Castrating the Florida Supreme Court

Not content to balance the state budget on the backs of state workers and humiliate the poor by requiring drug tests as a prerequisite for public assistance, Governor Scott and the Legislature now turn their attention to castrating the Florida Supreme Court.

The current plan before the Legislature would alter the State Constitution and break the five-member Court into two five-Justice courts, one for criminal cases (like death penalty appeals) and one for civil actions (like if you sue a phosphate mine for fouling your water supply). Sounds sensible, doesn't it?

It's not.

Severing the Court like this enables Scott to put the three current senior Justices (Chiles appointees) in the criminal Court, and allows him to appoint three of his own to the new civil Court.

By "three of his own," I mean judges who will be more lenient and forgiving toward corporations who want to pave over Florida and put up whatever without all those pesky regulations. I mean, who wants clean air and water anyway?

This is not a good idea, and there's no way to stop it. Maybe We the People of Florida can reverse it by referendum after Scott leaves office.