State Supreme Court Justices Francis and Sasso, up for retention votes, might as well have lifetime tenure
By Noreen Marcus,
In a hyperactive election season, it’s easy to forget this Florida ballot issue: Should two of the seven Supreme Court justices be allowed to keep their seats?
Voters will find “Justice Renatha Francis” and “Justice Meredith Sasso” somewhere down-ballot. No party affiliation, no opposition. Shall they be “retained in office?” Yes or no.
In theory, Francis and Sasso could win fewer than 50 percent plus one “yes“ votes and have to find other employment after the Nov. 5 election. Or, they could retire while still in their 40s.
But the operative word is “theory.”
None of their predecessors has been rejected in the 48 years since Florida voters adopted a merit retention system for district appellate judges and Supreme Court justices.
This means the governor picks those jurists; then voters discard or approve them for six-year terms. Merit retention was intended to be a check on the governor’s appointment power.
It hasn’t worked out that way, however, according to Bennett Brummer, who was Miami-Dade County’s public defender for 32 years before r
Labarga to make history as Florida’s first Cuban-American chief justice
John Kennedy | jkennedy@
Jorge Labarga, who became Palm Beach County’s first Cuban-born judge almost two decades ago, said he is looking toward shaping future lives as he is poised to make history again as chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court.
Labarga, 61, is slated to assume leadership of the seven-member court in July, becoming the first Cuban-American to hold the title of chief justice.
Wrenched from a boyhood near Havana by political turmoil, Labarga grew up as a refugee in rural Pahokee, before later moving to West Palm Beach.
Now, he hopes his success will inspire a new generation.
“When I speak to kids in high school, I tell them, ‘Listen guys, I am not an Einstein, intellectually,” Labarga said. “’But I was motivated. If you’re motivated and willing to work hard, you can do anything in this country. And I am living proof of that.’”
Before being appointed to the high court in by then-Republican Gov. Charlie Crist, Labarga spent years as an assistant public defender, prosecutor and judge in Palm Beach County. He still lives in Wellington and spends his work week in Tallahas
Jorge Labarga
Florida Supreme Court
Tenure
Term ends
Years in position
Prior offices
Florida 15th Circuit Court
Florida 4th District Court of Appeal
Elections and appointments
Contact
Jorge Labarga is a judge of the Florida Supreme Court. He assumed office on January 6, His current term ends on January 2,
Labarga ran for re-election for judge of the Florida Supreme Court. He won in the retention election on November 8,
Labarga was appointed to the court by Gov. Charlie Crist (R) on January 2, , to replace retiring Justice Harry Lee Anstead.[1][2] He was retained by voters in and To read more about judicial selection in Florida, click here.
In , Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[3] Labarga received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[4]Click here to read more about this study.
Candidate Background
Judicial experience
Retired or Appointed Elsewhere
- present
Justice, Florida Supreme Court. Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist. He won the retention vote by % in and % in
Note: Justice Labarga spent 1 day, January 5, , as a judge in the 4th District Court of Appeal before being elevated to the Supreme Court. Both roles are appointed by the Governor.
-
Circuit Judge, 15th Circuit Judicial Court. Appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles. He ran unopposed in the , , and elections. In this time, he also joined the 4th District Court of Appeal panel temporarily multiple times. In , he sat for Fladell v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, which requested a new election for President of the United States. Based on the U.S. Constitution, federal law, and precedent, he ruled that it would not be legally possible for the county to have a new election for President. Ultimately, the election was decided based on a recount.
* Appointed instead of running for election because of a vacancy between election cycles.
legal experience
Before he became a judge, Labarga had about 17 years of experience as an attorney. In that time, he ar
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