On the day his successor takes power, a defeated or departing Florida governor would be allowed to appoint replacements for state Supreme Court justices whose terms expire on the same day. That's in a controversial bill the state Senate passed on Thursday. And that governor could be Rick Scott four years from now, when the court's liberal majority retires all at once.Justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and R. Fred Lewis will all turn 70 during the next gubernatorial term, and that means they must all hang up their robes the day the new governor is inaugurated. Inauguration day briefly has two governors, the outgoing and the incoming, and the constitution says nothing about who gets the appointment power. We have a problem
Republican Senator Tom Lee of the Tampa area says appointments by one governor could trigger lawsuits that cloud the validity of any decisions that the new justices make. So, he filed a bill that gives the appointment power to the outgoing governor. It will be Rick Scott, if he wins election this year, or the Democrat who defeats him. Whoever, Lee told the Senate.
"We are headed for a serious constitutional question as these justices roll off", said Lee.
The bill creates a constitutional amendment that the voters would have to approve and it passed 26 to 14 with only one Republican opposing it. Democratic opponents said the timing issue isn’t a real problem because new governors routinely make appointments before they are actually sworn in. One senator called the bill "trickery." And Democrat Darren Soto of Orlando said it ignores the wishes of state voters.
"An incoming governor, once that has just been elected, one that is closest to the people, is the one who should make these appointments", said Soto.
The Supreme Court is the rock upon which many Republican initiatives have crashed over the years. Clearly, the bill would give Gov. Scott the power to fashion the court of his dreams, either to benefit a Republican successor or bedevil a Democrat coming into office. There's no companion bill in the House yet but House Speaker Will Weatherford calls Lee's bill "compelling" and says he'll review it.