Florida Supreme Court rules in Pleus v. Crist, Case No. SC09-565 (Fla. July 2, 2009).
The Florida Supreme Court issued its opinion in Pleus v. Crist, Case No. SC09-565 (Fla. July 2, 2009), which can be found here.
The unanimous opinion, authored by Justice Labarga, grants a Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed by retired Fifth District Court of Appeals Judge Robert J. Pleus, Jr. Judge Pleus sought a writ of mandamus requiring Governor Crist to appoint his successor to the Fifth District. The Judicial Nominating Commission ("JNC") submitted a list of six nominees to the Governor, who rejected the list because of its lack of diversity. The Governor requested the JNC reconvene and consider the application of three African-Americans who had applied to fill the vacancy; the JNC met to consider the Governor's request and resubmitted the original list of nominees to the Governor. The Governor has not filled the vacancy.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the plain language of Article V, Section 11(c) of the Florida Constitution mandates that the Governor, upon receipt of the certified list of nominees from a JNC, make an appointment from that list within 60 days to fill the judicial vacancy. The Court noted the absence of any language in that provision granting the Governor the authority to reject the JNC's certified list or to extend the time in which the appointment must be made. The Court granted the Petition, but withheld issuance of the writ.
