State: Judge uses Web site to seek top seat

TALLAHASSEE -- In what may be a first, a Pensacola judge who is among the nominees for a seat on the Florida Supreme Court has launched his own Internet Web site seeking public support for his appointment.

Circuit Judge Kenneth B. Bell is one of five nominees who will be interviewed by Gov. Jeb Bush July 1 to replace retiring Justice Major B. Harding. The five were recommended by a commission that interviewed all 21 of the applicants earlier this month.

Bell, 46, launched the Web site when he applied for the appointment. Visitors to www.judgebell.com can find a photo of him on the bench, his qualifications and background and even photos of his family.

He also offers ways his supporters can "participate in the selection process," including names and addresses of nominating commission members and the governor so supporters can send letters or make phone calls.

The Web site has raised eyebrows in a legal community where advertising and self-promotion are often considered unseemly.

"I don't see anything that really jumps out at me as problematic," said Mary Ellen Bateman, deputy director of the Legal Division at the Florida Bar. Judicial ethics are supervised by the Judicial Qualifications Commission, which is forbidden from commenting on its investigations of judges.

Bell said he believes the nominating process should be open and considers the Web site as "a convenient and quick way to get information out. I haven't advertised, and this was quicker than faxing and expressing information to people who are interested. Plus I have a 16-year-old who knows how to do it."

The Web site touts Bell's qualifications, such as principled decisionmaking, practical business experience, extensive experience as a trial judge and proven character and concern for Florida's communities.

And in words that might appeal to a governor and Legislature that have made a practice of questioning past court decisions for overreaching, Bell says the courts "must recognize their role as the weakest branch of government and pay due deference to the Legislature and executive branches."

Noting that Harding's retirement will leave the state's highest court without an experienced trial judge, Bell says he has imposed the death penalty and "seen the gaping wound left in the hearts of a murder victim's family" and sat through "the senseless devastation" of DUI manslaughter sentences and presided over many domestic and criminal cases.

Andrew Grigsby, chairman of the nominating commission, said he hasn't seen the Web site but has heard questions about it. "There are some fairly arcane rules that govern what judges can and can't do," Grigsby said. "But I can't comment on this."

Asked if he has heard much response to his Web page, Bell said "you are the first one who has called."

In addition to Bell, the nominees are Chris W. Altenbernd, 53, a judge on the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland; Philip J. Padovano, 55, and Peter D. Webster, 53, judges on the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee; and Raoul G. Cantero III, 41, a Miami lawyer and the only Hispanic nominee.

The vacancy created by Harding's retirement gives Bush his first opportunity to put his own stamp on the state's highest court. Bush and outgoing Gov. Lawton Chiles jointly appointed Justice Peggy Quince to fill the only other vacancy that has occurred since Bush was elected in 1998.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk