What makes a good judge?

The Florida Bar News ^ | November 1, 2002 | Gary Blankenship

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Gov. Jeb Bush said he wants to see judicial candidates with diversity, character, and a philosophy of judicial restraint, while Supreme Court Chief Justice Harry Lee Anstead said integrity is a key ingredient.

Both were giving advice October 8 at the annual Judicial Nominating Commission training seminar in Tallahassee. New and experienced commissioners got advice about everything from what questions to ask candidates to potential conflicts of interest, sprinkled with war stories from current and former JNC members, including some who went through the process and became judges.

Bush came into the training session as a member the Bar's Judicial Nominating Commission Procedures Committee, Linda Sweeting, was explaining the governor's diversity preferences. Bush picked up that theme without missing a beat.

"This state is only going to become more diverse in terms of the evolution of women in the workplace. I think it's important that there be a recognition that the number of women in the judiciary is too low in terms of the contributions they can make. The same applies to African Americans and Hispanics," the governor said. "While I'm proud of the record we've had as it relates to diversity, one of the responsibilities you have is to make sure we don't slip back to the old ways; we don't slip back to a clubby process."

Besides diversity, Bush said character and judicial philosophy were two other things he wanted JNCs to seek in judicial applicants.

"Character matters a whole lot," he said. "There are things in life that relate to absolute truth. Some people define that as faith, others don't. To me that doesn't matter; there are things that you can clearly identify on whether they adhere to absolute truth. . . . You want people in the judiciary whose compass points north all the time."

Bush said he considered a judicial candidate's judicial philosophy more important than political philosophy. He noted he considers himself a "reform" governor and that he doesn't like judges who act as a mini legislature when they review laws passed by the legislature and signed by him.

"I would hope they are judges who don't define their role as being a second legislature, if you know what I mean," he said. "When there's a chance to determine, to interpret law, they may not have the intention, but the end effect in some cases with some judges is they make law from the text of the statute. I would rather have someone who may not share my philosophical beliefs, but believes in judicial restraint.

"Personal ideology is not nearly as important as judicial philosophy, and there are ways without offending people that you can find that out."

Chief Justice Anstead reminded the commissioners that the distinctive feature of the U.S. that makes it envied and copied around the world, especially among emerging democracies, is its rule of law and independent judiciary. To continue that tradition, JNCs should recommend applicants with high levels of professionalism and ethics, he said.

The chief justice said his definition of professionalism is "if you can properly identify the responsibilities you have in a situation and then you can carry out those responsibilities with great personal integrity. Then you can be pretty sure you are acting with professionalism. . . . The first 10 things you have to focus on are integrity, integrity, integrity, and so on."

He noted that one thing everyone — coworkers, opposing counsel, judges he appeared before — agreed about new Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero, whose formal installation ceremony was held a few days earlier, was his high level of integrity.

Candidates should also show impartiality toward litigants, Anstead said, noting the court reiterated that point a couple years ago in a disciplinary order removing a judge from office.

"We felt we had to go back to fundamentals in that opinion and say, doesn't everyone realize that the first quality a judge must have is impartiality, a level playing field?" he said. "All sides in any dispute have to feel that for a person on the bench who is going to end up making decisions on the most fundamental issues affecting people . . . that the primary assurance has to be impartiality. That goes along with personal integrity."

Anstead added that the nomination of Cantero to the Supreme Court shows that JNCs are doing a good job. . . . .

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I hope Cantero gives Anstead conniptions!