Testing Grounds The latest industry being outsourced to India is clinical drug trials. And any number of tragic things can happen on the way to your medicine cabinet.
Friday Night Rewind It doesn't matter which team you cheer for. We've got video previews of every high school football program in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco and Hernando County.
With his first appointment to the Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Charlie Crist has picked the most partisan candidate available. Whether Charles T. Canady will bring his politics to the high court remains to be seen, but Crist has just declared his own.
In announcing the appointment on Thursday, Crist tried to couch the decision in terms of legal experience and the "fair and just" rulings Canady has made "throughout his career." But that's purposefully misleading. Canady, 54, spent 16 years in elected and appointed office before Gov. Jeb Bush appointed him to the 2nd District Court of Appeal. His judicial "career" has lasted all of six years, and during merit retention in 2004 the Florida Bar rated his qualifications the lowest among the five 2nd DCA judges on the ballot.
The credentials that would vault Canady ahead of the other five candidates for this post are entirely political in nature. He was a litmus-test warrior in the Legislature and in Congress, fighting against school prayer, abortion, gay rights, affirmative action and flag burning. He served as a House manager for the impeachment of President Clinton, decrying the "pernicious example of lawlessness."
Does this record square with the kind of "wisdom, fairness and humility" that Crist said he sought?
The governor has the extraordinary opportunity to appoint three more justices in his first term, which means he could still honor his pledge to "only appoint the most highly qualified'' applicants. His choice of Canady falls short of that standard.
Canady is a Yale Law School graduate who may rise above his politics when he joins the high court, but the reason the Florida Chamber of Commerce and conservative watchdogs are applauding the appointment is that they are confident he won't.
[Last modified: Sep 02, 2008 02:32 PM]
Comments on this article
by Libertarian think tank
Sep 2, 2008 2:32 PM
I got excited when I read the headline, but this is extra THIN on substance. The only criticism is that he was a Clinton House prosecutor??? Old news. Let's see some criticism of his opinions - oh yeah, that takes actual journalistic legwork.
by Simer
Aug 31, 2008 8:59 AM
Good, Crist sounds like he may be more conservative than I thought.
by r baker
Aug 31, 2008 8:59 AM
crist sucks ...
by Walter
Aug 31, 2008 8:59 AM
As Charlie Crist state before his election, he supports the "Unconstitutional John Ellis Bush" type and intends to stack the "judicial" deck.
by Dee
Aug 31, 2008 8:59 AM
We reap what we sow
by jo ann
Aug 31, 2008 8:59 AM
J. Canady DID NOT bring his prior politics to his work at the 2nd DCA. I am a BLEEDING liberal and feel entirely comfortable with J. Canady. He is VERY SMART and hard working. His opinions reflect he is a fair minded jurist of sustantial intellect
by tim
Aug 30, 2008 2:40 PM
If the leading leftie newspaper and leading liberal democrats are upset with Canady, then rest assured, he will be a great judge on the Supreme Court. Hooray for Christ!
by jimmy
Aug 30, 2008 2:39 PM
None of the posters here could pick Canady from a line-up before reading this silly commentary. The Times, again, publishes a thoroughly leftist editorial and throws more red meat to its readers.
by Schauer
Aug 29, 2008 2:02 PM
From the White House's total disregard of the Constitution to Crist total politicization of the Court republicans continue to show a total disregard for the rule of law and an impartial third branch. Talk about activist judges!
by Sam
Aug 29, 2008 2:02 PM
Just what did you expect Crist to do? Yale has no significant meaning to me as it graduated one of our countries biggest morons! Yale used to be a proud member of the Ivy League.
by Randy
Aug 29, 2008 2:02 PM
Suggest Canady was FOR school prayer, not against it.
by bongo
Aug 29, 2008 2:02 PM
Terrible choice! Canady's sole distinction is the oversight of a blatant attempt to depose a president. Crist's political aspirations are becoming obvious.
Subscribe to the Times
Click here for daily delivery
of the St. Petersburg Times.
News
