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Brevard Attorney Alan Landman Resigns As Chairperson Of Local Judicial Nominating Commission Resignation Highlights Allegations Of Fraud Regarding Judicial Appointments |
June 26, 2019 |
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Within Gubernatorial Judicial Appointments According to a June 21, 2019 POLITICO article - long time, 18th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission Chairperson, Alan Landman has recently submitted his resignation to Governor Ron DeSantis. Landman's June 17, 2019 resignation letter wraps itself within a cloak of suspicion, of whether the 18th Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) has been, for over a decade, routinely violating JNC Rules, and the Florida Constitution, in their forwarding of judicial nominees to the Florida Governor's office? Further verification of these alleged JNC Rules violations can be found within Mr. Landman's June 6, 2019 letter to the DeSantis administration, whereas he notes that he was "not specifically aware of the Section VIII prohibition" of JNC Rules. Section VIII of JNC Rules forbids any JNC commissioner from "contact(ing) the governor or any member of his office or staff, for the purpose of further influencing the governor's ultimate decision" According to arecent FloridaToday article, and as further supported by Landman's email communications, he did provide the governor's office with his own preference for the pending circuit court appointment - County Court Judge Michelle Naberhaus. A direct violation of Section VIII of the JNC Rules. In our (VolusiaExposed.Com) May 10, 2019 article, we expressed our concern that Chairperson Landman had an improper preference towards Naberhaus' appointment to the circuit bench. We also expressed our concerns regarding some preceived judicial misconduct on the part of Judge Naberhaus. Within our May 10, 2019 article, we presented an April 24, 2019 email from Mr. Landman in which he chastised this publication for "trash talking" Judge Naberhaus' candidacy within our April 24, 2019 article. Within our April 24, 2019 article - we had incorporated an email to the governor's office, which questioned whether Judge Naberhaus had engaged in judicial misconduct by attending a political rally in the fall of 2018. Mr. Landman carbon copied his VolusiaExposed.Com "trash talking" email to senior members of the DeSantis administration. While the FloridaToday article appears to suggest that Landman ran afoul of the governor's office due to an April 30, 2019 email, in which he expressed his inappropriate preference for Judge Naberhaus' appointment to the circuit court bench - this publication would suggest to our readers that Landman's gonads were already a week inside the roaster due to his April 24, 2019 "trash talking" email directed towards this publication. Landman's Resignation With the realization that our "OPINION" will probably be labeled as "trash talking" by some, especially by individuals within the 18th Judicial Circuit - we support Mr. Landman's resignation. Unlike Landman, we see his violations of JNC rules much more than just a "technical violation" (see Landman's attached emails) |
JNC Resignation Letter  Letter To Governor's Staff Procedural Rules JNC RULES REGARDING JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS  |
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First of all, per Landman's own admission - he routinely, for over a decade, and covering three gubernatorial administrations, gave his preference of which judicial nominee should receive the judicial appointment. So at a minimal - we have numerous "technical violations" of JNC Rules and Article V of the Florida Constitution - and NOT just one violation.
But even calling what Landman did - a "technical violation" is like calling rape - rough sex. Landman's violations - scream for an investigation - in order to determine what damage his "preference opinions" have caused, regarding the true constitutional validity of 18th Circuit's judiciary. Thankfully, the JNC Rules allow for such an investigation - if properly requested. Apparently, as per one of the above listed media articles, Landman even encouraged his fellow JNC commissioners to join him in contacting the governor's office with their preferred nominee. Is it wrong for us (VolusiaExposed.Com) to suggest that maybe there needs to be more than one JNC resignation? The DeSantis Administration What Landman has admitted to - will surely send shockwaves through the 18th Judicial Circuit...but...if what Landman alleges is true... hell, itself, will soon be coming to breakfast in the 18th Circuit. Within Landman's email communications with the governor's office (see upper right of page for web links), and as reported within the FloridaToday article - Landman alleges that the DeSantis administration, by requiring the JNC to add two additional nominees to the "short list" "violated the independence and the autonomy of the Judicial Nominating Commission. Landman goes on to allege that the DeSantis administration suggested that a judicial candidate from Seminole County be added to the "short list" of qualified nominees. This publication attended and video recorded that entire April 23, 2019 interview process of the 18th JNC - only one candidate provided a Seminole County connection - that was Seminole County Magistrate Tesha Ballou, 49. In the end - Governor DeSantis gave Ballou the judicial appointment. Within the FloridaToday article Helen Aquirre Ferre, director of communication for DeSantis contends that "there is nothing inappropriate with" (the governor's office) recommending names to be considered. In fact, in this case, it helped the full list of qualified candidates on the 18th Circuit to be more diverse." Well, it is this publication's OPINION that Ferre's assurances do not withstand the mandates of Sections V and VI of JNC Rules. The selection of judicial nominees are fully under the authority of the judicial nominating commissioners. Therefore, VolusiaExposed.Com agrees with Landman's June 17, 2019 email statement that "it has always been left to the committee's sole discretion as to who was qualified and who was not, in terms of the short list". In fact, this publication is left wondering why Landman added the additional names to the JNC short list - given it's authority and responsibilities under JNC Rules. Since Ballou was the ONLY judicial applicant from Seminole County - there is the appearance, that the DeSantis administration circumvented JNC Rules and the Florida Constitution, in order to hand pick Ballou for the judicial appointment. Per the Florida Constitution, judges receiving gubernatorial appointment must be prepared to defend that appointment at the next scheduled general election. However, most seated judges - whether elected or appointed - rarely receive a challenger for their judicial seat. Judicial Silence Judge Ballou now sits in a very arkward position - questions are attached to the validity of her gubernatorial appointment - while her appointment has not yet been validated by the electorial process. Judge Ballou also appears to be ducking questions. As was mentioned in the FloridaToday.Com article, Judge Ballou stated that she would address "questions later in the day. But she did not respond later Friday to multiple calls, requesting comment. Judge Ballou has some company on that arkward judicial perch - hanging between a questionable judicial appointment and a general election - it was late last year when Judge Robert Segal received his judicial appointment under the Governor Rick Scott administration. He (Segal) too will suffer the rumors and questions of whether his judicial appointment transpired under the FULL mandates and authority of the Florida Constitution? |
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A Criminal Organization? If you are a long time reader of this publication - you will be aware of our investigative series in the arrest and criminal prosecution of child advocate and investigator reporter, Dana Delaney Loyd. Within this series, we question on a regular basis whether the 18th Judicial Circuit is a functioning criminal enterprise / organization. BrevardBusinessnews.Com - on Page five (5) of their weekly publication addresses the same concerns, and poses some of the same questions regarding the 18th Circuit. In fairness to the 18th Judicial Circuit - we sent their public information officer, Michelle Kennedy, and others associated with the 18th Circuit, an email - in which we outlined our concerns - and our intentions to publish this article. We welcomed any comments her office cared to provide. As of the publishing of this article - there has been no answer to our email inquiry. ...and there you have it........stand by to stand by .... there is certainly more to come of this .... Drop us a line to let us know what you think.  EMAIL US |
STATE OF FLORIDA / JNC WEBSITE   |