DeSantis issues response in Judge Francis dispute
TALLAHASSEE — Pointing to a historic pick that will “reverberate across the state’s judiciary for decades to come,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ lawyers sought to bolster arguments that Palm Beach Circuit Judge Renatha Francis should be able to take a seat on the Supreme Court.
In a 24-page document sent just before midnight Wednesday to the Supreme Court, DeSantis’ lawyers urged justices to reject a lawsuit from state Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere, filed because Francis does not meet a constitutional requirement to be appointed. Thompson has asked the court to make the governor choose another candidate.
The legal battle took place as DeSantis on Wednesday tried to ratchet up political support for Francis joining the Supreme Court. In an unusual move, the Republican governor held a news conference in Miramar, where he was flanked by Black elected officials and Francis, who would become the first Jamaican-American justice and the only woman and Black justice on the seven-member court.
In a virtual news conference Thursday, Thompson criticized both DeSantis for not choosing a Black nominee earlier and state Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-Miami, a fellow member of the Black Legislative Caucus, for appearing with DeSantis at his Miramar event to support Francis.
Thompson said that Joseph, whom she called a “friend” of Francis,’ should not have spoken on behalf of the caucus.
“What you had were local elected officials who, for whatever reason, wanted to, in my mind, curry favor with the governor,” Thompson said. “But none of them said [Francis] was eligible under the constitution. They talked about her character and her personality ... But we’re not appointing a prom queen here. We’re appointing a justice of the Florida Supreme Court.”
The Supreme Court ruled Aug. 27 that DeSantis overstepped his authority in May when he appointed Francis, as she has not been a member of The Florida Bar for 10 years. The court this week allowed Thompson to amend her case and argue that DeSantis should be required to appoint another candidate from a list provided in January by the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.
That list included nine finalists for two seats on the Supreme Court, with DeSantis choosing Francis and Miami attorney John Couriel to fill the vacancies. While Couriel joined the Supreme Court immediately after the May 26 appointment, DeSantis said Francis would not become a justice until Sept. 24, when she would meet the 10-year Bar membership requirement.
In the arguments filed late Wednesday, DeSantis’ lawyers wrote that Thompson is improperly trying to require DeSantis to choose a candidate from among seven other candidates on the list provided by the commission. The document contended that Francis also should remain on the list as a nominee and that the Supreme Court doesn’t have the authority
to remove her from the list.
Also, DeSantis’ lawyers contend that the May choice of Francis was an “announcement,” rather than an “appointment,” with the intention that Francis would join the court on Sept. 24. They wrote that a “proper remedy hinges on the court’s clarification of the inten
tions and effects of the governor’s actions on May 26.”
However, as Thompson’s own legal response filed late Thursday noted, the governor’s own May 26 news release on Francis stated, “Governor Ron DeSantis Appoints Judge Renatha Francis” and added, “Francis’ appointment fills the vacancy.”
Thompson fired back at DeSantis, saying he “purports that I am blocking diversity on the Florida Supreme Court.”
But she said it was the commission, made of three people appointed by the governor, three people appointed by the Florida Bar, and another three then chosen by that group, who did not have diversity in their choices.
“That was his judicial nominating commission,” Thompson said. “They rejected people, African Americans, who had been members of the Bar for 20, sometimes 30 years, who had been judges for decades. And they could not find anybody who could serve except this person, who doesn’t even have 10 years, who scarcely has three years as a judge.”
Thompson’s attorneys filed the challenge in July and initially argued that the commission should provide a revamped list of candidates to DeSantis, who would then make a different selection. But the Supreme Court in its Aug. 27 decision rejected that proposed fix and, as a result, Thompson’s challenge.
The court on Tuesday allowed amending the petition and ordered the governor 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 of January 23, 2020, and is now constitutionally eligible for appointment.”
In her response, Thompson stated she “accepts this Court’s ruling and will accept a remedy that guarantees, at a minimum, a lawful appointment. It is surprising that the governor sees it differently.”