Judicial board includes 5 Republicans

Gov. Jeb Bush's appointees for the Pinellas-Pasco circuit include three women and a political activist.

By ALICIA CALDWELL

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 10, 2001

Gov. Jeb Bush on Thursday appointed six members to a panel that will help choose Pinellas and Pasco judges and, as was expected, most of them are Republican, and a few are political activists.

The appointees are among the first wave Bush has announced since the state Legislature restructured the commissions earlier this year -- part of a reaction to a judiciary seen by many lawmakers as too activist.

The overhaul eventually will give the governor unprecedented control -- the power to choose all judicial nominating commission members.

Among those Bush named to the Sixth Judicial Nominating Commission, which recommends candidates to the governor, are: the former executive director of Liberty Counsel, a religious freedom group based in Orlando that is affiliated with the Rev. Jerry Falwell; the lawyer for the Pinellas Republican Executive Committee; and the wife of the Pinellas Republican chairman.

"It's obviously business as usual," said Craig Laporte, a Port Richey lawyer who had been the chairman of the 6th Circuit JNC until the law changed.

Laporte applied for reappointment, but even though he is a Republican, he didn't expect to be chosen and wasn't. He said he is not particularly politically active, and he thought that played to his disadvantage.

Though Laporte said he did not know Nicole Arfaras Kerr, who had been executive director of Liberty Counsel for five years, he said it made sense that Bush would choose her. The Liberty Counsel, founded in 1989, has been involved in an array of religious freedom issues.

Last year, the Liberty Counsel took on a Jacksonville public library over a Harry Potter party, saying it promoted witchcraft. And it defended the Duval County school system's policy of allowing prayer at graduation ceremonies if students voted for it. It also challenged the city of Gainesville for its policy of extending health benefits to unmarried partners of city employees. The Liberty Counsel's lawsuit was dismissed by a circuit judge.

In her application for the position, Kerr wrote of her experience in cases heard in many different courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I would like to draw from this experience and participate in reviewing judicial candidates and making recommendations for judicial appointments," she wrote.

The commission restructuring gave the governor the opportunity to name six of the nine members of the nominating commission.

Bush reappointed:

Susan P. Bedinghaus, 30, of St. Petersburg, a Republican and Pinellas-Pasco assistant state attorney. She is married to Paul Bedinghaus, chairman of the Pinellas Republican Executive Committee.

George M. Jirotka, 44, of Belleair Shore, a Republican and a lawyer with Tampa firm of Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal and Banker. He is the lawyer for the Pinellas Republican Executive Committee.

The four new members are:

Kerr, 34, of New Port Richey, a Republican who is a lawyer with the Tampa firm of Wilkes & McHugh.

Sallie D. Skipper, 51, of New Port Richey, a Republican lawyer with the New Port Richey firm of H. Curtis Skipper.

Gary N. Strohauer, 53, of Seminole, a Republican who is a lawyer with the Clearwater firm Baxter, Strohauer & Mannion.

Darryl C. Wilson, 39, of St. Petersburg, an Independent and a law professor at Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport.

In keeping with Bush's oft-stated goal of diversity -- across lines of geography, race and gender -- three appointments are women, two are from Pasco County, one is from Clearwater and one is African-American.

Committee members have immediate work ahead of them in the sixth circuit: The members must screen applicants and make recommendations for a circuit judge, as well as two county judges -- one in Pinellas and another in Pasco. Applications are due Aug. 27, and a month later, Judicial Nominating Commission members are charged with recommending to the governor three to six candidates for each slot.

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