A short stay? Two new FL Supreme Court justices have been nominated by Trump to federal appeals court

By: Diane Rado - September 13, 2019 9:15 am

Florida Supreme Court

Following his inauguration in January, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed three new conservative justices to the Florida Supreme Court, tilting the high court to the right.

Now, two of them — Barbara Lagoa and and Robert Luck — have been nominated by President Donald Trump to sit on the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which handles federal cases originating in Florida, Alabama and Georgia.

DeSantis applauded Trump’s move on Thursday , stating in a news release that the president demonstrated “great judgment” in nominating the two Florida justices.

“I appointed these two justices to the Florida Supreme Court for their demonstrated understanding of the Constitution and the appropriate role of the judiciary” DeSantis said in the statement. “We are proud of these two Floridians who have earned the respect of many for being great jurists and public servants. They will serve our nation well.”

Florida Senate President Bill Galvano and House Speaker Jose Oliva also applauded Trump’s move.

Robert J. Luck, new justice on the Florida Supreme Court.
Credit: Third District Court of Appeal

Both of the nominees will have to be confirmed.

And if that’s the case, DeSantis will start over again in getting new justices on the Florida Supreme Court.

The governor will soon be making appointments to the second-most important court in Florida, the First District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.

Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.

Diane Rado

Diane Rado has covered state and local government and public schools in six states over some 30 years, focusing on policy and investigative stories as well as legislative and political reporting. She spent most of her career at the St. Petersburg (Tampa Bay) Times and the Chicago Tribune. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and did a fellowship in education reform at the University of Michigan in 1999-2000. She is married to a journalist and has three adult children.