When Ron DeSantis is the one picking Supreme Court Justices, you’ve got to turn things around. Voting four judges out of office in this question of Retention of Justices of the Supreme Court obviously opens up the possibility of Ronald appointing another set of lunatics, but voters need to flex their power.
As the Orlando Sentinel points out, “Florida’s highest court has become breathtakingly activist, repealing precedents wholesale to make criminal laws harsher, the death penalty more likely, and civil courts more hostile to people with damage claims against Big Tobacco and other corporate defendants.”
It’s time for a change. Only Jorge Labarga—who Lawton Chiles appointed to the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit before Crist moved him to the Supreme Court—actually tried to make sure the death penalty is only reserved the absolute worst murders. He's the only one who remotely deserves to stay.
Charles T. Canady: No
John D. Couriel: No
Jamie Grosshans: No
Jorge Labarga: Yes
Ricky Polston: No
See all of Creative Loafing Tampa Bay's election 2022 endorsements on this handy ballot cheat sheet.
UPDATED: 10/27/22 10:30 a.m. Updated to make clear that Gov. Chiles appointed Labarga to the 15th circuit, ahead of Crist's appointment of him to the Supreme Court.
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About The Author
Ray Roa
Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief in August 2019. Past work can be seen at Suburban Apologist, Tampa Bay Times, Consequence of Sound and The...
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