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Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince — Maintaining Justice

11/1/2012
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Why Three Republican State Senators support Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince (and you should too)

Three more Republican officials are urging voters to VOTE YES to support the retention of Supreme Court Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince, in direct opposition of the Republican Party of Florida’s unprecedented decision last month to go after the Supreme Court justices facing merit retention on Tuesday.

Senator Paula Dockery, from Lakeland; Senator Dennis Jones, who represents Seminole; and Senator Rene Garcia, from Hialeah, recently sent a letter Friday asking the Republican Party’s eight-member executive committee to reconsider its “unprecedented insertion of politics into what has been a system that has served Florida and her citizens well.”

The content of the entire letter explains exactly why these three Senators are challenging their own party politics – because what is happening is inserting a political agenda into what is supposed to be a nonpartisan and nonpolitical question – and urging voters not only in the Republican Party, but ALL voters to vote YES to retain these three justices on the bench:

“We the undersigned are deeply concerned over the September 21 decision of the eight-member Republican Party of Florida executive board to recommend a “no” vote for the retention of Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince.

Since the passage of the merit selection/retention system into our state constitution in 1976, both major political parties have maintained neutrality out of respect for the independence of the judiciary and the strong desire of the citizens of Florida to keep politics out of the courts.

The Justices who are up for merit retention on the November ballot have served ably and honestly in their roles as Supreme Court Justices.  Each was retained by the voters in 2006 and immediately after their respective appointments.

As policy makers, we respect the balance of power between our three branches of government.  Each of us has been disappointed in one ruling or another from this and other courts.  But the need for a fair and impartial judiciary far outweighs our individual disagreements with any specific opinion. We encourage the RPOF to reconsider this unprecedented insertion of politics into what has been a system that has served Florida and her citizens well. We hope that additional Republicans will make their voices heard over the upcoming weeks so that voters understand that Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince have served with distinction and deserve to be retained on the court.”

Voters in Florida who want a nonpartisan judiciary should retain Justices Lewis, Pariente and Quince on Tuesday.

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