	67.5%
Against retention		1,457,276	32.5%

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Ricky Polston		2,917,344	66.1%
Against retention		1,494,754	33.9%

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Jorge Labarga		2,623,144	59.0%
Against retention		1,825,270	41.0%

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
James Perry		2,741,271	61.7%
Against retention		1,700,729	38.3%

• Click here for 2010 General Election Results from the Florida Secretary of State.

Main Article: Florida judicial elections, 2010

2006

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Fred Lewis		2,759,763	67.1%
Against retention		1,351,264	32.9%

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Barbara Pariente		2,772,413	67.6%
Against retention		1,328,674	32.4%

Florida Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Peggy Quince		2,787,041	68.2%
Against retention		1,296,966	31.8%

• Click here for 2006 General Election Results from the Florida Secretary of State.