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Gov. DeSantis Is Reshaping Florida’s Courts — With The Federalist Society’s Help

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named a second judge from Miami's appeals court, Judge Robert Luck, to the Florida Supreme Court on Jan. 14 at Scheck Hillel Community School in Northeast Miami-Dade.
Carl Juste
/
Miami Herald
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis named a second judge from Miami's appeals court, Judge Robert Luck, to the Florida Supreme Court on Jan. 14 at Scheck Hillel Community School in Northeast Miami-Dade.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was in his element when he gave the opening speech last month at the national convention of the Federalist Society, the organization of conservative and libertarian lawyers.

Citing Federalist papers and 162-year-old U.S. Supreme Court cases, the Harvard-trained attorney made an articulate case against the branch of government he said felt “superior” to the others.

“I think judicial power is too robust right now,” DeSantis said. “And I think the checks upon it are just simply inadequate.”

Less than a year after taking office, DeSantis is faced with making his fourth and fifth picks for the state Supreme Court, shaping Florida’s highest court to match his legal philosophy. And his views are indistinguishable from those of the Federalist Society, whose members have been instrumental in making those picks.

Read more from our news partner, The Miami Herald.

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Lawrence Mower