The results of the presidential election in Monroe County mirrored the indecisiveness of the national election. Al Gore received 424 more votes here than did George Bush. But what is driving the Democrats nuts is that Ralph Nader got 1090 votes in the Keys. Had those votes gone to Gore, we would be calling him Mr. President right now.
But there was no indecision among voters here about whether or not they want to continue to elect their Circuit and County Judges, rather than have them appointed by the governor. Here's an election return that didn't get a lot of coverage in the establishment media: More than 70 percent of the voters said they want to continue to elect judges here.
This shouldn't really be surprising. In recent years, County voters have thrown out two incumbent judges— J. Jefferson Overby in 1994 and Richard Fowler in 1996.
Fowler was a generally popular judge, but his involvement in a hit-and-run accident early in his second term brought him down. Leaving a holiday party, he backed into a parked car, left the scene, then lied to the cops about it.
He was hauled before the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) where he received only a slap on the wrist. Had he been appointed rather than elected, it is likely that he would still be on the bench.
But in 1996, he was challenged by Mark Jones, an obscure Assistant Public Defender. Jones won that election, but nobody really believes that would have happened had Fowler not been running with the weight of that hit-and-run on his shoulders.
Even with that baggage, Fowler made it into a runoff with Jones.
Then, a mystery flyer appeared up and down the Keys characterizing Jones' wife and some of her relatives as criminals. Fowler denied any association with that flyer— even though it was subsequently learned that he had requested criminal background checks to be conducted on Jones' inlaws, and the gist of those reports had been published in Fowler's campaign newspaper.
Of interest: That campaign newspaper was published by Winston Burrell, the soon-to-be husband of Judge Sandra Taylor. Taylor, Fowler's ex-wife and former campaign manager, would later tell a special prosecutor that she had nothing to do with Fowler's 1996 campaign— although she did admit that she sometimes hung out at "Rick's house" while Burrell was attending campaign meetings.
It's against the law for sitting judges to participate in any political campaigns other than their own.
Whether Fowler had anything to do with the flyer or not, it destroyed what was left of his campaign.
Complying with the bylaws of the "Judges' Club," then-Chief Judge Richard Payne fired Pre-Trial Services Officer Sandra Estinoz for illegally running the background checks for Fowler. But Payne recommended no action against Fowler.
In 1994, Judge J. Jefferson Overby had, rightly or wrongly, built a reputation of being abrupt, even rude, on the bench. Attorney Steven Shea defeated him, running a "courtesy counts" campaign.
But, had Overby been appointed rather than elected, it is likely that he would still be a judge.
From the beginning, however, Shea was considered to be an outsider within the judiciary here— which some say is among the most corrupt in the state. Shea even had the nerve to refuse to accept calls from State Attorney Kirk Zuelch to illegally discuss pending cases.
Zuelch, backed by some of the judges, orchestrated Shea's removal from the bench by an openly-biased JQC. Assistant State Attorney Luis Garcia, who testified against Shea, was subsequently appointed by the governor to replace Shea.
Ironically, Garcia had chosen not to run for the seat.
As the removal process was coming to an end, so was Shea's elected term. Some of the most prominent attorneys in the County signed up to run, including J. Jefferson Overby. But Gov. Jeb Bush, who has the authority to appoint judges to fill vacancies, preempted the election process.
Probably the best illustration of why judges should be elected rather than appointed is the recent performance of the judges on the Florida Supreme Court concerning the presidential election. They're appointed for life. Nuf said?