RonnDeSantis rewards losers, if they agree with him.
The Miami Herald reported that he gave a promotion to an anti-abortion judge who was rejected by voters.
Jared Smith, the Hillsborough circuit judge whom voters ousted in August after his controversial ruling in an abortion case, won’t have to hang up his judicial robe after all. Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Smith to fill one of the three vacancies Tuesday on the newly created 6th District Court of Appeal, which will be based in Lakeland. Smith’s appointment will take effect Jan. 1.
Smith lost the August election for his judicial seat to Tampa attorney Nancy Jacobs.
The unusually contentious race saw abortion loom as a key issue.
Smith became a target of criticism from reproductive rights advocates after an appeals court overturned his decision in a case involving a 17-year-old girl who sought a judicial waiver to obtain an abortion without her parents’ consent.
He’d concluded that the girl did not demonstrate the maturity, intelligence and other qualities necessary to make the decision. In a 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel found that Smith abused his judicial discretion.
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article270280807.html#storylink=cpy
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Contempt for democracy again!
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Corruption with a capital “C”. Yet, too few in Florida seem to care.
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Many care in Florida, but we our outnumbered by the “true believer” boneheads that feast on the lies and misinformation from right wing media.
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I have a sister in Palm Coast who is looking to get out of Florida because she is surrounded by DeSantis fans who point their yard signs in her direction for spite. Speech is only free to those who capitulate with the Governor.
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If Deranged DeSantis runs against Biden in 2024, and the Democratic Party doesn’t use DeSantis autocratic record to reveal who he really is and the threat he will be against the US Constitution and the rule of law, then the Democrats deserve to lose. But we the people do not deserve DeSantis as our president.
And I think if DeSantis wins the presidency in 2024, it will be through the Electoral College and not the popular vote.
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Hillary lost in 2016 due to a public shaming onslaught put on by the Republican allies that began two years before the election. Democrats don’t have to exaggerate and lie like the Republicans, they just need to start getting the word out about Desantis failed culture wars now.
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Reading of the antics of this wing of the Republican Party ever since Obama won the presidency (twice with verifiable majorities of the popular vote) does remind me of those reactions you get when you tell your adolescent they need to clean their room- now. Outrage, stomping around and a week of being obnoxious and an air of martyrdom.
The only difference is with the adolescent you can, with a bit of luck, reach an ironically cheerful reconciliation.
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Typical Republican arrogance. When the voters reject this incumbent candidate for Judge the Autocrat that is Governor just decides that the people were wrong and just appoints this loser to a similar office in a different county. This is why we need a complete housecleaning and get all these reactionary Right Wingers out of all offices that require honesty and integrity.
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He rejected her plea for an abortion because her grades were “too low”. Had she been an honor roll student, he would have rejected her right to self determination because they were too high.
Where is the consistency in ruling that a teenager is too immature to have an abortion, but mature enough to raise a child? On what basis in law is this decision founded? None at all.
We’re educators on this blog. We know how hard a road this is for young people like these. It’s not a blessing.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/20/texas-abortion-law-teen-mom/
https://www.propublica.org/article/how-states-limit-teen-access-to-abortion
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If we have learned anything from decisions handed down by judges all the way up to the Supreme Court , it is that having a legal degree does not imply that one will follow the laws and Constitution — or even know what they mean.
Some judges who were educated at what are supposed to be our top law schools (Yale and Harvard) actually show contempt for our laws and Constitution.
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So called “judges” like those on the Supreme Court majority are basing their (anti-)abortion decisions purely on their religious beliefs.
They just make up “legal” arguments out of thin air to justify their decisions.
They should be an embarrassment to the law schools that educated them because they reflect very poorly on the education they received
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Alito based his ruling on that of a 17th century witch burner. Say no more…
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In July of 2022, the Tampa Bay Times reported that the wife of Jared Smith said to a Church group during a campaign visit that his opponent who is Jewish, “needed Jesus.” Smith is a deacon at the Idlewild Baptist Church.
Supporters of Smith’s opponent described the messaging as anti-Semitic.
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