Florida Phoenix by Michael Moline
September 23, 2019
Gov. Ron DeSantis will spend much of Monday afternoon meeting with the president of The Florida Bar and the state’s three U.S. attorneys – but details are scarce on what it’s all about.
DeSantis was scheduled to huddle with Joe Jacquot, his general counsel, at 1 p.m. and with Bar President John Stewart at 2:30. Communications aides to the governor did not respond to requests for details about the topics up for discussion. A Bar spokeswoman said Stewart would “update the governor on The Florida Bar and the state’s legal profession.”
During the summer, DeSantis rejected a list of attorneys the Bar suggested for appointment to judicial nominating commissions that recommend appointees to the state bench. The Bar is a nonpartisan organization, and the governor has announced his intention to appoint conservative jurists, and often turns to the conservative/libertarian Federalist Society for suggestions and appointees.
Two of the three jurists he placed on the Florida Supreme Court belonged to the organization. DeSantis soon could have two vacancies to fill on the high court, given President Trump’s nomination of justices Barbara Lagoa and and Robert Luck to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.