House Speaker Dean Cannon’s (R-Winter Park) relentless push to overhaul Florida’s court system and give sweeping political control to Gov. Rick Scott over the state’s Supreme Court should outrage all well-thinking Floridians. Cannon continues his vendetta against the supreme court because three constitutional amendments, proposed by the Legislature, were tossed from last year’s ballot.
The current legislation (HJR 7111), which amounts to a court-packing scheme and calls for a constitutional amendment, seeks to expand the Supreme Court from seven to 10 members and split them evenly into separate divisions from criminal and civil appeals. The measure also requires that the more senior justices go to the criminal bench.
But some of Cannon’s own colleagues have said they will not support the proposal because of its price tag and the scale of changes to be undertaken.
If the measure is to pass the Senate, some Democratic support would be required, along with 24 Republicans of their 28 members.
“They don’t have the votes for it,” said Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, one of the opponents.
At a time when the Florida Legislature has slashed state services like education and health care and struggle to close a $3.5 billion budget deficit, some Republicans are balking at the estimated $21 million combined costs (HB 7199 and HJR 7111) to fund Cannon’s court-packing scheme.
Other Republicans who oppose the measure, scoff at the spurious argument that the Supreme Court’s caseload is burdensome, although it has been decreasing since 2001, and there’s currently a more than 97 percent clearance rate.
Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said Wednesday he couldn’t support the bill and blasted Cannon’s tactics in trying to push the measure through the Legislature, reports the News Service of Florida.
Even Senate President Mike Haridopolis, (R-Merritt Island), a strong supporter of the measure because of its importance to Cannon, suggested Thursday his caucus had reservations, given the gravity of the change.
Democratic legislators are united in their opposition to the measure, perhaps except for Senator Gary Siplin (D-Orlando), a Republican wearing Dems clothes, who supported it in the Senate Budget Committee. Across the state too, many judges, members of the bar and the community stand in opposition to the draconian changes being proposed.
Meanwhile, Cannon’s arm twisting continues in his desperate bid to blunt the independence of the judiciary and stack the court with politically friendly judges appointed by Scott.
We could only hope that those courageous Republicans will stand firm and defeat the measure, if and when it comes to in a full Senate vote.
