The process of appointing a new Florida Supreme Court justice swings into high gear this month as a judicial nominating panel prepares to interview 17 candidates who applied to fill the position of retiring Justice Alan Lawson.
Lawson, who was appointed by former Republican Gov. Rick Scott, announced his retirement from the bench on April 29. Last Friday was the deadline for interested attorneys and judges to submit their applications to the panel that will review the candidates.
“The Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) is responsible for receiving applications, then vetting and interviewing applicants for the vacancy before sending a short list of nominees to the governor,” Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, told the Florida Record in an email. “... The next step is for the JNC to interview applicants and then transmit their recommendations to the governor.”
A letter from the governor’s general counsel, Ryan Newman, to the JNC’s chairman stated that DeSantis “strongly prefers” submission of no more than six finalists to the governor.
The schedule of candidate interviews was released by the JNC this week. Applicant Jeffrey Kuntz, a judge on the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach, will be interviewed on Zoom by commissioners on the morning of June 6. The remaining 16 candidates will take part in in-person public interviews in Tampa on June 11, with each lasting a half-hour.
The majority of the applicants are either state appellate judges or circuit court judges. One, Jeffrey Albinson, is a partner with a private law firm, Golden Scaz Gagain PLLC in Tampa, and another, Denise Harle, is senior counsel and director of the Center for Life in Lawrenceville, Ga., which opposes abortion.
Also on the list is Judge Renatha Francis of the 15th Judicial District, who was previously nominated to fill a high court vacancy in 2020 but was disqualified by the state Supreme Court because she had not been a member of the Florida Bar for the required 10 years. Another applicant, Judge Meredith Sasso of the First District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach, was a previous finalist for a spot on the high court.
Others, including Kuntz and Judge Cymonie Rowe of the 15th Circuit Court, have applied for state Supreme Court openings in the past.