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The governor tells appointees to the state's judicial boards not to be ashamed to consider his ideology.
By STEVE BOUSQUET
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 15, 2001
TALLAHASSEE -- Bolstered by a new law giving him more power to shape the courts, Gov. Jeb Bush urged his appointees to judicial boards Tuesday to find judges who share his "values, ideology and principles."
Speaking at a daylong training seminar for more than 100 members of judicial nominating commissions, Bush also emphasized the need for greater diversity on the bench.
Four judicial circuits, including the 6th in Pinellas and Pasco counties, were singled out in a diversity study for advancing only white men for three vacant judgeships since Bush took office.
The Legislature changed the law last spring to give more influence to Bush and less to the Florida Bar in deciding who serves on the 26 boards, which nominate three to six nominees for each judicial vacancy. Many lawmakers were vocal in their criticism of a judicial branch that has struck down a number of Republican initiatives in recent years.
Bush said he has no "litmus test" for judicial appointees to Florida's 20 circuits, five courts of appeal and the Supreme Court, but without apologies, he said he would be seeking to appoint people who share his views. "That's kind of why we have elections," Bush said.
"I'm not ashamed of it. I'm not embarrassed about it. I will do it with great regularity," Bush told the group. "I don't see why there's such a hullabaloo about it. To me, that's exactly what the framers of our Constitution wanted. ... You shouldn't be ashamed about it, either."
The predominantly Republican audience applauded Bush's remarks.
Florida Bar President Terry Russell, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer in the crowd, said Bush's insistence on like-minded judges is fine as long as "values" means integrity, temperament and knowledge of the law, and not positions on hot-button political issues.
"There's a certain range of ideology that a governor is privileged to take into account," Russell said. "But I think we might have a difference of opinion in terms of how far you go right or left. I think we have to stay in the mainstream."
Russell, a Democrat, said he has seen no evidence that the trial or appellate court has tilted to the right since Bush took office, and he praised Bush for appointing "good, solid lawyers" to the commission in his home county, Broward. State law now gives Bush the power to reject the names of commission members submitted by the Bar, but Bush has rejected none.
Among the new JNC members listening to Bush was Susan Bedinghaus of St. Petersburg. A member of the Pinellas-Pasco JNC and a 30-year-old prosecutor, she also is a member of the Junior League, Young Republicans and the county Republican Party, of which her husband, Paul, is president.
Bush appointed her to a one-year term last year and recently appointed her for two more years.
Susan Bedinghaus said no one has told her what kind of judges to nominate. "The governor is looking for the most qualified candidates, period," she said.
Democrats have been suspicious of Bush's agenda in the courts since the fall of 1999, when an e-mail from one of his lawyers proposed a set of unofficial regional panels of Bush allies to recruit "ideologically compatible" judges. The restructuring of the judicial nominating commissions, known as JNCs, was strongly opposed by the Florida Bar, which said it would threaten the independence of Florida's courts.
Bush, describing himself as "fried" after a 71/2-hour Cabinet meeting, sensed that his words might make waves. "Charlie, I hope I didn't get in trouble saying that," Bush told his general counsel, former U.S. Rep. Charlie Canady.
"Not with me," Canady said. During his four terms in Congress, Canady was a conservative firebrand who championed a ban on so-called partial-birth abortions and affirmative action in federal programs. He kept a personal term limits pledge and quit in 2000 after eight years.
Canady's office plays a crucial behind-the-scenes role by holding personal interviews with all finalists for circuit and county court judgeships throughout the state.
Figures show that of the 104 judges Bush appointed through July 10, 62 are white men, 16 are white women, eight are black men, seven are black women, five are Hispanic men and six are Hispanic women. Bush said he believed he has named more women and minority judges than previous governors.
Linda Sweeting, a Fort Lauderdale lawyer who has studied gender, racial and ethnic balance in Florida courts, said the bench has become much more diverse under Bush, but it is much more white and male than Florida as a whole, and it is up to JNC members to change it by nominating more women, blacks and Hispanics.
"Please look at these numbers. Do not perpetuate the status quo," Sweeting said. "Your role is critical. The opportunity is great."
Judicial board includes 5 Republicans (August 10, 2001)
Governor gains influence in judge selection (June 20, 2001)