Court splitting study gets $400k in budget
The Florida Times-Union PolitiJax Blog | May 4, 2011
Tucked in the legislature’s $70 billion budget is $400,000 for a study to, among other things, look at whether the Supreme Court could be “enhanced” if it were split into civil and criminal panels.
If you recall, expanding and splitting the Supreme Court was a top priority of House Speaker Dean Cannon, but he could not get the plan through the Senate.
Other things the study will look at include:
- The case law output and administrative organization of the Supreme
Court, in terms of both quality and efficiency. - The staffing of the Supreme Court, including number of staff at
the Office of State Courts Administrator, functions, duties and
efficiencies, and whether different staffing would be more effective. - The impact on case processing of restructuring the Supreme Court
into a Criminal Division and a Civil Division. - The structure, function and effectiveness of the Judicial
Nominating Commission in providing the best judicial candidates for
Florida. - The structure, function and effectiveness of the Judicial
Qualifications Commission in disciplining and reviewing the conduct of judges and justices. - The effectiveness of the judicial merit retention system in
providing meaningful opportunity for voter review and evaluation of
judicial performance
