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Court rules against Crist in fight over diversity in judicial appointments

Posted Jul 2, 2009 by William March

Updated Jul 2, 2009 at 10:58 AM

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled against Gov. Charlie Crist in a case that arose from a fight over diversity in judicial appointments. The court said Crist must choose an appointee from a judicial nominating commission’s list that Crist said didn’t include enough racial diversity.

Last year, Crist rejected the list of potential appointees for a vacancy on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal. He told the judicial nominating commission to reconsider its nominees, in particularly three black applicants it had rejected. The nominating commission refused and the issue ended up going to court.

Today, the Supreme Court issued a decision saying Crist didn’t have the authority to tell the commission to reconsider its list, and is bound by law to choose an appiontee from the list. It ruled that the state Constitution requires Crist “to make an appointment within the mandated time frame from the certified list of nominees.”

The issue has strong political overtones. Crist, now running for the U.S. Senate, won the governor’s race with the help of a record number of black votes for a Florida Republican, and has intensively sought greater racial diversity in his judicial appointments.
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Update: Crist’s response: In a statement a few minutes ago, Crist said he’ll abide by the court’s decision.

“While I am disappointed by today’s decision that the Judicial Nominating Commission cannot reconsider these important nominations, I respect the Supreme Court’s decision and their consideration of this case.  I remain committed to ensuring that the diversity of the people of Florida is represented in our judiciary.”