I disagree. With 68,669 new cases filed--at the "circuit" level, not including the "county" level--in 2004 alone (plus a continuing case docket of several hundred thousand cases) in the Florida 6th Judicial Circuit (over 10,000 of those new 2004 cases filed were within the jurisdiction of the Circuit's probate and guardianship division, to which Judge Greer is assigned--he is one of only TWO of the 6th Judicial Circuit's judges who are assigned on a fulltime basis to the probate and guardianship division. Some cases, such as the Schiavo guardianship case--which was open for over 15 years--remain open, if not always active, for many years, so the "docket" at any given time for any given judge, may be as many as 20,000+ cases, almost all with an attorney or two of record attached to each case), it is unrealistic to imagine that campaign contributions from any attorney who has a case on a particular judge's docket during the time frame of a campaign would be prohibited from making a contribution to that judge's campaign.
Neither the Florida elections law, nor the Florida judicial canons prohibit such contributions. Furthermore, Florida's judicial circuits operate on a system of "judicial rotation," with judicial assignments being rotated among the circuit's various divisions (Civil, Criminal, Family, Probate/Guardianship, Juvenile) regularly, and by determination of the Circuit's Chief Judge. Judge Greer, for example, since he was first elected to the Circuit Court in 1992, has been assigned (rotated) to preside in the civil, criminal, family, and probate/guardianship divisions. Most attorneys (and attorneys and law firms make up roughly 2/3 of the contributors to the average judicial campaign, although there are exceptions--for example, very few attorneys and law firms made campaign contributions to Jan Govan, Judge Greer's 2004 election opponent) practice in more than one narrow area, and may find themselves on one day in a civil division courtroom, and in a probate/guardianship division courtroom on the next.
Between the diversity of most attorneys/law firms' practices and the uncertainties of judicial assignment inherent in the judicial rotation system in Florida, it would be both onerous and pointless to attempt to prohibit campaign contributions from any given attorney to any given judicial candidate. And given the statutory maximum contribution of only $500 from each contributor...a little silly.
I still have not received an answer as to how much Greer received in 1998 as compared to 2004. I don't think it is a little silly when you find those figures.