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Florida Supreme Court

Voters will determine whether two Florida Supreme Court justices merit another term.

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published October 31, 2002

Two Florida Supreme Court justices face a merit retention vote in the November election to keep their posts for another six-year term.

Harry Lee Anstead and Charles Wells will both appear on the ballot statewide in hopes that citizens approve of their work.

As part of the merit retention process, they face no opposition, and the voting is nonpartisan. People vote on both justices separately and can either vote for or against retention.

Florida lawyers overwhelmingly recommended the retention of both justices in a Florida Bar poll.

Wells, 63, was born in Orlando and was appointed to the high court by the late Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1994. He earned his law degree from the University of Florida College of Law in 1964 and entered private practice after receiving one of the three highest scores on the Florida Bar exam.

Wells also spent one year working as a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Anstead, 65, was born in Jacksonville and was appointed to the high court by Chiles in 1994. Before attending law school at the University of Florida, he served with the National Security Agency in Washington, D.C.

He was elected to the 4th District Court of Appeal in 1976 and served there until his appointment to the Supreme Court.

THE JOB

Supreme Court justices sit on Florida's highest court and rule on appeals from lower courts, death penalty cases, the validity of state statutes or constitutional provisions and other matters. Justices are appointed by the governor for six-year terms. Each justice makes $153,750 a year.