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If voters got it 'wrong,' let Supreme Court fix it

By HOWARD TROXLER
Published September 10, 2006

I knew Elizabeth L. "Betsey" Hapner as a prosecutor in earlier days, and was pained to see that she got in trouble after she became a judge in Hillsborough County. She resigned in 1998 in advance of being formally removed by the Florida Supreme Court.

But in Tuesday's election, Hapner's past didn't keep the voters of Hillsborough County from putting her in a close second place in a race for a circuit judgeship. She faces Bernard Silver in a November runoff. The voters either forgot her record, or voted for her despite it.

In Pinellas County, a 34-year-old lawyer named Susan Bedinghaus defeated an older, more experienced and perfectly qualified lawyer named Nat Kidder for a Circuit Court judgeship. Bedinghaus won by 10 points.

Maybe there was something about Bedinghaus' qualifications that the voters liked better. Or maybe her name counted for something. After all, her husband Paul is the former county Republican chairman.

Since Tuesday, there's been some talk that voters made the "wrong" choice in the Hapner and Bedinghaus races. The implication is that (1) voters don't know enough to choose judges, so (2) we ought to quit electing them.

Wrong on both counts.

There are two ways to become a trial judge in Florida. You can run for a seat that's vacant at election time. Or you can apply to be appointed by the governor for vacancies that come up at other times.

Critics say there are several problems with electing judges - and all those allegations are true. Elections mean money, and campaign contributions from lawyers, and possible conflicts of interest. They mean that candidates can be tempted to go too far, to say undignified or even unethical things to get elected. Voters sometimes choose on something as superficial as a name, or gender.

All true.

On the other hand, there are problems with appointing judges, too, and anybody who says there's no "politics" in that process is crazy. Applicants are screened by committees hand-picked by the governor. Plenty of qualified applicants try time and again, but they don't have the right party, or law firm, or they made the wrong enemies.

Each path to the bench in Florida is a safety valve on the other.

In the second place, it's pretty arrogant for anybody to claim the voters made a "wrong" choice, especially in a judicial race.

I hope Bedinghaus becomes a good trial-level judge, despite her tender age. Plenty of good judges started out young and without as many qualifications on paper as their rivals.

Here's what usually makes a good trial judge. Patience and kindness for those who deserve it, and firmness for those who don't. Courtesy and respect for everyone from clerks, secretaries and bailiffs to defendants. Plenty of humility. The realization that law is a search that will never be finished, no matter how smart they think they are.

Predicting who will be a good judge is difficult. Consider the case of John Renke III, who was just kicked off the bench in Pasco County by the Florida Supreme Court. Renke's case was precedent-setting because he was removed purely because of the campaign he ran back in 2002. Ironically, by all accounts, he did a fine job once he was on the bench - he was, indeed, a "good" judge.

This isn't a debate about "elected vs. appointed." It's about whether to keep two paths, each a safety valve on the other.

If Bedinghaus or Hapner (if Hapner goes on to win her runoff) later falls short ethically or legally, then let the Supreme Court do its job. In the meantime, let's ask the winners of all the other judicial races Tuesday whether they, too, think the voters were wrong.

Or are we saying voters are smart only when we, personally, agree with their decision?

* * *

A colleague points out an inexactitude - that means a dumb mistake, but I figured I would try to make it sound better - in my Sept. 6 column. I said the only campaign Charlie Crist ever lost was against U.S. Sen. Bob Graham in 1998. But in 1986, six years before he was elected to the Legislature, a 30-year-old Crist ran for the state Senate. He lost in the Republican primary.

* * *

This seems like a good time to take a few days off. In case anybody asks: No, I haven't been fired, honest. See you in a couple of weeks. Go Bucs.

[Last modified September 10, 2006, 01:22:33]