Legal News

Diversity Dilemma: Crist Stuck Choosing Judge From Panel of Whites

By Ashby Jones

We’re going to round out the week, and send you LBers off to your weekend of fireworks, grilled meats and 30-SPF lotion, with a curious little tale from, appropriately enough, the Sunshine State.

The Florida Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Governor Charlie Crist (pictured), violated the state Constitution when he refused to fill an appeals court vacancy because all of the potential picks are white. Click here for the story, from the Miami Herald.

The somewhat strange outcome seems to have been largely the product of state constitutional procedure. ”The governor lacks authority under the Constitution to seek a new list of nominees from the JNC and has a mandatory duty to fill the vacancy,” Justice Jorge Labarga, a Crist pick, wrote on behalf of the court. ”While we applaud the governor’s interest in achieving diversity in the judiciary — an interest we believe to be genuine and well-intentioned — the Constitution does not grant the governor the discretion to refuse or postpone making an appointment to fill the vacancy on the Fifth District Court of Appeal.”

Crist said in a written statement that he was ”disappointed” with the ruling. But he would comply with the court’s opinion and choose a judge from the original list.

The kerfuffle began after appeals court judge Robert J. Pleus had to retire from the Daytona Beach appeals court due to his age. The nominating commission then interviewed potential candidates to replace Pleus and forwarded six names so that Crist could pick one to fill the vacancy. All six finalists are white — four males and two females. Every other judge on that bench is white.

Crist later wrote the commission chairman and asked for more candidates with a diverse background. The JNC responded by sending back the same six names. After Crist refused to act, Pleus sued and hired attorney Talbot ”Sandy” D’Alemberte, the former president of Florida State University, to press the case.

Justice Fred Lewis echoed the plain language of the Constitution during the arguments. ”I’m having difficulty, because the Constitution says shall,” Lewis said.

Law Blog You Tube Video of the Day: Of all the songs with Fourth of July in the title, (U2 has one; Aimee Mann has one; as do Mariah Carey and Galaxie 500), our favorite is X’s “Fourth of July.” Click here for a solo performance of the song, from the band’s frontman John Doe.

Have a happy one!

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 02, 2009 (boomark / email).