Here are a few of the fun facts you can learn from hanging out with the judges in Florida’s highest court:
Florida ranks 45th in the nation in the number of trial court judges per 100,000 population.
We’re the only state in the country that does not require a unanimous verdict when a prosecutor asks a jury for the death penalty.
And even though the phrase “judicial activism” is often invoked in horror on both sides of the political spectrum, “every judicial action involves some sort of activism.”
That last quote came from Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente, who met last week with reporters (including this one) as part of a two-day workshop in Tallahassee to help journalists cover legal issues and court cases.
Our discussion with Pariente turned out to be timely.
This article appears in Sep 23-29, 2010.