Crist gets a Supreme Court pick

Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero is resigning. Justice Cantero, 47, is the Florida's first Hispanic justice, and was appointed to the Court on July 10, 2002, by Gov. Jeb Bush.

Cantero's letter of resignation was delivered to Gov. Charlie Crist earlier today.

"As I leave this position, I must also acknowledge the debt I owe to those who blazed a trail before me so that one day a citizen of Hispanic descent could be appointed to the State's highest Court," Cantero said in a press release.

"I will be forever grateful to Jeb Bush, my colleagues on the Court, the court's staff, the lawyers who appeared before us, and the people of Florida.

"I will now return to the practice of law: crafting briefs and making arguments.  I look forward to the new challenges ahead.  However, my service to the Bar, to my community, and to my state has not ended; as a private citizen and lawyer I will continue to advocate for professionalism among attorneys and respect for the judiciary."

Comments

May God help us all.

[John Donson]

Just think of the photo op Charlie! You and Judge Judy or Mills Lane!

Justice Cantero is an exceptional justice and a great man. He was always well prepared for oral arguments and very personable outside the courthouse. This is a huge loss for the Court.

I am saddened.

Who will CC pick to fill this position?

how about jebbathefatt?

or does one really need a law degree and experience to be on the s.c.?

otherwise, jebbathefatt would be prefect!!

he DOES know EVERYTHING, doesnt he?

just like his drunken brother!

2:47 - why all the hate... we all understand that you don't agree with Jeb, but the fact that you knew what his position was is hugely impressive with a politician.

He is no longer governor, give it up... If he decides to run for office again... work against him... but to attack him unsolicited, well, just seems childish and shows some sort of shortcomings on your part. If you want to make a contibution to this blog, attack the decisions of Cantero.

[Raul Carreras]

Tocayo, hate to see you go. May God bless you and your family. Best of luck in your future endeavors.

It is unfortunate that every justice appointed by a BUSH will have an historical asterisk by their name:

* - not necessarily meritorious, but he had the required bias.

What about the bias of those appointed by democrats?

It is a process folks... once party isn't any worse than the other... you don't like the party that put the justice in the seat... if they are still in power, work harder to unseat that party...

[Mike]

Any political appointee of Jeb is a hack!

[Mike]

The best thing about a Crist appointee, he will keep everyone on the edge of their seats!

[Raul Carreras]

2:57

Your hatred of the Bush family is showing. Regarding the two justices appointed by President Bush (Roberts & Alito) you may disagree with their judicial philosophy, but no reasonable person can argue that they are "not necessarily meritorious." Prior to joining the court, Justice Roberts was perhaps the premier U.S. Supreme Court advocate of our day.

With regard to the two Florida Supreme Court justices appointed by Governor Bush (Quince --jointly with Governor Chiles-- and Cantero), are you making the same disparaging remark about Justice Quince?

All in all, the four appointments were quite "meritorious." Do they reflect the conservative philosophy of both President and Governor Bush, absolutely (perhaps not as much with Justice Quince as she was a joint, and therefore, consensus appointment). However, that is what elections are all about. If a conservative gets elected president or governor, you should not expect him or her to appoint liberals to the bench. Likewise, if a liberal gets elected, I will not expected him or her to appoint conservatives. I will however, expect both liberal and conservative presidents and governors to appoint qualified (or to use your word "meritorious") candidates to the bench.

Raul - how about "not necessarily the MOST meritorious." My point is that thanks to a BUSH - no one will ever know.

Very observant comment on my feeling towards the BUSH family. Never have I seen such a blatant attempt by any administration to rig our entire system of government in favor of one ideology, disregarding that fully 50% (or more) of the voting citizens of this country don't agree. WORST PRESIDENT EVER.

[Marc]

3:29 - Well put, I am so tired of the word Bush, I stopped drinking all beer with the word Bush or Anheuser Bush in it (even though I know it has nothing to do with the political Bush family). Pure evil and both the brothers have set this country backwards by 50-100 years because of their conservative ideology. God help us all.

[Omega83]

Democrats DO NOT want to get into an argument over the bias of the FlaSC

1. Harry Lee Anstead
2. 2000 Presidential eleciotns

enough said...

May God help us all.

This just in... Marc at 3:52 is now gay... he has given up anything with the word ... in it.

[Fish Oil]

Republicans do not want to get into an argument of the bias of the Supreme Court or flagrant misinterpretation of the constitution to support their agenda:

1. 2000 Presidential elections

not enough said!

[Fatty Acid]

Fish Oil

Perhaps if the 7-0 Democrats on the 2000 Florida Supreme Court hadn't tried to steal the election for Al Gore by attempting to change Florida law on several different occaisons - after the fact - SCOTUS would not have had to intervene.

Can I be Snake Oil?

[Justice Quince]

is an idiot. most of them are idiots---go look at the election opinions that were overturned unanimously by feds where the justices just write about what the feel is right regardless of the legislative and constitional process of laws and the rule of law. send them back to finishing school or better yet, let them "self-select" themselves out of the market.

[John Donson]

3:29. Don't quit drinking now. It's a recession! We're supposed to drink and smoke more during economic hard times. I recommend you get back on the B-U-S-C-H and by some Marlboro's. I hate Morris the Cat, but I don't quit bying Marlboro's because they're made by Phillip Morris (Iknow, it's Altria now).

[Painful Rectal Itch]

I heard Jim Baker say this. The votes can't be counted because the Florida Supreme Court "changed the rules of the election after it was held." Right? A. Dead wrong. The US Supreme Court made clear that the Florida Supreme Court did not change the rules of the election. But the US Supreme Court found the failure of the Florida Court to change the rules was wrong.

Q: Huh?
A: The Legislature declared that the only legal standard for counting vote is "clear intent of the voter." The Florida Court was condemned for not adopting a clearer standard.

Q: I thought the Florida Court was not allowed to change the Legislature's law after the election.
A: Right.

Q: So what's the problem?
A: They should have. The US Supreme Court said the Florida Supreme Court should have "adopt[ed] adequate statewide standards for determining what is a legal vote"

Q: I thought only the Legislature could "adopt" new law.
A: Right.

Q: So if the Court had adopted new standards, I thought it would have been overturned.
A: Right. You're catching on.

Q: If the Court had adopted new standards, it would have been overturned for changing the rules. And if it didn't, it's overturned for not changing the rules. That means that no matter what the Florida Supreme Court did, legal votes could never be counted.
A: Right. Next question.

[just a note]

this justice wasn't so hot so i'm glad he is leaving. interesting tidbit: i attended this judges remarks on judicial activism which he related was not the case in Shiavo (sp?) but i suggested a better case: Jenkins v. Missouri, where a fed. judge decided that the community did not spend enough on eduction so he imposed new taxes and created neat projects like the multimillion dollar model united nations (yeah--let's respect that organization of thugs and dictator) and guess what, after spending all the money and whatnot, the kids are still performing poorly. that is judicial activism. and cantero knew nothibng about the case.

hopefully, crist will pick someone like Justice Roberts. I'm sure if i asked him about that casse, he will know it thoroughly.

It had to do with the judicial interpreation of "clear intent of the voter"

The Demcrotic court would have had you believe that someone who voted for Al Gore and another candidate "clearly intended" to vote for Al Gore.

That was horribly biased

[yo dumbarse]

the law is specific. you have so many days in which to certify. if you don't, they don't count. rule of law. and quit your plaining. enough is enough. if you elect incompetents to do the elections, you don't deserve to have your voted couted.

[Dead man jones]

i voted and even though i was dead, my intentions were clear and i voted democratic. alot of us dead democrats vote. many times. its great being dead and voting.

Let us not forget that Raoul G. Cantero's maternal grandfather was former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Keep re-living the 2000 election, PS know where I can find some bell bottom pants.

Grovey Man

Quite frankly this will be a huge test for Chuckie on his conservative credentials. It is easy to appoint a democrat to an agency head position, or a democrat to replace a democrat in a local elected position. However, a Justice position is not something that will easily go away. If he slights the republicans on this appointment, his approval rating will plument among his "supposed" base and will most certainly result in a primary challenger, who will most certainly use Chuckie's less than conservative positions as the key position of their campaign.

Will he become the latest "whistleblower"?

hmmmm.

[Zander]

Actually, I'm a Democrat and I loved this guy. Justice Cantero was an appellate lawyer from way back, and was very fair as a Supreme Court Justice. He was an intellectual and will be missed.

Who will Crist pick?

George LeMieux
Skip Campbell
Dave Aronberg

[voxy]

who retires at FORTY SEVEN TO GO BACK TO WORK??? this is scary.

This reminds me of when I called code enforcement and complained that the YOUNG code enforcer was selectively enforcing my relative's property and a week later he had RETIRED AT THIRTY SOMETHING.

This smells the same.
Crafting briefs, my brief.

LOL !!

Justice Cantero's departure is a major loss to the judicial system. His succinct, common-sense views and writing style will be greatly missed, as will his good natured spirit and energy. In this age of self-centered culture, it is a breath of fresh air that a father's commitment to his family outweighs the status and power of the position he holds. Yes, he will make far more money in private practice (though have much greater income-generating pressures at whatever firm he joins), but that doesn't diminish the choice he has made for the greater good of his immediate and extended family. He has the wisdom to recognize that life is brief and time with loved ones the scarcest of commodities. Our state should honor and be proud of his service, but give foremost recognition to the humble, selfless nature of his character that epitomized his tenure on the bench. The Court's motto is Sat Cito Si Recti, which means "soon enough, if correct." For many of us, Justice Cantero's departure from the Court is far too soon, though the correct decision for him and his family. God's blessings on you and your family Justice Cantero.

Must be an election year for Republicans - Hispanics must go.