An organization supporting three Florida Supreme Court justices facing merit retention this fall began running a TV spot Tuesday blasting the “politicians in Tallahassee” for looking to overhaul the court.

The ad, by Defend Justice from Politics, a political spending committee, is airing a spot in West Palm Beach, Miami and Tampa markets that condemn the push to defeat the last three justices appointed by a Democratic governor. The spot calls it a “political power grab.”

Justices Barbara Pariente, Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince are facing what is shaping up as the most vigorous merit retention fight in Florida history.

A small tea party group, Restore Justice 2012 began criticizing justices last year over decisions that blocked measures pushed by the Republican-led Legislature, but the billionaire Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity also recently weighed in with an ad attacking the court.

When the Florida Republican Party’s executive board voted last month to oppose the justices, that seemed to crank up the merit retention contest to a new level.

Gov. Rick Scott said Tuesday he has no problem with the GOP’s decision, although he steered clear of expressing any opinion about the justices being targeted. Another prominent Republican, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, though, said he was uneasy with the party stepping into the non-partisan retention fight.

Atwater said, “it wouldn’t have been certainly a direction that I would have recommended.”

 “We as a party hold certain principles and we look for policies and candidates who are going to shape those with the expectation that justices are going to just constitutionally use good judgment and rule,” Atwater said.

Here’s Defend Justices’ TV spot: http://tinyurl.com/9tmz9eg

The Florida Republican Party said Friday it is adding its heft to an effort to unseat the last three state Supreme Court justices appointed by a Democratic governor.

State GOP Chairman Lenny Curry said the party’s executive board has voted to oppose the merit retention of Justices Barbara Pariente, Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince on Nov. 6.  A conservative group, Restore Justice 2012, has labeled the three a liberal leaning bloc on the seven-member court, which has stymied a range of initiatives advanced by the Republican-ruled Legislature in recent years.

Curry didn’t say whether the party would steer cash toward Restore Justice, which so far has reported only modest fund-raising. Instead, party leaders lashed out at the justices as activists, pointing to a specific death penalty ruling.

“While the collective evidence of judicial activism amassed by these three individuals is extensive, there is one egregious example that all Florida voters should bear in mind when they go to the polls on election day,” said GOP spokeswoman Kristen McDonald. “These three justices voted to set aside the death penalty for a man convicted of tying a woman to a tree with jumper cables and setting  her on fire.”

McDonald referred to a 2003 ruling by the Florida Supreme Court that ordered a new trial for Joe Elton Nixon, convicted of murder in Leon County 19 years earlier. The three justices were part of a 5-2 ruling that found Nixon’s lawyer wrongfully conceded his client’s guilt without his approval.

The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Florida court in an 8-0 decision. Nixon is still on death row.

Supporters of the justices blasted the GOP’s entry into the campaign.

“Florida has had its experience with partisan political involvement in our judiciary and we know that it has been corrupting,” said Talbot “Sandy” D’Alemberte, a former president of the American Bar Association and Florida State University president.

“ The announcement that the Republican Party is engaged in this effort would shock those wonderful Republican statesmen who helped create the merit selection and merit retention processes,” he added.  ”Surely we do not want to go back to the broken past.”

In merit retention, in place in Florida since 1976, voters get to decide “yes” or “no” whether a justice should receive another six-year term. No justice has been voted off the court since it was introduced.

But some rulings by the Florida court in school voucher, abortion and ballot initiatives sought by the Republican-ruled Legislature have fueled a kind of “kill the umpire” campaign, emerging from the political right. The three justices targeted were appointed by late Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles, with Quince named jointly with former Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

A study by the Brennan Center and the National Institute on Money in State Politics found that $38.4 million was spent on high court elections nationwide in 2009-10. Political parties and special interest groups, many of them backed by businesses or social activists, accounted for 30 percent of the spending.

Curry later the the Post that it was not yet decided whether the GOP would spend money on TV spots, mail pieces or other efforts to defeat the justices. “Those are operational decisions,” Curry said.

But he added the direction from his board members was clear. “They said, ‘make sure the justices are not retained,’” Curry said.

With three Florida Supreme Court justices facing a stiff ballot challenge, the Florida Bar announced Monday it is kicking off a $300,000 campaign to educate voters about the merit retention system for electing  justices and appelate judges.

Scott Hawkins, a West Palm Beach lawyer and president of the Florida Bar, said the campaign is not designed to promote Justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and Fred Lewis, who have been targeted for defeat by Restore Justice 2012, a conservative political campaign.

Instead, Hawkins said that in voter forums and other informational sessions, Bar members will attempt to educate voters about the benefits of merit retention, used in Florida for almost four decades,and also in place in 33 other states.

Hawkins said Bar polls show that 90 percent of Floridians don’t understand merit retention, in which voters get to cast a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote on whether a judge or justice should receive another term.

“Fair and balanced information is essential for Florida citizens to make informed decisions,” Hawkins said.

Joining Hawkins at the event was former Florida Gov. Reubin Askew, who helped spearhead the drive for voter-approved merit retention in 1976.  “If not merit retention — what?” Askew said, adding that it has helped shield judges and justices from politicking.

Merit retention was introduced as a fix after a host of scandals involving conventionally elected, state Supreme Court justices.  Indictments, impeachment and accusations of tampering with lower-court rulings clouded the court in the early 1970s.

But with the three Florida Supreme Court justices up for merit retention in November already raising almost $500,000, this year’s normally quiet merit retention contest already is sparking fireworks.

 ”Today, the community which has injected an unprecedented near half-million dollars into the retention races ironically held a press conference to warn about politicizing the court,” said Jesse Phillips, leader of the Restore Justice 2012 campaign. “We agree that the vote is in our court, and look forward to November when responsible citizens will decide whether or not to retain the justices based on their record of decisions.”

Restore Justice has emerged out of opposition to a 2010 Supreme Court ruling that stripped from the ballot a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at stopping the federal health care overhaul from being implemented in Florida.

Of the justices who joined the majority in the 5-2 decision, Phillips already unsuccessfully tried to oust Jorge Labarga and James Perry in 2010.  This year’s focus on Quince, Lewis and Pariente, though, appears better organized and may draw more serious financing.

The justices have raised close to $500,000 already for their campaigns. Restore Justice so far has collected $41,650.

Hawkins said it was important for Floridians to know how to assess a performance by a justice, who he said could handle 8,000 cases during a six-year term.

“Is it fair to assess a judge on onel ruling, or should you assess them on the 7,999 other cases they have touched?”  Hawkins said.

House Speaker Dean Cannon, wrangling with the Florida Supreme Court since it killed three constitutional amendments pushed last year by the Republican Legislature, unveiled his latest idea Monday — overhaul the Supreme Court.

Cannon said the House will propose creating two, five-member Supreme Courts, one charged with overseeing civil matters, the other criminal cases. Justices from the current, seven-member court could form the core of the new, 10-justice lineup, but there would be no guarantees, he conceded.

The Winter Park lawmaker, during a briefing with reporters, also said he wants to change existing merit retention election standards. He’d require appellate justices to win the support of more than 60 percent of voters to stay on the bench. Currently, justices only need to secure a majority. (more…)