Three sitting state Supreme Court justices are defending themselves in the face of a campaign to get them off the bench through a November vote. Justices Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince face a merit retention vote in November. That’s when voters get the chance to vote up or down on whether the state’s justices can stay on the court.
On Friday, all three justices appeared at a forum and defended themselves.
The Republican Party of Florida and the wealthy Koch brothers are funding the effort to oust the justices. But Lewis rejected the charge of “judicial activism” opponents have leveled at the trio.
"I think that's demeaning, and I think what it's attempting to do is to raise passions and prejudice, and people who are opposing retention will get the same fairness – next week, next month – than if they hadn't opposed. See, there's no vengeance in the law", Lewis said.
If voters remove the justices, Governor Rick Scott will appoint their replacements. All three have been retained twice by voters in the past.