Florida Judges / Election 2004 Discussion Thread

FreeRepublic ^ | Oct. 12, 2004 Columbus Day | NonValueAdded

[NonValueAdded]

This is a thread to consolidate all of the commentary on the Florida message board concerning the judges up for election on November 2nd. Please keep this thread focused on the judiciary but feel free to start other discussion threads. Help us all make informed decisions on election day!

[NonValueAdded]

An example of what to post on this thread:

From http://www.brevardgop.org/, "Spread Sheet received from the Republican Party of Florida regarding Judges." Presented in table format for your viewing pleasure.

Court	FName	M Name	Lname	Appointment Date	Appointed By
Dis 1 Court of Appeal	Michael	E	Allen	2/7/00	Bush
Dis 1 Court of Appeal	Edward	T	Barfield	1987-retained	Pre-Martinez
Dis 1 Court of Appeal	Paul		Hawkes	1/2/03	Bush
Dis 1 Court of Appeal	Charles	J	Kahn, Jr.	6/3/91	Chiles
Dis 1 Court of Appeal	Phil		Padovano	8/1/96	Chiles
Dis 1 Court of Appeal	James	R	Wolf	6/18/90	Martinez
Dis 2 Court of Appeal	Charles	T	Canady	11/20/02	Bush
Dis 2 Court of Appeal	Patricia	J	Kelly	12/20/01	Bush
Dis 2 Court of Appeal	Stevan	T	Northcutt	1/6/97	Chiles
Dis 2 Court of Appeal	Craig	C	Villanti	3/7/03	Bush
Dis 2 Court of Appeal	Douglas	A	Wallace	6/9/03	Bush
Dis 3 Court of Appeal	John	G	Fletcher	3/1/96	Chiles
Dis 3 Court of Appeal	Frank	A	Shepherd	9/22/03	Bush
Dis 3 Court of Appeal	Linda	Ann	Wells	1/15/03	Bush
Dis 4 Court of Appeal	Gary	M.	Farmer, Sr.	4/1/91	Chiles
Dis 4 Court of Appeal	Robert	M	Gross	11/10/95	Chiles
Dis 4 Court of Appeal	Melanie	G	May	1/2/02	Bush
Dis 5 Court of Appeal	Jacqueline	R	Griffin	1/20/90	Martinez
Dis 5 Court of Appeal	David	A	Monaco	1/7/03	Bush
Dis 5 Court of Appeal	Earle	W	Peterson, Jr.	1/2/90	Martinez
Dis 5 Court of Appeal	Winifred	J.	Sharp	1987-retained	Pre-Martinez
Dis 5 Court of Appeal	Vincent	G	Torpy, Jr.	1/17/03	Bush
Supreme Court Justice	Kenneth	B	Bell	1/7/03	Bush
Supreme Court Justice	Raoul	G	Cantero, III	9/1/02	Bush

[NonValueAdded]

ping!

[dufekin]

Any definitive news on the death-decree judges? They all should be ousted at the earliest opportunity, by election if immediately possible, otherwise preferably by impeachment. Yes, I'm talking about the Schiavo case.

[NonValueAdded]

I dunno. The trial judge, George W. Greer Circuit: 6 Group: 18 had an opponent in the primary, Jan Govan, but beat her 106,019 to 56,970. I believe that was it and Greer was retained (done to keep down the size of the presidential ballot, I believe). source

Can any Pinellas county FReepers confirm that?

There are appeals court justices and Supreme [sic] Court justices that have a hand in this and we need some research on that.

[RedBloodedAmerican]

marked

[JrAsparagus]

Ping-Florida judges

[Lesforlife]

Jan Govan was defeated and I believe she is a he.

[NonValueAdded]

A ping to the Florida list, please.

[MinuteGal]

Noted.

Thanks.

Leni

[Joe Brower]

Florida Freeper

I'm compiling a list of FReepers in Florida for use in the upcoming elections.
If you want to be added, please FReepMail me.

[MedNole]

The two supreme court justices up for affirmation are both Bush appointees.

Is there a thread on the constitutional amendments?
Vote Yes on 3
No on 7 & 8

[cyn]

FYI on judges -- Not sure if you're on Joe Brower's FL ping list.

[NonValueAdded]

For the Supreme Court justices, being Bush appointees is my first test but I'd also like to look at how they voted on Terri's Law and on Rush Limbaugh's case. I still need to look that up. Does anyone know of any other important cases decided by the Florida Supreme Court since 9/1/02, the earliest date of appointment for the two judges in question?

[cyn]

well, except for you, fv ... heheh. check #4. hope you're well after all the 'canes.

[NonValueAdded]

I put up a separate thread for the amendments. See Florida Amendments / Election 2004 Discussion Thread

[PatriotGirl827]

Thanks for doing this - I have not had time yet to check out who is on the ballot here in Palm Beach County, but if anyone else knows, I would welcome all input.

Thanks!

[NonValueAdded]

OK, the SCOFla research was simpler that I thought. The decision to strike down Terri's Law was unanimous (here). Therefore, let's give a quid pro quo and vote down Justices Cantero and Bell. The Governor can pardon criminals at will but cannot invoke a review of a medical death sentence - a review mind you, not a pardon - when the courts have run amok?

I was mistaken about the Limbaugh case ... it hasn't made it to SCOFla yet. However, for those of you in the 4th district, we have a Chiles appointee, Chief Justice Farmer approving the invasion of Rush's records (here), and judge Melanie May approving but dissenting in part (very Kerryesque, non?).Gross is a Chiles appointee so it looks like a straight No, No, No in the 4th district.

Recap: NO for the two Supreme Court justices, NO for all three of the 4th District justices.

And for the record, I support Limbaugh not because of who he is but because of the gross violation of privacy turning the written law on its head. For all of us who FReep, remember well Chad Clanton's "They Better Hope We Don't Win" threat. On Terri's Law, think about when all us baby boomers start racking up medical bills way beyond what our grandchildren can afford ... what if a judge decides that Alzheimer's causes a sufficient "quality of life" degradation to warrant the withholding of such "artificial" support as food and water? If that doesn't scare you, you haven't followed the case.

[Matchett-PI]

This should help you:

Florida Chamber of Commerce (LOTS of good stuff here - check out the links on the right side of the page, too):
http://www.flchamber.com/home/default.asp

Voter guide for Florida "Vote Smart"
http://www.votesmartflorida.org/voterguide.asp

[TrojanV]

The Pelican File

www.pelicanfile.com

Today’s top story:
In presidential race, tonight's debate could tip balance

Also:
Supreme Court takes up Ten Commandments cases

[PatriotGirl827]

Thank you!!