Plan To Split Supreme Court Advances
TALLAHASSEE (CBS4) - A plan to split the Florida Supreme Court in two and allow Governor Rick Scott to stack the court with judges favorable to his values was approved by the House Civil Justice Committee Thursday.
Representative Eric Eisnaugle, who sponsored the legislation, said the current Supreme Court works hard to get through the docket in front of them, but it just takes too long to move cases through the justice system, according to the News Service of Florida.
The proposal passed on a straight party line committee vote. It's being championed by House Speaker Dean Cannon.
The House Speaker has said that he was angry at the court last year for removing a few legislatively proposed state constitutional amendments from going on the ballot.
Democratic Representative Richard Steinberg said he hadn't heard from any member of the judiciary saying the work load was too much and that a split-court was needed.
"They can handle the case load they have," Steinberg told the News Service of Florida. "Do not continue this path of trying to micromanage the judiciary branch."
The bill will now move to the House Judiciary Committee before heading to the House floor for a full vote.
(© 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The News Service Of Florida contributed to this report.)
