“IT’S JUST SO DESANTIS” .......

 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

AND YOUR NEXT JUSTICE OF THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT .....

Will be chosen in the next ten weeks.

Of course, according to most insiders, the decision has already been made to choose Circuit Judge Renatha Francis of the 15th Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County.

For those of you that slept on this story back in 2020, there were two openings on the Florida Supreme Court. Gov. DeSantis was sent nine names by the JNC. Included in those nine names were John Couriel and Renatha Francis. The Governor chose those two as his next two Justices.  Couriel was quickly sworn into office. Not so with Judge Francis. You see, there was this little rule (it was in small print so DeSantis couldn't see it that well) in the Florida constitution that stated that a justice is required to have been a member of The Florida Bar for at least ten years.  Judge Francis, at the time of DeSantis naming her to the high court, was a member for only nine years.  She became a member of The Florida Bar on September 24, 2010.

So, Gov DeSantis, you know, the one who likes to follow the letter of the law, and the one who likes to appoint strict textualists to the bench; DeSantis decided that he would hold off on swearing in Judge Francis to the high court until September 25, 2020. Problem solved.

Not so fast though as a lawsuit was filed challenging the authority of DeSantis to name Francis to the high court in the first place.  The Florida Supreme Court heard the case and rendered their decision. Francis was not qualified and DeSantis needed to choose another nominee. He eventually chose Judge Jamie Grosshans.

Fast forward to 2022 and Justice Alan Lawson has announced his retirement from the Florida Supreme Court. The JNC has seventeen applicants and wouldn’t you know that, at the top of the list is none other than Judge Renatha Francis.

Now look, DeSantis had his reasons to appoint Francis back in 2020.  Justice Peggy Quince, the only justice of color on the high court, retired. DeSantis wanted someone of color on the Supreme Court. Forget the fact the both the JNC and the Governor passed over several much more qualified candidates; (six other candidates were of color and all had more experience).  None of the other candidates of color had “Federalist Society” on their resume though. Francis did.

There still is nobody of color on the high court today. This time around there are three applicants of the 17 that applied that are black.

Judge Cymonie Rowe, 15th Judicial Circuit.  Member of the Bar for 24 years. Appointed as a Circuit Court Judge in 2016. Attended Nova Law.

Judge Stephen Everett, 2nd Judicial Circuit. Member of the Bar for 15 years. Appointed as a County Court Judge in 2016 and a Circuit Court Judge in 2019. Attended LSU Law.

Judge Renatha Francis, 15th Judicial Circuit. Member of the Bar for 11 years. Appointed as a County Court Judge in 2017 and a Circuit Court Judge in 2018. Attended Florida Coastal Law.

But, only one of those three judges is an active member of The Federalist Society.

According to a story published in the Florida Bulldog on May 18, 2022, it’s a done deal - DeSantis has already decided to pick Francis. All the JNC has to do is fall into lock-step and name her as one of the finalists. Here is an excerpt from that story:

“Palm Beach Circuit Court Judge Renatha Francis has already been seen checking out the Florida Supreme Court’s underground parking garage by St. Augustine Street; she let it be known she wants a coveted spot near the elevator to the justices’ chambers.

Space in the exclusive, heavily fortified garage won’t be available until Aug. 31, when Justice Alan Lawson retires. But Francis can count on getting what she wants, according to a court insider who communicated with Florida Bulldog on condition of anonymity because the Lawson succession plan is top secret.

“There is talk here that [Gov. Ron] DeSantis told the justices he is going to name Judge Renatha Francis to replace Justice Lawson because now she meets the qualifications,” the insider said.”

You can read the entire story here::

DANIEL NORDBY, ESQ.
Chair, Florida Supreme Court JNC
Shutts & Bowen
215 S Monroe St Ste 804
Tallahassee, FL 32301-1858

Dear Chair Nordby:

This is an open letter written to all nine members of the JNC. Your Florida Supreme Court JNC received 17 applications to replace Justice Alan Lawson on the high court.  Back in 2020, your JNC nominated an unqualified candidate by the name of Judge Renatha Francis.

We all understand the desire for diversity on our high court. Among our 17 applicants, you have three who are of color. Two of those candidates, Judge Rowe and Judge Everett both have more experience that Judge Francis.

It has been widely reported in the press that Governor DeSantis has already made it clear of his intention to chose Judge Francis to replace Justice Lawson. But, for that to happen, your nine members must fall in line and agree to include Judge Francis’ name on your list of nominees.  Here is a novel idea - don’t do it. Nominate the six most qualified candidates for the job. And if you feel the need to make sure that at least one of your nominees is one of color, then nominate Judge Rowe, or Judge Everett - both are eminently more qualified and both have more experience practicing law and being a judge.

So, Mr. Nordby, shock the world and don’t name Judge Francis as a nominee.

Sincerely

Captain Justice
For the Justice Building Blog

THE APPLICANTS INCLUDE:

Jeffrey Albinson, a lawyer with the Golden Scaz Gagain firm;

Edward Artau, a judge on the 4th District Court of Appeal;

Steve Berlin, a judge on the 6th Judicial Circuit;

Hunter Carroll, a judge on the 12th Judicial Circuit;

Eric Eisnaugle II, a judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal;

Stephen Everett, a judge on the 2nd Judicial Circuit;

Renatha Francis, a judge on the 15th Judicial Circuit;

Ariana Fajardo Orshan, a judge on the 11th Judicial Circuit;

Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe, a judge on the 13th Judicial Circuit;

Denise Harle, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom organization.

Jeffrey Kuntz, a judge on the 4th District Court of Appeal;

Robert Long, a judge on the 1st District Court of Appeal;

Tarlika Nunez Navarro, a judge on the 9th Judicial Circuit;

Cymonie Rowe, a judge on the 15th Judicial Circuit;

Meredith Sasso, a judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal;

Adam Tanenbaum, a judge on the 1st District Court of Appeal;

Thomas Winokur, a judge on the 1st District Court of Appeal;

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

GOV. DESANTIS TO NAME (maybe) NEWEST FLA. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

GOVERNOR NAMES JUDGE JAMIE GROSSHANS

Grosshans serves as a judge on the Florida Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach. She was an assistant state attorney in Orlando before going into private practice and then becoming a judge. In private practice she specialized in family law, including divorce, custody cases, and adoptions. She got her law degree from the University of Mississippi. She is a member of the Federalist Society.

Grosshans has been a member of The Florida Bar for less than 14 years. She began her legal career as an ASA in Orange County where she worked for one year. She spent nearly ten years in private practice running her own law firm which specialized in family law and criminal defense. She was appointed to the County Court bench in 2017 at the age of 38 by then Governor Rick Scott.  In 2018, Scott elevated Judge Grosshans to the 5th DCA. So, in just three years, Judge Grosshans has risen from the County Court bench all the way to the Florida Supreme Court.

=============================================


TAKE YOUR WRIT OF MANDAMUS AND SHOVE IT WHERE .....


Well, that’s not an exact quote from the esteemed Harvard educated, Trump-loving, Governor DeSantis, but it might as well have been.

BREAKING UPDATE:

The Florida Supreme Court has now officially entered their WRIT OF MANDAMUS ORDERING THE GOVERNOR TO MAKE THE APPOINTMENT BY FIVE PM. The ORDER can be found here.

FURTHER BREAKING NEWS:

At 5 PM today, Governor DeSantis will hold a press conference in Tallahassee where he is expected to name our next justice.

To recap:

In November of 2019, Florida Supreme Court Justices Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa both resigned and accepted appointments to the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals. In December of 2019. the Florida Supreme Court JNC, they of the "if you are not a member of the Federalist Society" don’t bother to apply group, interviewed 32 candidates for the two open seats on the Supreme Court of Florida. Those candidates included several "qualified" persons of color including our own Judge William Thomas and Judge Daryl Trawick of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida.

On January 23, 2020, the JNC sent nine names to the Governor, only one of which was someone of color, and that person, Judge Renatha Thomas, was NOT qualified to sit on the Supreme Court of Florida.

Under the Florida Constitution, the words state that the Governor shall appoint a judge from the nominating list within 60 days of receiving the names. Well, Ron "call me the textual" Governor DeSantis, ignored the text of the Constitution and blew the March 23, 2020 deadline.

Finally, more than two months after the March 23 constitutionally prescribed (in words actually written in the Florida Constitution) deadline, the Governor "appointed" two replacements, John Couriel and Renatha Francis.

Of course, at the time of her "appointment", on May 26, 2020, Judge Francis was NOT qualified to serve by virtue of her not being a member of the Florida Bar for at least ten years. This requirement also appears, in words actually written, in the Florida Constitution.

In stepped elected Democratic state Rep. Geraldine Thompson from Windermere who filed suit in the Florida Supreme Court asking them to rule that Francis cannot sit on the court because she was not "qualified". After a hiccup in that lawsuit when Thompson had to file an Amended Complaint, the High Court finally ruled in Thompson’s favor. Five justices stated (Couriel did not participate in the decision) in a unanimous opinion that:

"The constitution’s 10-year Bar membership requirement and 60-day appointment deadline are bright-line textual mandates that impose rules rather than standards and prioritize certainty over discretion," the justices wrote. They continued: "To some, enforcing rules like these might seem needlessly formalistic when the result is to preclude the appointment of an otherwise qualified candidate. But "formalism," as Justice Scalia observed, "is what makes a government a government of laws and not of men."

They ordered DeSantis to name a justice from the list of seven remaining nominees by NOON today. Well, guess what, the Governor blew that deadline too.

In a comedy sketch right out of Saturday Night Live, the Governor’s legal team attempted to defend the "appointment" of Francis, by arguing that she was not actually appointed on May 26^th, but instead, the Governor was only making an "announcement". The Court mentioned that that argument was ludicrous and pointed to the Governor’s previous pleadings where they stated that she was "appointed" and even his Press Release which stated:

May 26, 2020 Press release from Governor DeSantis:

"Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the Florida Supreme Court. Francis’ appointment fills the vacancy of former Florida Supreme Court Justice Robert Luck, who now serves on the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit after being appointed by President Donald Trump."

So, what has the Governor done so far, instead of naming a replacement for Judge Luck.

DeSantis took his show to the road, and last Wednesday, in Miramar, he stood on the stage with several elected black mayors (all Democrats) and excoriated the Florida Supreme Court for denying the citizens of Florida the chance for him to make history by appointing a Jamaican black female to the high court. In what can only be described as out of this world, Judge/Justice/Judge Francis not only appeared on the stage, but she spoke at the rally. (There must be a few Judicial Canons against that activity).
 
YOUR NEWEST FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, MAY OR MAY NOT BE NAMED AT SOME POINT TODAY .....

..... From the list of seven nominees remaining.

The remaining nominees are:

Judge Jonathan Gerber (Fourth District Court of Appeal)

Judge Jamie Grosshans (Fifth District Court of Appeal)

Judge Norma Lindsey (Third District Court of Appeal)

Judge Timothy Osterhaus (First District Court of Appeal)

Eliot Pedrosa (executive director, InterAmerican Development Bank)

Judge Lori Rowe (First District Court of Appeal)

Judge Meredith Sasso (Fifth District Court of Appeal)
 

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

JUDGE/JUSTICE RENATHA FRANCIS, IN OR OUT .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

AND THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT HAS SPOKEN .......

The Florida Supreme Court responded this morning to the Governor's 11:57 PM filing by smacking him down "writ of mandamus" style.

Here is the link to the Order.:
 
Bottom line, every time the Governor and his legal counsel open their mouths, unconstitutional words come out. First, the Governor violated the constitution by not appointing Justice Luck's replacement within the constitutionally required 60 days. Second, he chose Judge Francis, who was constitutionally unqualified to serve (blame the JNC for nominating her in the first place).


The Florida Supreme Court ordered the Governor to pick one of the other seven "qualified" candidates by no later than Monday, September 14, 2020.

Judge Jonathan Gerber (Fourth District Court of Appeal)

Judge Jamie Grosshans (Fifth District Court of Appeal)

Judge Norma Lindsey (Third District Court of Appeal)

Judge Timothy Osterhaus (First District Court of Appeal)

Eliot Pedrosa (executive director, InterAmerican Development Bank)

Judge Lori Rowe (First District Court of Appeal)

Judge Meredith Sasso (Fifth District Court of Appeal)

PUTTING THINGS INTO PERSPECTIVE .......

On a somber note, today is the 19^TH anniversary of 9/11.

I just got off the phone negotiating with opposing counsel over the resolution of a case. Opposing counsel has been practicing for all of four years. She was 10 years old when our country was attacked on 9/11.

Have a safe weekend my friends.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

 
 

GOV. DESANTIS APPOINTS TWO NEW SUPREME COURT JUSTICES .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

YOUR TWO NEWEST FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICES ARE .......

JUDGE RENATHA FRANCIS

ATTORNEY JOHN COURIEL

Today, Governor DeSantis appointed Judge Renatha Francis and attorney John Couriel to two seats on the high court that were open when former Justices Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa were appointed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Francis was born in Jamaica. She obtained her undergraduate degree from the University of the West Indies and her law degree from Florida Coastal Law.

Francis was first appointed to the Miami-Dade County Court bench by Gov. Scott in August of 2017. Ten months later, in June of 2018, Scott elevated Judge Francis to the Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Just over one year later, in October of 2019, Francis resigned her seat on the Miami-Dade bench only to be appointed as a Circuit Court Judge in Palm Beach County. Prior to joining the bench she worked as a lawyer for the 1^st DCA and then as an associate at Shutts & Bowen.

Amazingly, Judge Francis is NOT qualified to serve on the Supreme Court. Francis graduated from Florida Coastal Law in 2010 and became a member of the Florida Bar on September 24th of that year. According to the Florida Constitution, a Supreme Court justice must have been a member of the Florida Bar for 10 years. Therefore, Judge Francis will not be eligible to take her seat on the Florida Supreme Court until after September 24, 2020.

There has been much talk about the need for diversity on the bench, especially the Florida Supreme Court. When Justice Peggy Quince retired in January of 2019, that left the high court without a black justice for the first time in 36 years. Thirty-two people applied for the two open seats on the high court, six of them black. The JNC nominated one, Francis.

Slate, in an article from April 1, 2020, wrote about the controversy surrounding Francis' nomination by the JNC and suggested that Francis’ appointment is unconstitutional. They wrote:

There are two ..... constitutional provisions that are relevant. First, Article V, Subsection 11(c) states that "[t]he governor shall make the appointment within sixty days after the nominations have been certified to the governor." (DeSantis received the nominee list in January and was obligated to make his appointments no later than March 23, 2020.).

Next, Article V, Subsection 11(a) provides that "[w]henever a vacancy occurs in a judicial office to which election for retention applies, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointing for a term." The plain language of the Florida Constitution does not distinguish between appointment and commission. The constitutionally significant event is the appointment, which is what fills the vacancy. How can a vacancy be filled if the appointee does not take office for a few months? It can’t.

John Couriel is a partner at Kobre & Kim, where he handles high-stakes cross-border disputes, with a particular focus on Latin America. A native Spanish speaker, Mr. Couriel conducts internal investigations and represents individuals and corporations in jurisdictions including Brazil, Argentina and Mexico.

Before joining Kobre & Kim, Couriel served as a prosecutor at the U.S. Department of Justice (as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida), where he prosecuted significant wire fraud, money laundering, healthcare fraud, and other conspiracies, including in cases involving cross-border prosecutorial cooperation and extradition matters. 

Couriel has made more than one attempt at elected state office. In 2012, he ran against incumbent State Senator Gwen Margolis, losing badly to her with only 38% of the vote. In 2016, Couriel took a shot at the Florida House when he ran in District 114 as a Republican against Democratic candidate Daisy Baez. Baez defeated Couriel 51% to 49%; (1,336 votes separated the two candidates). Of note, Baez resigned her seat on November 1, 2017, after reaching a deal with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office to plead guilty to a perjury charge related to her place of residence.

Couriel attended Harvard as both an undergrad and law school. He has been a member of The Florida Bar since 2004.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

JNC SENDS NAMES TO GOV. DESANTIS FOR SEVEN CIRCUIT & COUNTY OPENINGS

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

The JNC for the 11^th Judicial Circuit has been very busy. There are currently three open seats on the Circuit Court due to the resignation of Judges John Thornton and Diane Ward, and the appointment of Judge Renatha Francis to the 15^th Circuit Court (Palm Beach County).

There are currently four open seats on the County Court due to the elevation to the Circuit Court bench of Judges Altfield, Beovides, and Shearson Cruz, and the resignation of Judge Slom.

The JNC interviewed a total of 38 candidates for the openings. They considered 12 candidates for both Circuit and County; 8 candidates for Circuit Court only; and 18 candidates for County Court only.

Today, the JNC has nominated 15 names for the three open Circuit Court seats and they nominated 23 names for the four opening Son the County Court. Eight of those named were nominated for both Circuit and County.

The list below shows the time of the interview, followed by the name, followed by what the JNC was interviewing the candidate for (in small letters), followed by what, if anything, the candidate was nominated for (in caps).

8:30 a.m. Ramiro Christen Areces, circuit CIRCUIT

8:35 a.m. Jason Bloch, circuit CIRCUIT

8:40 a.m. Karl Brown, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

8:45 a.m. Rachel Canfield, county

8:55 a.m. Raul Antonio Cuervo, circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

9 a.m. Jeffrey Cynamon, county

9:10 a.m. Madelin D’Arce, county/circuit COUNTY

9:20 a.m. Miesha S Darrough, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

9:25 a.m. Renier Diaz de la Portilla, county

9:35 a.m. Christina DiRaimondo, circuit CIRCUIT

9:40 a.m. Elisabeth Espinosa, county COUNTY

9:50 a.m. Elsa Fernandez, county

10 a.m. Michael H. Galex, county/circuit COUNTY

10:10 a.m. Carlos H. Gamez, county COUNTY

10:20 a.m. Rita Gonzalez Cuervo, county

10:25 a.m. Christopher Green, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:05 a.m. Blanca Greenwood, county COUNTY

11:10 a.m. Marcia Hansen, county COUNTY

11:20 a.m. Ayana Harris, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:25 a.m. Julie Harris Nelson, county/circuit COUNTY

11:30 a.m. Peter Heller, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:35 a.m. Kevin Hellman, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:45 a.m. Zachary N. James, circuit CIRCUIT

11:50 a.m. Scott M. Janowitz, county/circuit CIRCUIT COUNTY

11:55 a.m. Amy Josefsberg Ederi, county

1:05 p.m. Jeffrey Kolokoff, county COUNTY

1:15 p.m. Gale Lewis, county/circuit COUNTY

1:20 p.m. Steven Lieberman, county COUNTY

1:25 p.m. Joseph J. Mansfield, circuit CIRCUIT

1:30 p.m. Griska Mena, county COUNTY

1:35 p.m. Hilton Napoleon II, county/circuit COUNTY

1:45 p.m. Steven Paulson, county

1:55 p.m. Luis Perez-Medina, circuit CIRCUIT

2 p.m. Christopher Pracitto, county COUNTY

2:05 p.m. Cristina Rivera Correa, county COUNTY

2:15 p.m. Patricia Salman, county

2:25 p.m. Robert T Watson, circuit CIRCUIT

2:30 p.m. Craig Weissberg, county COUNTY　


The Governor has 60 days to make his selections.


CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

SIX OPEN SEATS; TWO CIRCUIT AND FOUR COUNTY .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....
          THEN FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL .....

CIRCUIT COURT

Judge John Thornton has resigned. This has resulted in an open seat on the Circuit Court.

Judge Renatha Francis has resigned, sort of. The Honorable Judge Francis was first appointed by Governor Scott to the County Court in August of 2017. Scott elevated Francis to the Circuit Court in June of 2018. On Tuesday, Governor DeSantis appointed Francis to an open seat on the Circuit Court bench in the 15^th Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County) to fill the vacancy created by the death of Judge Meenu Sasser.  Open seat Circuit Court.


COUNTY COURT

Judge Sam Slom has resigned. Open County Court seat.

Judge William Altfield has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.

Judge Gina Beovides has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.

Judge Laura Shearson Cruz has been elevated to the Circuit Court. Open County Court seat.


The Eleventh Judicial Circuit JNC is going to be berry berry busy these next few months.  If you ever wanted to sit on the bench, now would be a very good time to get your Application submitted.  Just remember that the first two lines of your resume better read: current (or former) ASA/AUSA/AAG; Member, The Federalist Society.


CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com


 

EIGHT NEW JUDGES COMING TO A COURTROOM NEAR YOU .....

BREAKING SATURDAY AFTERNOON: JUDGE KAVANAUGH CONFIRMED TO US SUPREME COURT IN 5-48 VOTE. Rumpole not to be nominated to fill Kavanaugh's seat on DC Court of Appeals. 

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS:

AND YOUR THREE NEWEST COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE ......

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of three new County Court judges to replace Judges Dawn V. Denaro, Andrea Ricker Wolfson, and Renatha S. Francis; all three were previously promoted to the Circuit Court.

JUDGE CHRISTINE BANDIN, age 39, currently a partner with Shutts and Bowen. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 11 years. She currently handles the defense of class action and mass litigation cases for them. She replaces Judge Andrea Ricker Wolfson

JUDGE RAUL CUERVO, age 63, currently a shareholder at Carlton, Fields, Jorden, Burt. He has been a member of The Florida Bar for 33 years. He currently handled the defense of insurance claims, class action suits, and commercial litigation cases. He replaces Judge Renatha Francis.

JUDGE LUIS PEREZ-MEDINA, age 58, currently an ASA at Miami-Dade’s State Attorney’s Office. He has been a member of The Florida Bar for 12 years and has worked at the SAO for his entire career. He ran for an open Circuit Court seat in 2016 in a four way race coming in second place in the primary. In the general election run-off he lost a close contest to Judge Mark Blumstein, 51%-49%. He fills the vacancy created by Judge Dawn Denaro.


SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

3^RD DCA & CIRCUIT COURT & COUNTY COURT .....

THIRD DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL:

Chief Judge Leslie Rothenberg and Judge Richard Suarez are resigning from the 3^rd DCA. As a result, the 3^rd DCA JNC is accepting applications for their replacements.

If you carefully watched the shenanigans that took place in 2016 with President Obama’s nomination of Merritt Garland to the then open Scalia seat, a nomination that was never even considered by the Senate’s Judiciary Committee for nearly a year, then you need to also think about these two open seats on the 3^rd DCA.

Over the next three months, despite the fact that Rick Scott is a lame duck Governor, he will likely appoint, or attempt to appoint a number of judges on the County Court, Circuit Court, DCAs, and yes, three open seats that will be on the Florida Supreme Court.

The 3^rd DCA JNC has provided only 19 days for applications to be submitted for the two open seats. The deadline is October 15^th. The Interviews are scheduled to take place the following week, on October 22-23. That means that Governor Scott should be receiving the finalists names on his desk on the evening of October 23, 2018. The Governor then has 60 days to choose the two replacements, with a deadline of December 22^nd.  Compare this to past history of DCA appointments by Scott and you notice that this particular appointment process has been expedited by approximately fourteen days; exactly the amount of days Scott will have remaining as Governor.   

So, in his final two weeks in office, Scott would likely be choosing the two new 3^rd DCA judges, despite the fact that, by then the Governor-Elect will have been known for a full 46 days.

CIRCUIT COURT:

With the resignation of Judge Ariana Fajardo Orshan, (she is now the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida), Governor Scott also gets to name her replacement. Surprisingly, only ten applied for her seat. Those ten names were considered by the JNC and they have elected to interview two, consider four others who have already been recently interviewed, and not consider four others.

WILL BE INTERVIEWED ON 10/9/18:

DiRaimondo, Christina Marie
Guzman, Carlos

WILL BE CONSIDERED WITHOUT THE NEED FOR AN INTERVIEW:

Altfield, William I.
Bokor, Alexander S.
Brinkley, Tanya J.
Perez-Medina, Luis

WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED:

Barton King, Michelle
Guitian Barker, Maria A.
Cabarga, Carmen R.
Perkins, Joseph

The finalists’ names will likely reach Governor Scott’s desk on the evening of October 9, 2018 with a deadline to name Judge Fajardo Orshan’s replacement of December 8, 2018; again, a full month after the Gubernatorial Election of 2018.

With the resignation of Judge Stephen Millan, the JNC interviewed seven applicants for the open Circuit Court seat including: William Altfield, Alexander Bokor, Tanya Brinkley, Ayana Harris, Gordon Murray, Jorge Perez, and Luis Perez-Medina.

The following names have been sent to Governor Scott:

Judge William Altfield
Judge Alexander Bokor
Judge Tanya Brinkley
Ayana Harris
Luis Perez-Medina

COUNTY COURT:

With the retirement of Judge Wendell Graham, the JNC interviewed one applicant for the open County Court seat: Ariel Rodriguez. They also considered all those applicants that were interviewed for the Denaro, Wolfson, and Francis vacancies.

The following names have been sent to Governor Scott:

Julie Harris Nelson
Jonathan Meltz
Gavin N.L. White

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

HERE COMES THE JUDGE .......FIVE NEW JUDGES .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SO, YOU WANT TO BE A JUDGE .....

BREAKING - WE UPDATED THE POST BELOW BY PLACING AN *** NEXT TO THE NAMES BEING SENT TO GOVERNOR SCOTT.  18 OF THE 26 ATTORNEYS THAT WERE INTERVIEWED HAVE BEEN FORWARDED TO THE GOVERNOR; (6 NAMES PER OPEN SEAT).

It may be hot and muggy outside, and if you’re lucky enough to be Horace Rumpole, you may be able to afford a vacation "down under", but the rest of us are busy back in the Magic City working the corridors of the GJB. And, the 11^th Circuit JNC is also busy, really, really busy.

As you may recall, Governor Scott came a-calling for three Circuit Court Judges recently and he tapped Judges Dawn Denaro, Andrea Wolfson, and Renatha Francis, all of the County Court. That means the JNC needs three new County Court Judges and they aim to narrow the list on Thursday, August 9, 2018 when they will interview 26 candidates (out of the 31 that applied). Those being interviewed include:

9:00 Abreu, Milena (currently a candidate for judge)***
9:15 Bandin, Christine  ***
9:30 Barket, Michael (currently a candidate for judge)
9:45 Brown, Karl St. Hope  ***
10:00 Cabarga, Carmen R. 
10:15 Chamorro, Miguel J. 
10:30 Cuervo, Raul A.  ***
10:45 D’Arce, Madelin 
11:15 Delancy, Michelle  ***
11:30 Giordano Hansen, Marcia  ***
11:45 Gitchev Guerrero, Brenda  ***
12:00 Harris, Ayana  ***
12:15 Harris Nelson, Julie 
1:00 Heller Peter S. ***
1:15 Hillery, Kimberly C.
1:30 Janowitz, Scott ***
1:45 Jean, Lody ***
2:00 Kolokoff, Jeffrey M. ***
2:15 Meltz, Jonathan
2:45 Mena, Griska ***
3:00 Perez-Medina, Luis ***
3:15 Pracitto, Christopher (currently a candidate for judge) ***
3:30 Reboso, Manolo ***
3:45 Silver, Stephanie ***
4:00 Torrents Greenwood, Blanca ***
4:15 White, Gavin N. L

Fear not fellow barristers, for if you missed out on applying for one of these three openings, Judge Wendell Graham has announced his retirement after proudly serving for the past 24 years on the County Court bench. 
 
Wendell Graham began his career serving our community when he joined Janet Reno’s office in 1983. After spending five years there, he spent the next six years as a solo practitioner while also serving as a Traffic Magistrate and a Hearing Officer for the Dade County Public School system. In 1994, Governor Lawton Chiles tapped him to become a County Court Judge. Graham last won re-election in 2016 when he defeated Antonio Jimenez garnering 57% of the vote.

We want to take a moment to thank you Judge Graham for your service to the citizens of our community and to our great State of Florida. I’ve personally known Wendell for more than 30 years and he has always been so kind who all that ever came into contact with him. You never saw Judge Graham raise his voice to anyone appearing in his Court before him. He displayed the type of judicial demeanor we would hope for in all of our judges. I spoke recently to Judge Graham and he has indicated to me that his last day on the bench is scheduled for August 31^st. He has decided to return to private practice. He tells me that "he is extremely excited about this opportunity".

Please take a moment and join me as we wish him well in his next chapter of serving our community.

APPLICATION DEADLINE AUGUST 10^th .....

Those that would like to file an application with the JNC to replace Judge Graham have until tomorrow to get that done.

But wait, there’s one more open seat on the bench. As many of our readers will also recall, Judge Stephen Millan recently resigned his seat on the Circuit Court bench. The deadline to file an application to replace Judge Millan is also August 10^th.

EARLY VOTING BEGINS ON MONDAY, AUGUST 13, 2018

Look for our post on Monday as we review the ballot for the eight contested Circuit and County Court races.

Also on Monday, Governor Scott versus The Florida Supreme Court - The Battle for the Fourth Circuit Bench

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com 

GOV. SCOTT APPOINTS THREE NEW CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES .......

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

BREAKING NEWS:

AND YOUR THREE NEWEST CIRCUIT COURT JUDGES ARE ......

Today, Governor Rick Scott announced the appointment of three new Circuit Court judges to replace Judges Bagley, Marin, and Zabel.

JUDGE DAWN DENARO. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 25 years. She is a former ASA (18 years) and current County Court Judge. She was first appointed by Scott in 2011 to the County Court. She was elected in 2012 without opposition and was up for re-election this year. She again drew no opposition. She fills the vacancy created when Judge Jerald Bagley resigned.

JUDGE ANDREA RICKER WOLFSON. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 17 years. She is a former ASA (9 years) and current County Court Judge. She was first appointed by Governor Crist in 2010 to the County Court. She was elected in 2012 when she defeated Greer Elaine Wallace. She was up for re-election this year and she drew no opposition. She fills the vacancy created when Judge Antonio Marin resigned.

JUDGE RENATHA FRANCIS. She has been a member of The Florida Bar for 7 years. She previously worked as a staff attorney for the First DCA and then as an associate at Shutts & Bowen. She was first appointed by Governor Scott to the County Court only ten months ago, on August 14, 2017. She has not had to face the voters. She fills the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Sarah Zabel.  I believe Francis becomes the first Jamaican born Circuit Court Judge in Miami-Dade County and she will be the only black female to currently serve on the County's Circuit Court bench; (with the retirement of Judge Teretha Thomas, County Court Judge Tanya Brinkley becomes the only other black female judge in the County out of 123 judges).

This all means that the JNC will be hard at work over the next couple of months as this now opens up three more seats on the County Court bench.

Interesting side note: There were ten names sent to the Governor by the JNC to replace Judges Bagley and Marin. Those appointments were scheduled to take place this week. Of the seven not selected, all of the names (except one) that were sent up just two weeks ago to replace Judge Zabel were identical to those sent up to replace Bagley and Marin. The one new name sent to Scott: Renatha Francis.

Those who will have to try again include: Judges William Altfield, Alexander Bokor, Tanya Brinkley, and Carlos M. Guzman, and attorneys Ayana N. Harris, Julie Harris Nelson, and Luis Perez-Medina. (Carlos Lopez’ name was also sent up but he won election to the Circuit Court when nobody filed to run against him last month).

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SAY HELLO TO JUDGES MANSFIELD AND FRANCIS .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

AND YOUR TWO NEW COUNTY COURT JUDGES ARE:

JOSEPH MANSFIELD, Age 52.  Joe has served as an ASA since 2001.  He fills the vacancy created by Judge Victoria del Pino who was elevated to the Circuit Court.

RENATHA FRANCIS, Age 39. She is currently with Shutts & Bowen. She was previously employed by the First DCA as an attorney to Judge Scott Makar, a staff attorney, and a law clerk to Judge Peter Webster. She fills the vacancy created when Judge Jason Dimitris was elevated to the Circuit Court.

CAPTAIN OUT .....
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