There are some very powerful people— including, probably, some of our judges— who think that citizen riffraff should have no say in the selection of judges. These people are so influential that they've been able to get two referendum questions on the ballot in November to allow you, if you choose, to give up your right to elect (or unelect) judges here in Monroe County.
The wording of one of those questions reads: "Shall the method of selecting circuit court judges in the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit be changed from election by a vote of the people to selection by the judicial nominating commission and appointment by the Governor with subsequent terms determined by a retention vote of the people?"
The second item reads exactly the same, but deals with the selection of County Court judges.
We hope you will alert your family, friends and co-workers to this proposed travesty because, for some reason, it hasn't received much media attention. Then, on election day, we should all vote to resoundingly reject this outrageous attempt to take the people out of the judge-selection process. Some say that some of our judges are already out of control. Can you imagine the attitudes they'd cop if they weren't responsible to the voters?
Don't be snowed by that "retention vote" crap. What that means is that, every so many years, the names of appointed judges would appear on the ballot. You could vote to "retain" or "not retain." With nobody running against them and virtually no information available to the voters about the judges' records, retention would be virtually automatic.
That's certainly the case with appeals judges. Appointed by the Governor, they face the voters every few years for a retain/no retain vote. No judge in Florida has ever been kicked off the bench through this process, according to the Associated Press.
Would it surprise you to learn that many lawyers would like to see you, the voters, aced out of the judge-selection process? The Florida Supreme Court just threw out a lawsuit by several South Florida attorneys who challenged the language of both referendum questions, alleging they were worded to favor the election option. Twenty former presidents of the Florida Bar supported the challenge. But you should realize, of course, that these are the guys who would most likely be sniffing after those judicial appointments.
We've just seen, right here at home, an example of how the appointment process might work, as opposed to the election process. It just so happened that when the process of removing Judge Steven Shea from the bench was finally concluded, his term was up and an election was scheduled. Almost a dozen candidates, including some of the most prominent attorneys in our County, had signed up with the Supervisor of Elections to run for that seat.
But Bush said the voters didn't need to be involved. He said he would appoint Shea's replacement and he did. Did he appoint one of those who had signed up to run? Be serious. He appointed a politically-connected Assistant State Attorney who didn't even have the gumption to run for the office.
Vote "no" on both of the judge selection referendum questions on Nov. 7. Don't let them take away your right to choose.