Florida lawyers have overwhelmingly recommended the retention of Florida Supreme Court Justice Kenneth B. Bell and Justice Raoul G. Cantero III, and the 22 district court of appeal (DCA) judges up for merit retention on Nov. 2.
The results of The Florida Bar’s biennial merit retention judicial poll were announced this week.
In a secret ballot mailed in August to all lawyers residing and practicing in Florida, participants were asked to indicate whether the incumbent judges should be retained or should not be retained for another six-year term under the merit retention system and were asked to consider eight attributes: quality and clarity of judicial opinions; knowledge of the law; integrity; judicial temperament; impartiality; freedom from bias/prejudice; demeanor; and courtesy. Only lawyers who indicated at least limited knowledge of the judges’ qualifications were included in the poll results. A total of 4,503 lawyers participated in the statewide poll.
Poll results indicated that 80 percent of participating lawyers recommended retention of Supreme Court Justice Bell, and 84 percent recommended retention of Justice Cantero.
The results of the merit retention poll of lawyers for the First District Court of Appeal show the following percentages of lawyers recommending retention of: Judge Michael Allen, 88 percent; Judge Edward Barfield, 85 percent; Judge Paul Hawkes, 72 percent; Judge Charles Kahn Jr., 88 percent; Judge Philip Padovano, 92 percent; and Judge James Wolf, 86 percent.
Poll results for the Second District Court of Appeal in favor of retention were: Judge Charles Canady, 79 percent; Judge Patricia Kelly, 83 percent; Judge Stevan Northcutt, 89 percent; Judge Craig Villanti, 82 percent; and Judge Douglas Wallace, 85 percent.
In the Third District Court of Appeal, participating lawyers recommended retaining: Judge John Fletcher, 84 percent; Judge Frank A. Shepherd, 76 percent; and Judge Linda Wells, 85 percent.
The results of the merit poll of lawyers for the Fourth District Court of Appeal show the following percentages of lawyers recommending retention of: Judge Gary Farmer Sr., 85 percent; Judge Robert Gross, 88 percent; and Judge Melanie May, 88 percent.
In the Fifth District Court of Appeal, participating lawyers in the poll recommended retaining: Judge Jacqueline Griffin, 88 percent; Judge David Monaco, 85 percent; Judge Earle Peterson Jr., 84 percent; Judge Winifred Sharp, 85 percent; and Judge Vincent Torpy Jr., 82 percent.
The Florida Bar has published results of its polls as a public service since the first merit retention election in 1978. In merit retention elections the justices and judges run unopposed — voters cast their ballots to “retain”or “not retain” the judge in office. If the judge is not retained, a vacancy is created and will be filled through the merit selection process through which the governor will appoint one of three to six nominees submitted by the respective judicial nominating commission.