How Justices Jorge Labarga, James Perry Survived Retention Fight

snn728x90h02_

 

FLSupremeCourt

Editor’s Note – Kenric Ward goes into great detail explaining the nomination process for judges, the role the Florida Bar plays and even questions whether the campaign against retention is even worth the effort.

A little known fact is even if a judge does not obtain the necessary votes for retention, the process is set up to where the Governor may very well be able to just reappoint the individual.

Your’s truly is quoted in the article below on the outcome of the Restore Justice campaign.  Be sure to follow the link at the end of the story for much more on this interesting topic. 

 

How Justices Jorge Labarga, James Perry Survived Retention Fight

 By Kenric Ward
Sunshine State News

Florida Supreme Court Justice Jorge Labarga won the highest score in a Bar Association poll, but got the lowest retention vote of any high court judge in state history last Tuesday.

That disconnect reveals a growing gap between the public and legal elites who nominate state judges.

Labarga and fellow Justice James Perry were targeted for removal by a conservative coalition angry over the court’s decision to kick Amendment 9 off the fall ballot. The measure would have given voters the opportunity to exempt Florida from the Obama health care law.

Labarga and Perry, who joined three other justices in killing Amendment 9 (they called its wording “unclear”), were retained with votes of 58.9 percent and 61.7 percent, respectively.

The two justices who ruled to keep Amendment 9 on the ballot — Chief Justice Charles Canady and Ricky Polston — were retained by votes of 67 percent and 66 percent.

Tea party groups and an organization called Citizen2Citizen claim credit for the lower approval levels of Labarga and Perry.

“This campaign was totally a grass-roots effort that was completely unfunded, yet it created an 8-10 point swing in the polls. In an election in which nearly 4.5 million people voted, that’s fairly substantial,” said Tom Tillison, a tea party activist in Orlando.

“The real success of this campaign is that it began just six weeks prior to the elections. Had we gotten an earlier start and had acquired any source of funding, I believe both judges would have failed to achieve retention. I think we’ve got their attention, regardless,” Tillison said.

Since judicial retention votes began in 1978, no Florida state judge has failed to be retained, and favorable votes generally run in the 60- to 70-percent range. Labarga’s 58.9 percent was the lowest ever for a Supreme Court justice.

Read More – http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/how-justices-jorge-labarga-james-perry-survived-retention-fight

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.
Tom Tillison

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Comments are closed.

Latest Articles