Charles T. Canady, a former congressman who has served as Gov. Jeb Bush's general counsel since January 2001, has applied to become a judge on the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Canady, 48, said he will interview with the Judicial Nominating Commission in Tampa Thursday and expects to learn by the end of the week whether his name will be among those recommended to Gov. Bush for appointment.

Canady, of Lakeland, retired from the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. The Yale Law School graduate was a Florida state representative from 1984 to 1990 before election to Congress in 1992. If recommended by the commission and selected by Bush, Canady would begin serving as a judge in November.

Pregnant pigs amendment will go before voters

TALLAHASSEE -- A group seeking to make it unconstitutional to keep pregnant pigs in small cages has collected enough signatures to put the proposed amendment on the November ballot.

Floridians for Humane Farms went over the required 488,722 petition signatures Monday.

The amendment would outlaw the use of 2-by-7-foot metal or similar cages in which sows sometimes are confined during pregnancy. Only a couple of swine producers in Florida, a state that ranks 30th in the nation in hog production, are known to use such gestation cages.

Lawsuit seeks removal of death penalty question

TALLAHASSEE -- Fifteen county elections supervisors sued the state Monday hoping to remove a proposed constitutional amendment on the death penalty from the ballot, saying it is too long and confusing.

The Legislature voted to place the question on the ballot during its 2001 session. It asks voters to put the death penalty in the Florida Constitution and is similar to a measure approved by voters in 1998 and thrown out by the state Supreme Court two years later. The justices said the measure wasn't clearly written.

Neither is the current question, said Ion Sancho, Leon County elections supervisor.

"Telling the voters that they get to vote on a 714-word summary which a third-year law student couldn't figure out simply is plain wrong," he said.

Proposed amendments placed on the ballot through citizen petitions are limited to 75 words, but the Legislature is not bound by that rule.

The question, which will be the first listed on the ballot, will take up the entire front and back of a ballot page, Sancho said. He predicted that some voters will not bother reading all of it and may skip the remaining questions.

Democrats' gubernatorial debate host invites Jones

WEST PALM BEACH -- State Sen. Daryl Jones was invited Monday to join a debate of Democratic gubernatorial candidates.

The Forum Club of the Palm Beaches invited the Miami legislator, considered a heavy underdog in the Sept. 10 primary race, after getting requests to do so from the state Democratic Party and the leading candidates, former Attorney General Janet Reno and Tampa lawyer Bill McBride.

Jones called his inclusion a victory for the people of Florida. "The people will have a debate that will better address the issues," he said.

The Aug. 27 debate is being sponsored by NBC affiliate WPTV, which will carry it live and offer it to other NBC stations.

Pilots charged with being drunk get no-travel orders

MIAMI -- Two America West pilots accused of being drunk when they tried to fly from Miami to Phoenix early last month were ordered Monday to either stay in Florida or at their Arizona homes pending future court appearances.

Thomas Cloyd, 44, and Christopher Hughes, 41, asked Circuit Judge David Young for permission to travel while awaiting their Oct. 21 trial.

But the judge ordered them to surrender their passports, to go nowhere except Florida or their home state of Arizona and to report in by telephone once a week.

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk