FLSC rules that the 2018 winner, not Scott, will appoint the 3 new justices

[brucejoel99]

Wait, so the Governor actually has basically no decisional power in appointing Justices and THAT decision is in the hands of a bunch of appointed GOP hacks? FOR THE LOVE OF GOD why is there always a new layer of bullsh*t to Every. Single. Florida. Story.

He has the power to decide whom is appointed from among the nominees provided for by the JNC. The JNC has the authority to submit 3 to 6 names to the Governor, & then the Governor picks from among those 3 to 6.

[Dereich]

Great! I'm sure this now means that Scott's allies on the Supreme Court JNC will only select conservative nominees &, as a result, even if Gillum wins & secures the right to fill the 3 vacancies, he'll have to choose his appointees from a right-leaning list… but great, I guess.

That is a problem, but I'm curious how many times Gillum can request new judicial candidates:

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0000-0099/0043/Sections/0043.291.html

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Gillum might also be able to get some members off the commission to replace them with his own. He can't offer them judicial offices but I don't see anything against positions in the executive branch.

Either way, if they try to force a bunch of conservative judges on him and if there is any loophole to work with, I expect him to exploit it.

Assuming the most favorable ruling on when the JNC must present its names to the governor and assuming they for some reason did not present the list until the last day, they'd have to get the nominee list to the new governor on the 60th day after the inauguration. Not a lot of time to convince Scott appointees to leave, get your people on the commission, and change the already ongoing JNC selection process. 

Dereich,
What happens if Gillum refuses to appoint anyone?

Actually, a correction to Dereich's post & then an answer to your question...

Dereich: Not true re: the bolded. Gov. Scott ordered the Supreme Court JNC to begin the application process for the 3 upcoming vacancies on Sep. 12th, & they have 60 days from then to submit 3 to 6 names for each vacancy, so the last day they're able to submit a list of nominees to the Governor's Office is Nov. 11th (just 5 days after the election), which then triggers another 60 day time limit for the selection of an appointee from among the nominees (or to request additional nominees from the commission if they provide less than the maximum of 6 names), which means (if the maximum number of 6 nominees are put forward by the commission on Nov 11th) the last day the appointments can be made is Jan. 10th (just 2 days after the vacancies arise & Gillum/DeSantis takes office/are able to make the appointments). Even then, if it's Gillum, there's just no way he's gonna be able to convince the conservative Scott-aligned JNC members to leave before the expiration of their terms on the JNC, & even if he could, once the JNC submits those 6 names to the Governor's Office on Nov. 11th, it's 3 of those 6 names that are gonna be the next Supreme Court justices (& Gillum couldn't do anything about it even if he wanted to). And it would really surprise me if the JNC doesn't submit the maximum number of 6 nominees to the Governor's Office on Nov. 11th b/c doing so is what would screw over Gillum the most, which they obviously have a partisan incentive to do (whereas, if they submit 3, 4, or 5, Gillum has 'til Jan. 10th to restart the 60 day clock by asking the JNC to fill out the list, but even then, they could refuse to do so & at the end of the day, he'll still be stuck w/ the names that the 9 conservative JNC members give him).

Chief Justice windjammer: Gillum can't refuse to make the appointments, even if he despises the choices he's mandated to select from. As the FL Supreme Court found in 2009's Pleus v. Crist, the Governor is bound by the Florida Constitution to appoint a nominee from the JNC's certified list within 60 days of that certification (i.e. within 60 days of when they submit the list to the Governor). There's no exception to that mandate. The Governor lacks authority under the constitution to seek a new list of nominees from the JNC & has a mandatory duty to fill the vacancy created by the 3 retirements w/ an appointment from the list certified to the Governor sometime later this year (likely in Nov., when Scott is still governor).

My maximum time came from Art. V Sec 11. (c): The nominations shall be made within thirty days from the occurrence of a vacancy unless the period is extended by the governor for a time not to exceed thirty days.

I assume that if the FLSC were willing to do so, they could find against Scott that from that provision that the JNC doesn't need to submit names until 30 days (60 if extended) from the day the vacancy occurs. As the vacancy in the FLSC occurs the same day as the new governor is inaugurated, in the best possible scenario for Gillum he would get the list on his 60th day in office.

[Green Line]

Good.  The power of appointment should rest in the hands GOP representatives.  The Florida Supreme Court and the erratic Governorship are too erratic.

[brucejoel99]

Good.  The power of appointment should rest in the hands GOP representatives.  The Florida Supreme Court and the erratic Governorship are too erratic.

The power of appointment should rest in the hands of whomever is elected to office at the time the vacancy occurs, regardless of party. Supporting anything else is just pure partisan hackery.

[Virginiá]

Good.  The power of appointment should rest in the hands GOP representatives.  The Florida Supreme Court and the erratic Governorship are too erratic.

The power of appointment should rest in the hands of whomever is elected to office at the time the vacancy occurs, regardless of party. Supporting anything else is just pure partisan hackery.

Oh that's just typical GL. Serious half the time and trolling in the other half.

[Green Line]

Good.  The power of appointment should rest in the hands GOP representatives.  The Florida Supreme Court and the erratic Governorship are too erratic.

The power of appointment should rest in the hands of whomever is elected to office at the time the vacancy occurs, regardless of party. Supporting anything else is just pure partisan hackery.

Oh that's just typical GL. Serious half the time and trolling in the other half.

WHY has the power of appointment been taken out of the hands of the sitting Governor then?  Don't be rude, Ginny!

[Virginiá]

WHY has the power of appointment been taken out of the hands of the sitting Governor then?  Don't be rude, Ginny!

To reduce political patronage and ensure qualified candidates are picked. But as has been discussed indirectly in this thread, the commission is only a half measure at best since Scott gets to fill the commission with lackeys.

It's not like GOP representatives perpetually control the process. They actually tried to "control" it by asking voters to amend the state constitution some years ago so Scott could make these midnight appointments, and the people shot it down, hence why Scott tried to pull a fast one on his own.

[Green Line]

It seems strange to me that the State Supreme Court would be getting involved in ensuring that qualified candidates are picked.  I can't imagine that it is part of their job description.  Either way, hopefully we have a nice, moderate, Governor of the People elected soon

[Virginiá]

It seems strange to me that the State Supreme Court would be getting involved in ensuring that qualified candidates are picked.  I can't imagine that it is part of their job description.  Either way, hopefully we have a nice, moderate, Governor of the People elected soon

The reason is that Scott is trying to fill vacancies that occur after he officially ends his tenure as Governor (assuming the Gov-elect takes office immediately, as is their option).