Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Right away, DeSantis shifts top court right
Governor appoints Lagoa, state high court’s first female Hispanic justice
Gov. Ron DeSantis kept one of his most significant campaign promises on Wednesday by beginning a shift to the political right on the Florida Supreme Court.
DeSantis appointed Barbara Lagoa to the state’s high court.
“I am particularly mindful of the fact that under our constitutional system it is for the legislature and not the courts to make the law. It is the role of judges to apply, not to alter, the work of the peoples’ representatives,” Lagoa said at a Miami news conference with DeSantis. “And it is the role of judges to interpret our Constitution and statutes as they are written.”
Lagoa, currently a judge on the 3rd District Court of Appeals that hears cases from Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, is a Cuban-American born in Miami and raised in Hialeah. She’ll be the state Supreme
“It is the role of judges to apply, not to alter, the work of the peoples’ representatives.” Barbara Lagoa, right, newly appointed to the Florida Supreme Court by Gov. Ron DeSantis
Court’s first female Hispanic justice.
“In the country my parents fled, the whim of a single individual could mean the difference between food or hunger, liberty or prison, life or death. In our great country and our great state we are governed by the rule of law,” Lagoa said. “Unlike the country my parents fled, we are a nation of laws, not of men.”
DeSantis’ Supreme Court appointments, starting on his second day in office, could ultimately be one of the most consequential moves of his governorship. Three justices reached mandatory retirement as DeSantis took office, giving him an unusual opportunity to put a major imprint on the state Supreme Court.
In coming days he’ll fill the other two vacancies on the sevenmember court.
Candidates for the vacancies were recommended by a Judicial Nominating Commission while former Gov. Rick Scott was in office. DeSantis, who took office Tuesday, said he’s interviewed all 11 candidates.
Lagoa’s appointment is effective immediately.
“Because of her family history, she understands that in Cuba the rule of law doesn’t mean anything,” DeSantis said. “The Cuban people do not know what laws will apply to them or whether they will receive a fair trial after arbitrarily being accused of political crimes. Fathers and mothers go to sleep without knowing whether that will be their last night outside or whether they will be able to hug their children because it’s all at the whim of the state. And so her backdrop understanding that I think has really made her appreciate the importance of the rule of law.”
During his successful campaign, DeSantis told supporters that he hoped to alter the judiciary in Florida “for a generation” through the three vacancies. He promised to appoint state Supreme Court justices in the mold of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
DeSantis also said during the campaign that he would “appoint solid ‘constitutionalists’ to the state Supreme Court and I think that will make a big difference. I think we’ll really re-energize our constitutional order here by doing that.”
That represents a big change, said Justin Sayfie, a Republican lawyer-lobbyist who splits his time between South Florida and Washington, D.C., and serves on a Judicial Nominating Commission for appellate judges.
“Florida has never had a Florida Supreme Court with a majority of justices who believe in a limited role for the judiciary. That’s a game changer and that’s why these appointments are so consequential,” said Sayfie, who was an adviser to former Gov. Jeb Bush.
John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council, a group with conservative views on social issues that include combating abortion and gay rights, called the Lagoa pick “an outstanding choice.”
“She is smart, thoughtful, and has a conservative judicial philosophy that appreciates the limited role of the court,” Stemberger said in a written statement. “In the world of judicial appointments, Barbara Lagoa is a home run.”
DeSantis announced the new justice at Miami’s Freedom Tower, a location that resonates with political significance. From 1962 to 1974, it was a processing center for Cuban refugees seeking political asylum from Fidel Castro’s regime. The 17-story tower, built in 1925 as a newspaper headquarters, is a symbol of hope, freedom and democracy — like New York’s Ellis Island for generations of European immigrants — for many in the Cuban American community.
Lagoa’s parents emigrated to the United States from Cuba. Her husband, three daughters, parents and in-laws attended the announcement.
She graduated from Florida International University and Columbia Law School, where she was associate editor of the Law Review. Lagoa, 51, worked at the Greenberg Traurig and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius law firms in Miami and is a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida.
The new justice has served on the Court of Appeals since her 2006 appointment by Bush.
Stemberger praised Lagoa for her membership in the Federalist Society. The conservative organization, anathema to liberals, is dedicated to changing the federal courts and has played a big role in helping to vet President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.