Bill would give the House speaker, Senate president JNC appointments
Bill would give the House speaker, Senate president JNC appointments
Senior Editor
The Florida Bar’s role in judicial appointments would all but disappear under a bill sponsored by a Northwest Florida legislator.
The measure filed by Rep. Frank White, R-Pensacola, would eliminate the Bar’s role in selecting members of the judicial nominating commissions — the nine-member panels that vet applicants and short-list nominees when a judicial vacancy occurs.
Instead of The Florida Bar recommending to the governor a slate of three lawyers for each of four seats on JNCs, HB 753 would allow the House speaker and Senate president to each appoint two lawyer members. The bill applies to all 26 JNCs.
White said the measure wouldn’t eliminate the Bar from the process, because the proposed change would still require at least four JNC panelists to be members of the Bar.
White said he believes elected officials should play a bigger role in selecting JNC members.
“There is no ability for voters to hold the Bar accountable for its nominations to the judicial nominating commissions,” White said. “This is a balance between an anti-majoritarian tradition with the tradition of accountability.”
White’s bill has been referred to the House Civil Justice and Claims Subcommittee and Judiciary before reaching the floor. Sen. Aaron Bean, R-Fernandina Beach, is sponsoring the companion measure, SB 1030.
Florida Bar President Michael Higer said the Bar, as a non-partisan organization, is the most qualified to recommend candidates based on merit, not political favor.
“The Bar seeks highly qualified, diverse applicants who it carefully screens and makes recommendations to the governor for appointments to the JNCs,” Higer said. “Our ongoing goal is, and always has been, to make sure that our state has the most highly qualified and diverse bench possible, and our involvement in nominating members of the JNCs is integral to achieving that commitment.”
The JNC process was a component of 1976 reforms designed to shield the courts from partisan politics. Originally, the governor and The Florida Bar each had three direct appointments to each JNC, with those six members selecting the final three.
That changed in 2001 when the Legislature amended the law to permit the governor alone to pick five commissioners for each JNC, at least two of whom must be lawyers, while the other four slots are each filled from lists of three lawyer applicants forwarded by The Florida Bar. But, the law also allows the governor to reject the Bar’s lists an unlimited number of times.
