TALLAHASSEE – Renatha Francis’ appointment to the Florida Supreme Court remained in legal limbo this week in the wake of the high court’s decision that the governor overstepped his authority in choosing her.
Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Francis, a Palm Beach County circuit judge, earlier this year even though she could not immediately take a place on the high court because she has not been a member of the Florida Bar for 10 years, as is required by the state constitution. Francis won’t meet that requirement until Sept. 24.
“The governor did exceed his authority in making this appointment,” the Florida Supreme Court said in an Aug. 27 opinion authored by Justice Carlos Muñiz. “In a nutshell, when a governor fills by appointment a vacant judicial office, the appointee must be constitutionally eligible for that office at the time of the appointment.”
DeSantis announced his decision to nominate Francis on May 26.
A challenge to Francis’ qualifications was filed by state Rep. Geraldine Thompson (D-Orlando). In her complaint to the high court, Thompson urged justices to order DeSantis to appoint another person to the court from a new list of finalists, which would be assembled by the Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC). The court, however, rejected that idea.
“There is no legal justification for us to require a replacement appointment from a new list of candidates, rather than from the one that is already before the governor,” the high court said. “And the correct remedy (an appointment from the existing list of eligible nominees) would be contrary to Thompson’s stated objectives in filing this case.”
Francis’ appointment would have added to the court’s racial diversity, since she would be the first Caribbean-American to serve on the state Supreme Court. Thompson has voiced her desire for gender and racial diversity on the court but emphasized that nominees should be in line with constitutional requirements as well.
The Governor’s Office this week continued to stand behind Francis’ appointment to the Supreme Court.
“Governor DeSantis is committed to Judge Francis’ appointment and looks forward to her taking the bench in September,” Cody McCloud, the governor’s press secretary, said in an email to the Florida Record.
Thompson this week filed an amended emergency petition that urged the state Supreme Court to issue a writ requiring the governor to make an immediate appointment from the previous JNC finalist list that included Francis’ name.
“This court should order Governor DeSantis to immediately appoint to the Florida Supreme Court one of the seven constitutionally qualified individuals certified to him by the JNC on January 23, 2020,” the petition states.