Scott appoints Orlando Judge Alan Lawson to Florida Supreme Court

Gov. Rick Scott appointed C. Alan Lawson to be Florida's next justice of the Supreme Court Friday, choosing a conservative appellate judge to leave the governor's mark on a moderate court that has been responsible for some of sharpest defeats of his political career.

Lawson, who currently serves as the chief judge on the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach fills the seat on the seven-member court that is being vacated by Justice James E.C. Perry, a liberal jurist who is retiring at the end of the month because he has reached the mandatory retirement age. Perry was the the fourth African-American jurist to serve on Florida's high court. Lawson, who lives in the Orlando suburb of Winter Park, is white.

Perry, who was appointed to the bench in March 2009 by former Gov. Charlie Crist, must retire because of a state law requiring justices to retire on their 70th birthday or the end of their six-year term if they are halfway through the term. Perry turned 70 in January 2015 but his term ends Jan. 3, 2017.

Scott said he choose Lawson for his 20-year track record, his public service and because "he's not going to legislate from the bench." Our story here.