Free Republic

On Jan. 4, just days before the start of a makeover of the Florida Supreme Court, justices issued two 4-3 decisions. The cases drew relatively little attention across the state --- one dealt with Orange County elections, the other with attorney fees in a foreclosure battle. But on the losing end of the decisions were Chief Justice Charles Canady and his frequent allies Ricky Polston and Alan Lawson. Four days later, three members of the majority in those cases --- longtime justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince --- left the court because of a mandatory retirement age....

Tea Party-linked activists are looking for vengeance after the Florida Supreme Court rejected a ballot initiative aimed at sparing the state from a key provision in the federal health care overhaul. The state's highest court last month ruled against a ballot question asking voters to approve an amendment to the state constitution stating that residents would not have to follow the new federal requirement to buy health insurance. Before the decision, Florida was set to be one of four states putting that question to voters in November. Conservatives now want Floridians to express their dissatisfaction with the law in a...