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In light of recent developments, Gov. Charlie Crist must be salivating at the prospect of appointing four justices to the Florida Supreme Court.
Rarely is a governor subjected to a judicial smack-down the likes of which occurred Thursday.
~Snip~
The author of the opinion was Justice Raoul Cantero, who will resign from the court next month, opening a floodgate of four resignations on the seven-member court.
After Cantero leaves, Justice Kenneth Bell will soon follow. And Justices Charles Wells and Harry Lee Anstead will hang up their black robes in 2009 after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. The exodus will give Crist an unparalleled opportunity to "pack" the court with jurists who just might be inclined to see things his way.
And in the past, Crist has championed the very judicial independence that smacked him Thursday.
As attorney general three years ago, Crist praised two judges in the Terri Schiavo case, Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer and U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa. Both men played a role in rejecting the Legislature's and then-Gov. Jeb Bush's efforts to intervene in the Schiavo matter.
Crist called them "heroes" for preserving judicial independence.............
Crist gets to reshape high court
8mm
