Legal News

Clinton Impeachment Prosecutor Named to Florida High Court

By Dan Slater

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, right, shakes hands with Judge Charles T. Canady after he named Canady to the Florida Supreme Court, Aug. 28, 2008. Canady’s wife, Jennifer, watches. (AP/Governors Press Office, Caroline Ferguson)

Florida Governor Charlie Crist has appointed Appellate Judge Charles Canady, who as a congressman helped prosecute then-President Bill Clinton at his 1999 impeachment trial, to the Florida Supreme Court. Here’s the AP story.

A Republican and a conservative, Canady (Haverford, Yale law), voted in Congress to ban gay adoptions in the District of Columbia, end preferential treatment by race in college admissions, establish voucher programs and restrict federal aid only to schools that allow voluntary prayer.

He was part of the GOP-controlled House’s legal team that argued President Clinton, a Democrat, should be removed for lying under oath about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky. In his closing argument Canady equated lying about the affair with lying about sexual harassment. “He sat there in the White House, and then he put on his most sincere face,” Canady said. “He swore to God to tell the truth, and he lied.” The Senate acquitted Clinton.

Later, Canady served as general counsel to Jeb Bush, who then appointed him to the appellate court in his hometown. Canady also once served as a state legislator.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on August 29, 2008 (boomark / email).