State Supreme Court Justice Lawson to retire in August

Jurist ending 35-year law career after six years on court

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Supreme Court Justice Alan Lawson announced Friday he will retire Aug. 31, a move that will allow Gov. Ron DeSantis to continue placing his imprint on the state’s highest court.

Lawson, who was appointed as a justice in 2016 by former Gov. Rick Scott, will end a 21-year judicial career that also included serving as a circuit judge in Orlando and a member of the 5th District Court of Appeal.

“One of the greatest joys of my 35-year legal career has been and continues to be the ability to work alongside a bench and bar filled with extraordinary individuals who work tirelessly to assure that the citizens we serve are well-served by our system of justice,” Lawson, 60, wrote in a retirement letter to DeSantis. “That system is often criticized yet still endures as the best system of justice that the world has ever seen.”

Lawson has been part of a major conservative shift on the Supreme Court during the past three years. That was prompted by the retirement in early 2019 of longtime Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince, who had helped make up a relatively liberal majority.

Three DeSantis appointees — Justices Carlos Muniz, John Couriel and Jamie Grosshans — have joined Lawson, Chief Justice Charles Canady and Justice Ricky Polston to form a solid conservative majority on the seven-member court. Justice Jorge Labarga, who joined Pariente, Lewis and Quince on many major issues, is now often a lone dissenter.

DeSantis will appoint a successor to Lawson, after a judicial nominating commission interviews candidates and submits recommendations.

“I have every hope that you will further strengthen Florida’s justice system as you attentively and thoughtfully appoint my replacement,” Lawson wrote in the letter to DeSantis. “Godspeed as you initiate that process.”

An announcement from the Supreme Court did not detail Lawson’s future plans, though it described his involvement in charity work, including in such things as medical efforts in Central America.

“Julie [his wife] and I plan to enjoy retirement, prioritizing family, health and fitness, spiritual growth and development, friends, the outdoor sports that we enjoy, and charitable work in the United States and abroad,” Lawson said in a prepared statement.

Lawson