DeSantis blasts move to block court pick
Calls the attempt to stop appointment of Francis an ‘insult’
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. DeSantis on Wednesday called an attempt to block his appointment of Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court “politically motivated” and an “insult” and said he stands with his choice.
The move sets up a potential conflict with the state’s high court, which has already ruled that Francis doesn’t meet the constitutional requirements to serve.
Francis, 42, is poised to become the first Jamaican-born justice, but Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D
Windermere, filed suit to block her appointment because she doesn’t meet the qualifications set out by the state constitution.
“Rather than celebrate this great achievement, we’re now facing a politically motivated lawsuit,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Miramar.
Thompson, who is Black, said she just wants a qualified justice on the bench, although she originally sought to ensure an AfricanAmerican was on the court.
Francis is “ineligible, inexperienced and unprepared,” Thompson said. “As far as I’m concerned those things in my mind outweigh color.”
DeSantis drew support from several elected Black Democrats, a group that doesn’t typically back the Republican governor.
Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-North Miami, chided Thompson for splitting from the Legislative Black Caucus’ position of supporting Francis’ appointment.
She noted that Francis was “not a Clarence Thomas,” a conservative Black U.S. Supreme Court justice derided by some for rolling back affirmative action protections.
“While she may be conservative and a member of the Federalist Society, none of those things in and of themselves disqualify Judge Francis from deserving our support or stamp of approval,” said Joseph, who said she spoke on behalf of the Black Caucus. Francis “is connected to her community and has chosen not to turn
her back on us.”
Thompson rejected that argument, noting Francis has only been a judge for three years. Francis was named as a Miami-Dade County Court judge in 2017 before moving to the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County in 2019.
“Where is her body of work that allows Representative Joseph to make that assessment?” Thompson said. “I’ve not been able to see that, and therefore I can’t put my confidence in the fact that that’s where she’s going to be because I don’t know where she’s been.”
The Supreme Court initially ruled on Aug. 27 that DeSantis exceeded his authority when he appointed Francis to the high court despite her not having 10 years of membership to the Florida Bar, a requirement to be appointed.
But the ruling also stated that the fix sought by Thompson – an entirely new nomination process with a new slate of candidates from the Judicial Nominating Commission, so that qualified AfricanAmericans could make the list – wasn’t allowed by the constitution.
Thompson amended her lawsuit to ask the court to require DeSantis to pick from the remaining seven candidates on the original commission list.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court ordered DeSantis to “show cause why he should not be required immediately to fill the vacancy in office of justice of the supreme court by appointing a candidate who was on the JNC’s certified list.”
That list, however, doesn’t include a Black candidate other than Francis, so Thompson’s original goal of getting a qualified Black justice on the court won’t be accomplished. DeSantis called that a hypocritical move by Thompson.
Francis was admitted to the Bar on Sept. 24, 2010, and would be constitutionally eligible for the appointment in two weeks.
DeSantis appointed Francis in May along with Justice John Couriel, who recused himself from the Thompson lawsuit. DeSantis said at the time Francis would not assume the bench until Sept. 24, when she would be eligible. He noted she had given birth a month before and would need time off to care for her child anyway.
DeSantis received the nominations on Jan. 23, and under state law was supposed to have made the selections by March 23. He said he was using his executive power under the state of emergency he declared to deal with the coronavirus to delay the picks, saying he didn’t have enough time to read the rulings of the nominees.
When DeSantis made three Florida Supreme Court appointments shortly after taking office in January 2019, it left the bench without a Black member for the first time in 40 years. But when two of those appointments, Justices Barbara Lagoa and Robert Luck, moved to the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta in December, it gave DeSantis a new opening.
But Thompson said it’s DeSantis, not her, who is to blame if Francis doesn’t ultimately take a spot on the court, leaving the bench without an African-American or a woman.
“The governor and his JNC set up this scenario so that there would be no diversity. They had the opportunity to nominate eligible, qualified people and they did not,” Thompson said. “This is his doing.”
DeSantis’ supporters, though, have touted the diversity of his judicial appointments. In his first 94 appointments through the end of July, 36% were minorities, including 17% Hispanics and 14% AfricanAmericans.