DeSantis appoints 2 to Florida high court
Picks include first Caribbean American for bench position
TALLAHASSEE – Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed two South Floridians to the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday, filling seats that had remained vacant since December as he tended to the coronavirus pandemic.
Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Renatha Francis, 42, the first Caribbean American appointed to the state’s high court, and John Couriel, 41, a Miami lawyer and the child of Cuban-American immigrants, will fill the vacancies of justices Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa, who left for the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeal based in Atlanta.
Francis, though, can’t take her spot on the bench until September. She graduated from Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville in 2010 and was admitted to the Florida Bar on Sept. 24 of that year. State law requires justices to be admitted to the bar for at least 10 years before they can serve on the high court.
DeSantis said Francis has recently had a child, a 1-month-old who could be heard in the background during the announcement in Miami, and would join the court after maternity leave.
Black lawmakers had called on DeSantis to appoint Francis, the only black nominee among the slate of nine chose by the Judicial Nominating Commission and presented to DeSantis. When DeSantis made three Florida Supreme Court appointments shortly after taking office in January 2019, including Luck and Lagoa, it left the bench without a black member for the first time in 40 years.
“I’m pleased with her selec
tion to the court; she’s qualified,” said Rep. Bruce Antone, an Orlando Democrat and chairman of the Florida Legislative Black Caucus. “Of course, it’s going to take a couple of months before she can actually sit on the bench. I think she brings diversity and diversity of thought and experience to the bench, and I think it’s a notable achievement that she’s the first Caribbean American.”
Couriel, who received both his undergrad and law degrees from Harvard, is with the private firm Kobre & Kim. He previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida but has no prior judicial experience. He was also heavily involved in Miami Republican politics, pushing for GOP candidates and running for office as a candidate himself, including failed bids for a state House seat in 2016 and a state Senate seat in 2012.
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 until recently.
The Florida Supreme Court has been hearing cases with its current makeup of five justices, the minimum needed for a quorum, since December.
Both selections were applauded by conservative groups.
John Stemberger, president of the Orlando-based Florida Family Policy Council, a socially conservative advocacy group that pushes for abortion restrictions among other issues, called Francis a “’textualist’ in the tradition of Clarence Thomas in her judicial philosophy” and a “brilliant choice.” He cited Couriel as “a highly respected lawyer with stellar credentials and a conservative judicial philosophy.”
DeSantis noted he was eager for Couriel’s litigation experience to come to the state Supreme Court, even though it will pay a lot less.
“For him to give up the type of money that he’s making, not a lot of people would do that,” DeSantis said. “The willingness to serve and the willingness to bring really a top-flight intellect … is admirable.”
Also at the news conference, DeSantis answered questions about his take on the possibility that the Republican National Convention might change locations from North Carolina.
“Florida would love to have the Republican National Convention,” DeSantis said. “Heck, I’m a Republican, it would be good to have the Democratic National Convention in terms of economic impact.”
President Trump tweeted on Monday that if the governor of North Carolina, a Democrat, could not guarantee that the planned convention from Aug. 24-27 in Charlotte would support full occupancy, he would move it.
DeSantis said he had not spoken directly to the president but had let those planning at the White House that Florida would be happy to step up to the plate, citing that it could land in Orlando, Tampa, Jacksonville or South Florida.
“If we can get that done and do it safe, that would be a huge economic impact for the state of Florida.”