Gov. Ron DeSantis used secretive panel to flip state Supreme Court

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Gov. Ron DeSantis used secretive panel to flip state Supreme Court

Leonard Leo, the key architect of the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority, led the advisers who helped DeSantis reshape the state court

By Beth Reinhard and Josh Dawsey
June 20, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. EDT

For decades, the ambitions of Florida's Republican governors were stymied by the liberal-leaning state Supreme Court. ... That is, until Ron DeSantis was elected. ... The court let him erase a congressional district with a large Black population. It opened the door to a law making it easier to impose the death penalty. Now, it's poised to rule on the governor's plan to outlaw most abortions in the third-most-populous state.

The hard-right turn was by design. DeSantis seized on the unusual retirement of three liberal justices at once to quickly remake the court. He did so with the help of a secretive panel led by Leonard Leo -- the key architect of the U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority -- that quietly vetted judicial nominees in an Orlando conference room three weeks before the governor's inauguration.

{snip}

After taking office in January 2019, DeSantis appointed three new justices in two weeks, flipping the court from what he described as a 4-3 liberal majority to a 6-1 conservative advantage. ... More recently, two justices appointed by past Republicans stepped down and took more lucrative jobs with allies of the governor, allowing DeSantis to handpick his own stalwarts.

The governor's efforts have yielded one of the most conservative state Supreme Courts in the country, reflecting Florida's shift from a politically competitive state to a testing ground for culture war legislation over immigration, race and sex education that is now at the heart of DeSantis's presidential bid.

{snip}

CORRECTION
This story originally misstated Jason Gonzalez's past work with Gov. Ron DeSantis. He was an adviser on judicial appointments.

Alice Crites, Shawn Boburg and Hannah Knowles contributed to this report.

Gift Article
https://wapo.st/443r7OY

By Beth Reinhard
Beth Reinhard has been a reporter at The Washington Post since 2017. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, National Journal, The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post. Twitter https://twitter.com/bethreinhard

By Josh Dawsey
Josh Dawsey is a political enterprise and investigations reporter for The Washington Post. He joined the paper in 2017 and previously covered the White House. Before that, he covered the White House for Politico, and New York City Hall and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for the Wall Street Journal. Twitter https://twitter.com/jdawsey1

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/20/gov-ron-desantis-used-secretive-panel-flip-state-supreme-court/

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Hat tip, Joe.My.God.

Secret Panel Helped DeSantis Flip State Supreme Court
June 20, 2023

https://www.joemygod.com/2023/06/secret-panel-helped-desantis-flip-state-supreme-court/