Anti-Abortion, Pro-Corporate Justices Canady, Polston Want To Stay On The Supreme Ct.
BY BUDDY NEVINS
If the overwhelming majority of the lawyers answering a recent Florida Bar poll have their way, voters will choose to retain all the justices on the November ballot.
Would the bulk of Broward voters would agree with the lawyers?
Doubtful.
Charles T. Canady and Ricky L. Polston – two of the three justices asking voters to leave them on the court – are the most conservative, anti-abortion, pro-corporation justices.
Canady is even on Donald Trump’s list of judges he would consider for a U. S. Supreme Court appointment.
Charles T. Canady
Here is the facts:
Florida law requires that each Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judge face voters every six years. Unlike trial courts, there are no competing candidates. Voters only decide whether they want the justices to remain on the bench. This is called a merit retention election.
Merit retention is a puzzling question to the vast majority of voters. They have absolutely no awareness of the justices. What are their background? Have their rulings been fair?
The Florida Bar attempts to fill the knowledge gap.
In a poll of lawyers familiar with the higher courts work, the justices were rated on eight attributes: the quality and clarity of their judicial opinions; knowledge of the law; integrity; judicial temperament; impartiality; freedom from bias; demeanor; and courtesy.
The Bar found that between 84 and 91 percent believe the three Supreme Court justices on the ballot should be retained.
The Supreme Court justices were all appointed by former Gov. Charlie Crist. They are:
- Charles T. Canady, 62.
Canady worked in every branch of government – executive, legislative and judicial.
He was a real estate lawyer for Holland & Knight in Lakeland for three years after graduation from Yale Law School before entering the Florida Legislature.
Winning election to the U. S. House in 1993 from Lakeland, Canady had a memorable eight years. He coined the term “partial birth abortion” during his fight for a bill banning the procedure in 1995. He was later one of 13 House members who managed the impeachment trial against President Bill Clinton.
Leaving Congress because of a self-imposed term limit, Canady became Gov. Jeb Bush’s general counsel. In 2002, Bush appointed him to the District Court of Appeal in Lakeland. Crist appointed him to the Supreme Court in 2008.
Canady is known as a conservative justice and has frequently dissented with the court majority.
The inclusion of Canady’s name by Trump for the U. S. Supreme Court “is a dog whistle to the anti-abortion lobby,” wrote longtime Florida political observer and author Martin Dyckman in Floridapolitics.
- Ricky L. Polston, 60.
Polston was born in Alabama and raised in the Panhandle town of Graceville.
A certified public accountant for seven years, Polston graduated from Florida State University Law School and then for 13 years was in a private law practice.
Crist appointed him to Florida Supreme Court 2008, where Polston is known as a member of the dissenting conservative wing.
As Dyckman explained, “Although many of the court’s decisions are unanimous, dissents by Canady and Polston are common on questions of access to the court by individuals doing battle with corporations. The stock conservatism of either justice would appeal to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business lobbies…”
The third justice on the ballot is from West Palm Beach and has a two-decades long career as a judge.
- Jorge Labarga, 64.
The Havana-born Labarga moved with his parents to the United States at 11 to escape Fidel Castro’s regime.
The family settled in Pahokee, a largely Hispanic and black poor community on the shores of Lake Okeechobee in Palm Beach County. He told the Palm Beach Round Table last year that his early life in Cuba Pahokee gave him a “strong sense for democratic ideals and, just as importantly, my respect for the rule of law.”
A graduate of the University of Florida Law School, Labarga was a Palm Beach County assistant public defender and then a prosecutor in the 1980s before entering private practice.
He was appointed to the Palm Beach County Circuit Court by Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1996.
Then Gov. Crist appointed him to two higher courts in two months. He was named to the 4th District Court of Appeal, where he served only one day, Jan. 5, 2009. Then he was appointed by Crist to the Supreme Court.
Labarga normally votes with the court’s more moderate justices.
Canady? Polston? Labarga?
You decide.
October 18th, 2016 at 10:59 am
Ok so here’s the skinny with these Crist-appointees. 2 of the 3 are conservatives, 1 of those 2 is way off the reservation on the far right.
But if for some reason they aren’t retained (of course they’ll all be retained – when was the last time a justice was booted without being caught with the figuratively live boy or dead girl), what do the good democrats get as a replacement….
A RICK SCOTT APPOINTED SUPREME COURT JUSTICE!! If you thought the 2 hard right (and 1 wacky right) Crist judges were bad…..wait until you see what kind of wing-nut you get from Rick Scott…..
If this were 2018 and there was a good democrat on the ballot for governor that was likely to win (yah right….nice bench dems….zzzzzzzz), maybe you pick a fight to get at least 1 justice off the bench, but to do it now is the definition of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
My 2 cents — Leave Well Enough Alone!
Signed, Grumpy Esquire
October 18th, 2016 at 11:16 am
Read this to learn about how Labarga treats attorneys and holds grudges. Then you decide if he should be retained. I think NOT.
WHILE APPRECIATING JUDGE PAYBACK’S HONESTY, WE ARE SORRY THIS AGENDA WON HIM A PROMOTION. JUDGE GETS APPELLATE SPOT DESPITE PAYBACK TALK
http://judicialtransparencynow.blogspot.com/2009_01_02_archive.html
October 18th, 2016 at 11:40 am
This could be the most helpful item you ever wrote. Anyone Trump thinks is okay is not getting my vote.
October 18th, 2016 at 5:01 pm
My recommendations:
Supreme Court
Canady NO
Labarga YES
Polston NO
4th DCA
Ciklin YES
Damoorgian NO
Gerber YES
Gross NO
Levine NO
May NO
October 19th, 2016 at 2:09 pm
I would advise voters to vote NO on Canady, Polston and LaBarga. We don’t need Justices in Florida who are extreme right and attacking women’s privacy rights and reproductive rights with their votes! LaBarga, if he is vindictive and holds grudges, that is not a positive trait for any Florida judge, least of all the Chief Judge! Any wisdom on Pinellas 2nd District Court of Appeals? Namely: Badelamenti, Crenshaw, Patricia Kelly, Nelly Khouzam, Matt Lucas, Robert Morris, Steven Northcutt, Samuel Solario, Douglas Wallace? I like Craig Villanti, voting YES on him. This is exhausting!
October 20th, 2016 at 9:23 pm
All three were appointed by the Democrat’s and Obama’s favorite ex-Republican, I mean ex-Independent, I mean newbie Democrat.
So are you now saying Charlie’s judgement is bad? If so, why is he the Dem’s candidate for Congress? Then again the Dem’s standards are pretty low for many of their candidates starting at the top of their ticket.
You may not like Trump but he worked hard for his nomination while Hillary was the selected candidate for the Dems immediately after Obama won his second term. And she herself has no standards other than enriching herself as a supposed public servant.
Too bad for Trump though that Dem Presidential candidates start with an overwhelming Electoral College advantage. Time will tell if the USA has a Hexit/Brexit on November 8th and votes against the establishment candidate.
October 23rd, 2016 at 5:13 pm
I am voting for the “anti-abortion” justices. “women’s rights” is an invention with no foundation morally or ethically. If anybody thinks it’s okay to kill innocent human babies, he/she is not thinking with his/her head!
October 23rd, 2016 at 7:23 pm
Thanks for the info, I am a conservative and will definitely be voting for the conservative justices.
October 23rd, 2016 at 8:40 pm
Thanks,
Now I know I need to vote for Canady and Polston
Thanks again for your timely information
October 26th, 2016 at 1:44 am
It’s not about what others think about a woman’s choice to abort, because no one but her knows her circumstance(s). I’m pretty sure it have to be hard decision for any woman to make, and no one should have the right to interfere. It’s something she have to live with.
October 27th, 2016 at 5:27 pm
Very helpful. Definitely will vote to retain the Justices.
October 30th, 2016 at 8:04 pm
As a citizen of one of the richest & most powerful nations on Earth, I’m certain that we can do better than to continue to legally and discreetly kill unborn babies under the excuse that women have a right to choose to end the life of another human being because it may negatively impact their lives. First we need to be truthful about what abortion is; how it affects women, the fathers, and how it affects the human babies themselves. I bought into the ‘Pro-choice’ lie. Now I know how deceptive that label is because I had an abortion. No one explained my “choices”, nor the potential consequences of the procedure. I was underage and the only question asked was: “who’s paying?”. I had the abortion because I was afraid, hopeless, ashamed and believed I had no other choice. As a result of the abortion, I suffered for decades from emotional distress, complications, underwent many surgeries, was never able to get pregnant, and eventually had an emergency hysterectomy. I know we can do better because it would have made a difference if I had been taught the value & scientific facts of a human life from the moment of conception. It would’ve made a difference if my parents would’ve been notified. It would have made a difference if I had seen an ultrasound image of the 12 week baby in my womb. It would have made a difference if a doctor would’ve explained what happens when the torrent of hormones designed to sustain a life gets abruptly & violently truncated by a vacuum aspiration procedure. It would’ve made a difference if I had been told there are many families eagerly and compassionately ready to either help me or to adopt the baby. But the truth is that most women seeking abortions are never told these truths. Most never hear the choices which prioritize saving the baby’s life. Instead there is a cloak of urgency and secrecy hidden behind the banner that demands ‘Women’s Rights’.
The truth is that the number 1 cause of death in the U.S. for children isn’t some incurable disease; it’s the choice made by mothers to abort them. As scientific advances continue to bare witness to the viability of a fertilized human egg, the evidence against you and I; a generation with the knowledge and the power to act, yet doing nothing to mitigate this silent massacre, continues to mount at the rate of 2 dead babies per minute. Since 1973, the lives of over 59 million Americans have been snuffed out by the deliberate termination of a human pregnancy. That’s the current population of France, as well as Italy, and South Africa. Would anyone consider it a mere moral issue if the entire population of Italy was annihilated? Abortion is not merely a moral issue best controlled by individuals or religion; abortion is THE MOST IMPORTANT HUMAN RIGHTS atrocity of the 21st century in the U.S., “land of the free and home of the brave”. Consider long & hard what will be said of you and I 50, 100, 200 years from now if we continue to ignore the millions of babies being killed without fighting for them & the women who hopelessly chose the death of their own baby.
October 31st, 2016 at 2:58 pm
Well said!
October 31st, 2016 at 8:04 pm
If Trump likes him then he is good for all of us. If I see Trump like him that is all I need.
October 31st, 2016 at 11:10 pm
Go to the Florida Bar Journal webpage and enter the names of the Justice that you need information on. This gives you a total background on the individual as well as their “most notable” cases.
Then, keep searching reliable websites, literature & sources of information until you can make this MOST IMPORTANT decision, of whom to vote for!
America is not voting for Hillary or for Trump, anymore than it would vote for a narcissistic tycoon or for one driven by vainglory especially. Both are unlikely Presidential candidates, but these two, with or without moral values, or faith, or even allegiance to their own people or the land that has been given to them by birth, ARE THE CANDIDATES!!!
YES! One of these two individuals will have the power that the American people gives to the individual chosen as President.
The leadership of making America reconcile with America’s roots or continue taking America down the same cesspool that leads to tyranny!
We, the people…Americans, are to focus on keeping ALL of the Freedoms earned by those before us and whose lives, blood and suffering bought these freedoms we enjoy today. All of those people who fought, lived and maintained America Free before us. Those that were patriotic, heroes, warriors, that demanded “LIBERTY” or would prefer “DEATH” than to live in tyranny and slavery. They kept fighting, they kept “checks and balances” of their government, of their laws, and defended America against anyone who would threaten the abolition of their freedoms!
Our Forefathers did not give up – they united forces – they wrote it all down in the United States Constitution.
“The Constitution united its citizens as members of a whole, vesting the power of the union in the people. Without it, the American Experiment might have ended as quickly as it had begun.”
We may not have had the blessings of being part of our own American Experiment today, if they had stayed home and not gotten involved in “politics.” Worse yet, if they did not know who supported their candidate, who made up his workforce and what core values would their supporters backup and which would they appose!!
The price paid for our Freedom was high. Keeping it will cost us highly now…. We owe them and ourselves the due diligence of preparing ourselves to VOTE… for the candidate…. most likely to maintain our sovereign country and its people Free; enjoying the protection and the rights the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, affords us.
The Constitution is the Law and the Law is what the Highest Court must deal with and apply — by the way, NOT THE PRESIDENT, which has overreached several times now. A clear violation to the, one and only, true Constitution of these United States of America.
God Help America & Bless it in keeping the American Experiment always alive!
November 1st, 2016 at 8:32 am
Abortion is legal in every Democracy on the Planet. The only countries to ban abortion are ductatorships supported by religious ignorant fanatics. FACT NOT RELUGIOUS FANTASIES
November 2nd, 2016 at 8:34 am
One thing for sure Robert Walsh doesn’t kill babies. I mean yes its legal, lawful, ok. Any way u want to look at this its murder. Gals you want to kill your babies fine, have your abortion. What needs to stop is some using abortion as a form of birth control…
November 5th, 2016 at 1:07 pm
People using abortion as a form of birth control is just another reason why abortion should be against the law. Many people are misusing abortion for their own selfish desires.
These babies that we are killing deserve the right to live just like you and me..Who knows what lives these babies could have impacted..could have changed..one of those babies could carried the cure for cancer or aids.
We do not have the power to create life and we do not have the power to take it away!! We cannot play God. If we do not repent we will be judged.
If you are planning to have an abortion I beg you not to, there are many families that would be willing to adopt your baby.
The gift of life is so precious. We do not have the right to pick and choose who gets to life and who does not. We are all worthy of having the chance at life.
November 6th, 2016 at 4:57 pm
I’m woman heard me roar. There is equality of the sexes and the right as free human being to their body. Slavery is long gone, I don’t have to tell anyone what I should do. After all there is no force labor. If rapist have right on their victims babies, and victimize them or their lives, we women can terminate the process of birth, since no babies accomplish birth.
November 7th, 2016 at 10:59 am
Pro lifers when will you get it through your thick skulls that it is not about whether you agree with abortion or not but rather about understanding that you are NOT entitled to make that decision for anyone else??? It’s about respect. Women are entitled to make their own decisions. You dont have to do it and nobody is forcing you to. It is a woman’s right to choose.
November 8th, 2016 at 12:20 pm
OVERPOPULATION is mankind’s most serious problem and it aggravates all other problems. To force a woman to have a child is a detriment to all humanity. Think it thru and vote for pro choice judges for the sake of humanity.
November 8th, 2016 at 8:37 pm
http://enr.electionsfl.org/BRO/1642/Summary/
Looks like many sitting judges will retain their seats at least per Broward voters