DIvErsITY anD FaIrnEss In THE
JuDICIaL nomInaTIon proCEss
Diversity Committee
Continued from page 28
appointed by the Governor, four are appointed from among candidates
nominated by The Florida Bar.
The role of the JNC is to be the non-political, local vetting process.
While there is no statutory or constitutional authority governing the
precise guidelines the JNC should use when evaluating candidates for
nomination, JNC rules of procedure set forth several factors to consider
when nominating candidates.
Those rules require the JNC to consider various personal attributes
including personal integrity, standing in the community, moral conduct,
ethics, commitment to equal justice, competency and experience,
knowledge of the law, professional reputation, and general intelligence.
Finally, candidates are weighed and deliberated on patience, courtesy,
civility, temperament, decisiveness, impartiality, and administrative ability.
The Thirteenth Circuit JNC values diversity and strives to ensure that
diverse, highly qualified candidates are submitted to the Governor for
consideration, giving the Governor the ability to select qualified
candidates while making diversity on the bench a priority.
Members of the JNC are dedicated to an open application process to
ensure that questions from all applicants are addressed. The JNC also is
committed to outreach with various local bar organizations including the
Hillsborough County Bar Association, Hillsborough County Association
for Women Lawyers, George Edgecomb Bar
Association, Tampa Hispanic Bar Association, and
others. With the goal of fairness and impartiality, the
JNC has adopted a practice of “standardizing” the
interview stage of the application process by asking
the same first three questions of each applicant.
The Thirteenth Circuit JNC prides itself on its
commitment to diversity and its history of
nominating highly qualified, diverse candidates.
In the past eight years, it has nominated candidates
for 21 different openings on the Thirteenth Circuit,
resulting in the appointment of 12 men and nine
women, of which three self-identify as Hispanic
and one who self-identifies as African American.
It is the Thirteenth Circuit JNC’s experience
and commitment that its nominees reflect not only
the most qualified applicants, but also the diverse
population of Hillsborough County, which the
nominees will be serving. The Thirteenth Circuit
JNC will remain committed to a process that
continues to stimulate and nominate a diverse pool
of highly qualified applicants to the Governor.
Authors: Gil Singer - Marcadis Singer, P.A., assisted by
Bob Lindeman - Marcadis Singer, P.A. & Carter
Andersen – Bush Ross, P.A.
JAN - FEB 2019
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