What Charlie did was stand against judicial activism.
The judges he praised supported the law on the books. If the people want different laws, they need to go through the legislature, not get judges to make laws from the bench.
For years we've been complaining about just this type of thing being done by liberal judges on the SC. And rightly so. The legislature is the place laws should be made. Not the bench. If we have bad law, then it should be changed. Let's not assume a judge knows better than the people who make laws. Conservatives don't need an elite system that mimics liberal judges who put their "feelings" above the power of the people to create their own laws.
I don't want to be like liberals. I don't want judicial activism. Period. Not on their side, not on our side. The law's bad? Change it. Don't expect our judges to cheat. We're not liberals.
The judges job is to interpret the existing law. Let's change the laws that are wrong. Not expect our judges become like liberals. Crist is a wonderful man. He's coming from a place of great respect for our legal system.
Some of the laws were followed but not all of them.
People are working to change laws but as long as we have good ole boys who are Dems in Pubs clothing, it won't happen. King refuses to represent his constituent base and will vote how he wants. Not many people in his district like him and so far I haven't heard one good tale about the man. Ruthless and greedy would be how folks personal accounts have viewed him, and some of those stories go way back.
The guardianship laws were dragged through the mud and might as well be ditched. Others in Pinellas have had to go through courts there and have been ripped off and victimized.
When the *&%# starts at the top and rolls downhill the everyday people don't have a chance because there is no one to keep the judges in check.
Even the auditor in Pinellas is denied access to all the records.
For your perusal...
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/14/Columns/Disorder_in_court_Dem.shtml
True news item: Charles W. Cope, then a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge, is arrested while attending a judicial conference in California. Police accuse him of trying to enter a hotel room occupied by two women. The arrest is kept secret by Pinellas' chief judge for months.
True news item: Months after the voters fire Circuit Judge Bonnie Newton, as the state pursued disciplinary charges against her, the public learns that Pinellas' past and current chief judges arranged for her to take a courthouse job to preserve her pension.
True news item: Brandt C. Downey, a Pinellas-Pasco circuit judge, disappears from the bench for two weeks without explanation to the public. Chief Judge David A. Demers says he is "not at liberty" to say why. Reports suggest allegations of sexual harassment and computer pornography. Downey returns to the bench, also without explanation.
True news item: In an unusual midyear shakeup, Chief Judge Demers reassigns six Pinellas-Pasco judges - including Downey - without explanation. Courthouse spokesman Ron Stuart declines to say whether the moves are related to Downey.
Demers' statement: "Occasionally, we make changes in assignments in the middle of the calendar year, and this is one of those occasions."
http://www.justiceforfloridaseniors.org/dirty-guardian-tricks.html
(I'm just listing the first one.)
Here are just 10 of the "dirty tricks," as outlined by Pinellas County Internal Auditor Robert W. Melton:
1) Guardian creation of a trust: Remove all oversight by the court as a provision of the trust agreement; guardian becomes trustee; provide that the trustee can do whatever they want at their sole discretion.
2) Sell real estate at lowball price: Use "lowball" valuations as a benchmark; don't list property with Realtors; sell to a land trust, where nobody knows the beneficiary; watch property resold a few months later for a huge increase.
3) Maximize your (or your crony's) profit from investments: Hire money manager for "financial expertise" and let the manager select an investment broker; invest in volatile stocks and trade frequently to generate commissions; if you run up a large gain, don't selectively liquidate over time to pay the taxes but hold a "fire sale" to raise funds all in one day.
Judge Greer was ordered by the legislature--Congress--to be available for a subpoena. He ignored it. And the Congress ordered federal judges to review the case. They ignored it. I know the remarks Crist made were not to the feds. The prinicipal remains.
Crist will not get my vote.