Since the Legislature gave Gov. Bush control of how judges are selected, he has all but turned the judiciary into a patronage system.
A Times Editorial
Published January 12, 2006
Nearly five years after Gov. Jeb Bush was given control over how judges are picked, give Pinellas Republican Party chairman Tony DiMatteo credit for candor. The party's general counsel, Thomas Minkoff, was just nominated for county judge, and DiMatteo relishes the chance to put another Republican on the bench. Said DiMatteo: "He's my No. 1, and I'll relay that to the governor."
To be fair, DiMatteo is surely not the first party chairman to try to influence a governor's judicial appointment. But his unapologetic nature suggests how pervasive the practice has become. Just ask George Jirotka, Minkoff's predecessor as the local Republicans' attorney. Jirotka was appointed circuit judge by the governor in October.
This is the outgrowth of powers awarded Bush in 2001 by the GOP-led Legislature. For three decades, governors of both political parties appointed appellate and trial judges from a short list supplied by independent nominating commissions. The governor would pick three members of each commission, the Florida Bar would pick three and those six would pick the remaining three. But Bush wanted total control, and so now he appoints every member of all 26 nominating commissions. Bush picks the people who nominate, then picks judges from the lists they send him.
The results have been disturbingly partisan, as the governor has all but turned the judiciary into a patronage system. His picks to the appellate courts have included: Paul Hawkes, a former legislator and Republican operative for two House speakers; Charles Canady, Bush's general counsel and an ex-congressman; and Bradford Thomas, Bush's public safety coordinator who once described his support for lethal injection this way: "put them on a gurney and let's rock and roll." One nominating commissioner he appointed in Broward County, the Rev. O'Neal Dozier, a self-described "prayer warrior," was even reported as asking judicial applicants whether they were "God-fearing."
Minkoff, a real estate attorney with no trial experience, has spent the past two years padding his partisan resume - donating his legal services to the party and campaign contributions to Republican candidates. That he emerged on a short list of nominees only underscores the danger in giving any governor sole authority over appointments. Judges need to be above partisanship, not a product of it.
