Florida’s judicial system was once a model for the nation. Unfortunately, today the fairness and impartiality of our courts has been compromised.
In 2001, the Florida Legislature placed the authority to select who sits on Judicial Nominating Commissions entirely in the hands of the governor, turning them into patronage committees and undermining the impartiality of our state courts. Since that time, Florida’s governors have increasingly applied a political litmus test to judicial nominees.
In recent years, Gov. Ron DeSantis has been sued numerous times for his discriminatory culture war laws, anti-democracy gerrymandering, signing unconstitutional legislation, violating public records laws, attacking the right to protest, attempting to censor political speech, and more. These cases often go to the state Supreme Court, where five of the seven members were appointed by Gov. DeSantis.
No one should be able to pick their own judges. Our judges should be appointed based on merit, experience, and qualifications, not political ties. Sign our pledge to get politics out of Florida’s state courts by removing the governor’s outsized influence over Judicial Nominating Commissions.
Sign the pledge:
Florida’s judicial system was once a model for the nation, but today the fairness and impartiality of our courts has been compromised. In 2001, the Florida Legislature placed the authority to select who sits on Judicial Nominating Commissions (JNCs) entirely in the hands of the governor, turning them into patronage committees and undermining the impartiality of our state courts. Since that time, Florida’s governors have increasingly applied a political litmus test to judicial nominees.
No one, including the state’s governor, should be able to pick their own judges. We, the undersigned, hereby call on Florida lawmakers to make the JNCs truly nonpartisan and remove the governor’s outsized influence over our state courts.
