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September 2, 2010 |
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| December 23, 2008 |
By: Jordana Mishory |
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ov. Charlie Crist has waded into a divisive nominating process by speeding up interviews with six Florida Supreme Court candidates while opponents of the controversial nomination of a former attorney to Gov. Jeb Bush threaten a lawsuit to halt the process, according to sources who asked not to be named.
In another twist, Supreme Court finalist Jorge Labarga will be among those interviewed for the high court, despite the fact that his appointment to the 4th District Court of Appeal was cited by Crist’s office in its request for more nominations, the sources said. When the Cuban-American Palm Beach County circuit judge was appointed Dec. 10 to the lower appellate court, Crist’s office asked for more Supreme Court nominees in the interest of diversity.
That set off a contentious process that resulted in the nomination of Navy General Counsel Frank Jimenez, a former assistant general counsel to Bush.
Late last week, as the controversy over Jimenez’s nomination simmered, the governor’s office moved up the planned interviews with the Supreme Court finalists from early January to today and Christmas Eve. All six are set to meet with the governor, chief of staff Eric Eikenberg and general counsel Jason Gonzalez, the sources said.
But Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey said he was not aware of a schedule for the interviews and that he could not confirm if they were on a tentative schedule. He said he had not spoken with Gonzalez’s office before deadline. Calls to Gonzalez’s office were referred to Ivey.
Efforts to move up the interview process at the last minute could be thwarted by holiday plans. At least two of the finalists were on vacation. One source said Labarga had agreed to a phone interview. He could not be reached for comment.
Tony Alfieri, director of the Center for Ethics and Public Service at the University of Miami, said the efforts to speed up the interview process and the re-inclusion of Labarga hurts the credibility of the governor and the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission.
“In American law, the highest value is almost always the value of process,” he said. “Having brazenly undermined the Supreme Court nominating process, the governor is once again demonstrating how results-oriented calculations can damage the integrity of the Florida judiciary.”
Alfieri said it appears the governor is rushing the interviews in response to a public outcry “to mitigate any further controversy or damage to his administration.”
A divided and quarrelsome Supreme Court JNC added Jimenez to the list of finalists Wednesday in the apparent absence of Labarga, the lone Hispanic finalist until Jimenez was added.
A majority of the JNC voted to suspend its own rules and consider 3rd DCA Judge Angel Cortinas, who had not applied for the opening but expressed interest in the job after Crist asked the JNC for more nominees. Even some commission members expressed consternation that their actions made it appear they were bowing to political pressure.
A source told the Daily Business Review that a lawsuit could be filed in the state Supreme Court this week to challenge the addition of Jimenez, claiming it was done outside the commission’s 60-day deadline from the time the governor certified the opening. The suit also will likely contend commissioners acted without authority when they voted to suspend their rules midway through Wednesday’s meeting.
Critics of the process that led to Jimenez’s nomination plan to send a letter first to request a dialogue with the JNC’s chairman about the matter. The letter would be signed by several prominent bar leaders, sources said.
JNC chairman Robert Hackleman of Gunster Yoakley & Stewart in Fort Lauderdale did not return several calls for comment by deadline Monday. He previously told the Review that the commission never determined whether Labarga was still in the running for the state’s high court. Members of the commission contended they did not have the power to remove anyone they had nominated.
The commission has the power to recommend three to six nominees.
Critics contend that sidelining Labarga, the only Hispanic finalist, was the first move in an elaborate, last-ditch effort to get Jimenez nominated under the guise of diversity. The JNC had passed over Jimenez twice.
Jimenez, who was born in Puerto Rico and is the brother of former Miami U.S. Attorney Marcos Jimenez, served as Bush’s deputy chief of staff. In his application, Jimenez said he had not appeared in court since beginning his federal government practice in 2002.
Jimenez was a controversial figure when he worked for Bush.
While working for the former governor, Jimenez helped hatch a plan to recruit judicial applicants who were “ideologically compatible” with the governor. According to a 1999 St. Petersburg Times report, Jimenez’s plan called for a “shadow system of ‘unofficial regional panels’ ” made up of Bush supporters to recruit people interested in becoming judges.
The other finalists are Miami-Dade Circuit Judges Gill Freeman and Kevin Emas, 5th DCA Judge C. Alan Lawson of Daytona Beach and Duval Circuit Judge Waddell Wallace III of Jacksonville.
Commission member Martin Garcia, a Tampa attorney who was a vocal supporter of adding finalists, said at the meeting last week that Labarga’s 4th DCA appointment left the list lacking Hispanic representation.
“There has been a change of circumstances since we last convened,” said Garcia, who sources say was a critical swing vote in getting Jimenez nominated. “One of the applicants on the certified list has now been appointed, and therefore this list is different now than the list we sent up to the governor.”
The governor has 60 days from the time the commission provides a slate of nominees to appoint a replacement for Justice Harry Lee Anstead, who has reached the mandatory judicial retirement age of 70.
Jordana Mishory can be reached at (954) 468-2616. |
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