GOP Plan to ‘Wipe Out’ Liberal Florida Judges Blasted by Courts

A Republican plan to realign and consolidate Florida’s 20 trial court circuits in a move that could further cement GOP domination of the judiciary hit a roadblock when a handpicked committee unanimously dismissed it.

Consolidating judicial circuits would save the state resources and reduce disparities in district populations, according to backers of the plan, which include state House Speaker Paul Renner (R). However, critics—ranging from elected state prosecutors to the judges themselves—cautioned against changes they say will clog dockets and make it harder for litigants to receive juries of their peers.

On Friday the plan headed to Florida special commission—helmed by a series of state court judges and officials picked by the state Supreme Court chief justice—that unanimously rebuffed more than a dozen proposals to re-imagine district lines, combining rural counties with urban ones, in an effort to economize court staff.

“It’s pretty clear there’s just a complete lack of evidence suggesting that there should be consolidation,” 11th Circuit Public Defender Carlos Martinez said before the vote. “There’s just no compelling need.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declined to comment on the proposal, but decades of demographic transformations necessitate change, Renner said in a letter seeking to form the commission. Renner, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, pointed out that that the 16th District in Monroe County has fewer than 100,000 residents, while the 11th Circuit in Miami-Dade has 2.7 million.

Pushback

Renner and proponents of the plan believe combining rural and urban circuits could increase efficiency, speeding justice and saving taxpayer funds.

With fewer circuits, courts could remove redundant staff, share some infrastructure and computer systems, and pool work in some areas, they say. Their claims were backed up by 126 survey respondents to committee questions on the topic who said practicing law across districts would be easier with fewer case management systems, local biases could be reduced, and circuits with few resources would benefit from merger with larger circuits.

However, opposition dominated the survey responses with more than 80% of respondents bashing the proposal for a lack of necessity, logistical problems, loss of community connection, and a concern that merging would make circuits less efficient.

“Efficiency” is also a concern of elected state attorneys worried about losing special local expertise built over a half-century.

“In terms of jury trial output, as recently as 21/22 my Assistants tried more cases than thirteen circuits in the State, and when considering trials per attorney only one circuit averaged more jury trials per attorney than our circuit,” Nineteenth Judicial Circuit State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl (R), whose region covers 700,000 residents, said in commission testimony. “This exercise brings to mind the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.’”

Others argue the state’s geography is already unforgiving to victims, defendants, and lawyers who must sometimes travel several hours to attend court proceedings. This strains the rights of residents seeking access to the courts as is.

“Requiring residents and local law enforcement personnel to work with officials in locations further away is effectively a denial of those rights,” 16th Circuit Judge Dennis W. Ward (R) said in his testimony to the commission, recounting how some Keys residents currently drive three hours to attend court. “Key West is closer to Cuba than Miami.”

A Smokescreen

Arguments to realign the districts are a smoke-screen for political maneuvering, Democrats say. The governors’ appointment power has led to appellate benches dominated by GOP selections that are increasingly conservative and originalist—a philosophy that elevates the original meaning of a law when it was enacted. But DeSantis’ power doesn’t reach to the lower courts, state attorneys and public defenders elected locally—the posts Democrats see as a last bulwark against the state’s rightward judicial shift.

“This is a consolidation of just raw power for the people in Tallahassee,” said Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Nikki Fried, who is already meeting with election law groups to formulate a challenge if lines are redrawn. “This jeopardizes due process for millions of Floridians.”

Some of the loudest detractors have been the local elected state attorneys—both Republican and Democratic—that fear losing local control over prosecutorial discretion and priorities. It’s an issue where DeSantis and Democrats have squared off. He’s removed Orlando-area Ninth Circuit State Attorney Monique Worrell (D) for allegedly being soft on crime, and Tampa-area 13th Circuit State Attorney Andrew Warren (D) for refusing to enforce the state’s abortion restrictions.

“This is partisan gerrymandering at its worst,” Warren said. “They’re looking to wipe out Democrats. This appears to be the next step.”

Through decades of political dominance, Florida Republicans have remade the state’s judiciary. The Florida Supreme Court which previously served as a thorn in governors’ sides has morphed into a bench that rarely sides against the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature.

The state’s intermediate appeals courts—also filled by appointment—have seen a similar shift, sped along by a new Sixth District Court of Appeal that came online in January.

The roughly 600 circuit trial court judges are different; they’re elected. That means these nominally nonpartisan judicial races in rural Florida normally elect conservative judges and Republicans for the partisan races of state attorney and public defender. Urban districts have races dominated by Democratically-supported candidates.

The local races bear striking resemblance to state legislative balance: Republicans control roughly 70% of both the state House and Senate seats, and they hold roughly the same percent of state attorney and public defender posts, according to election data complied by Bloomberg Law.

Tweaking districts could easily tip advantage to one party or another in some districts where elections are tight. Warren won his 13th Circuit race in 2016 by less than one point—roughly 5,000 votes. That same year in the 16th Circuit, which covers the Florida Keys, Ward beat a Democratic challenger by fewer than 2,000 votes.

“The Florida Keys (16th Judicial Circuit, Monroe County) are unquestionably one of the most unique and environmentally diverse areas in Florida, the United States, and on earth,” Ward said in a letter submitted to the commission. “To preserve this pristine ecosystem for our grandchildren, to preserve the character of the Keys, and to preserve its residents’ access to justice, the Keys should not be merged with any other circuit.”

While all members rejected the proposals, several said the courts need to be more ambitious in changing to deliver better services.

“I continue to be concerned that there’s a lot of emphasis on ‘we don’t need change’—why can’t we just look at trying to do a better job?” Braxton Gillam, a veteran appellate litigator and committee member said. “To say we did it right in 1969 for 2023 is a very bold, brash statement.”