MIAMI -- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has officially appointed Justice Robert J. Luck to the Florida Supreme Court, making him the second judge from the Third District Court of Appeal to receive the honor.
DeSantis announced the appointment at a well-known Jewish institution, the Scheck Hillel Community School in northeast Miami-Dade on Jan. 14. Luck is the first Jewish justice to join the court in more than 20 years, according to the Miami Herald.
Luck, 39, along with Justice Barbara Lagoa, whom DeSantis also appointed from the Third District court (the first Cuban-American woman on the Florida Supreme Court), will fill two vacancies after the mandatory retirements of Justices Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince.
Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis
“Gov. DeSantis’ appointment of Justice Luck as the 88th justice to the Florida Supreme Court, following his appointment of Justice Lagoa last week, continues an impressive record of accomplishment in only the first few days of his administration,” said William Large, president of the Florida Justice Reform Institute, an organization that seeks to reduce fruitless litigation and improve fair and just legal practices. “Gov. DeSantis’ actions are the mark of a leader determined to exert the executive’s constitutionally lawful check on the judicial branch of government.”
Although Luck only served less than two years on the Third District Court of Appeal before his appointment to the state Supreme Court, Large said Luck’s background and history has prepared him for the transition.
“Justice Luck’s broad experience and legal acumen will serve the court as well,” Large said.
DeSantis appointed Luck and Lagoa just days after being sworn in last week. He is slated to choose one final candidate to replace retiring Justice Fred Lewis. Lewis, Quince and Pariente frequently agreed on more liberal philosophies and often sided against the Republican legislature.