The new Florida Supreme Court, and Federal Judges in the Sunshine State

After getting elected Governor of Florida in 2018, Ron DeSantis was presented with the unique opportunity to immediately appoint a few justices to the state supreme court, as three incumbents went into mandatory retirement due to hitting the age limit. Florida's Judicial Nominating Commission, whose membership was appointed by outgoing Gov. Rick Scott (R), provided DeSantis with eleven names:

1. John Couriel, a partner at Kobre & Kim
2. Jonathan Gerber, Chief Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach
3. Jamie Grosshans, Judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach
4. Jeffrey Kuntz, Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeal
5. Bruce Kyle, Judge of the Lee County Circuit Court
6. Barbara Lagoa, a Judge of the Third District Court of Appeal in Miami (ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court)
7. Robert Luck, Judge of the Third District Court of Appeal (ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court)
8. Carlos Muniz, General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Education (ultimately appointed to the Supreme Court)
9. Timothy Osterhaus, Judge of the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee
10. Samuel Salario, Judge of the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland
11. Anuraag Singhal, Judge of the Broward County Circuit Court

Lagoa, Luck, and Muniz replaced three appointees of the late Gov. Lawton Chiles (D), so the court flipped from a 4-3 liberal majority to a 6-1 conservative composition.

As the Florida federal courts currently stand, none of the Eleventh Circuit seats currently filled by judges from the state are open, and there are a total of six vacancies across the state's three federal district courts.

The Northern District currently has two vacancies and two nominees to fill them: First District Court of Appeal Judges Allen Winsor and T. Kent Wetherell II. Winsor will likely be confirmed next week, and Wetherell is pending on the executive calendar.

The Middle District has two vacancies and one nominee: Fifth District Court of Appeal Judge Wendy Berger, for a seat in Jacksonville, who is also pending on the calendar. The other vacancy ostensibly is in Tampa, but might not necessarily have to stay within that division.

The Southern District has two vacancies, one in Fort Lauderdale, and another in West Palm Beach. Neither seats have nominees.

In the past, Florida’s senators had a bipartisan federal nominating committee, and Sens. Marco Rubio (R) and Bill Nelson (D) used it in the 115^th Congress to select seven judges. But Sen. Nelson went down in defeat to now-Sen. Rick Scott (R), so for the first time since the 17^th Amendment was ratified Florida has two Republican senators, and it appears that the nominating commission will not be reconstituted and selections of new nominees will instead go directly through the senators’ offices.

With the news that Judge Singhal is being vetted by the FBI for the Fort Lauderdale seat (credit to David Markus of the Southern District of Florida Blog), it’s likely that the nominees for the remaining federal vacancies will be from the JNC’s supreme court list as well.

Eight of the finalists did not make the cut for the supreme court, but they might face the opportunity of winning the consolation prize of a district court appointment instead.

Osterhaus is the only one of the eight who lives and works in the Northern District of Florida, and with no vacancies there, he has little opportunity to be elevated.

Grosshans, Kyle, and Salario are residents of the Middle District, and with the first two judges working in the Orlando and Fort Myers divisions of the court, respectively, it is likely Salario is a prime contender for the Tampa opening (the other two might be under consideration as well).

Couriel, Gerber, Kuntz, and Singhal live in the Southern District, and Singhal appears to be the finalist for the Fort Lauderdale vacancy. I expect that one of the other three candidates will be selected for the West Palm Beach opening. Out of the trio, Gerber is most likely to be chosen, as he is the oldest and most experienced.

It’s safe to say that if additional seats crop up on the Florida federal district courts within the next year or two, the state supreme court finalists will seek those positions, as no seat on the Florida Supreme Court is expected to open up anytime soon.