VOLUSIA EXPOSED.COM |
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GUBERNATORIAL JUDICIAL APPOINTMENTS ARE THEY IN THE PUBLIC'S BEST INTEREST? The Local Judicial Nominating Commission Forwards Six (6) Nominees To Governor Rick Scott |
UPDATED February 11, 2018 |
UPDATE February 10, 2018 -- Read Media Release - Governor Rick Scott appoints two local assistant state attorneys (ASA) to the Volusia County Court. Read (see below) our January 17, 2018 article outlining our concerns attached to the nomination of ASA David Cromartie and ASA Arthur Miller.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE STARTS HERE OTHER UPDATES ARE INCLUSIVE AND ARE NOTED WITHIN THIS ARTICLE On January 12, 2018, VolusiaExposed.Com attended the vetting / interview process of Florida's 7th Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC). The 7th JNC is one of twenty-six (26) JNCs within the State Of Florida that send recommendations (nominees) to the governor's office for judicial appointments. The 7th JNC interviewed 22 candidates in order to fill the position left open due to Judge Henderson's appointment from county court to circuit court, via a gubernatorial appointment. VolusiaExposed wishes to extend our thanks to all the 7th JNC members , they were all very approachable. The JNC narrowed the list of judicial candidates to six (6) judicial nominees. These nominees' names were forwarded to the Governor for his final selection and appointment. (see right of web page) ---> |
Based on what was heard, and what was discussed during the interview process, most* of the nominees are qualified to serve as a County Court judge. We invite our readers to review the video interviews and applications of the nominees (see bottom of this page). *VolusiaExposed.Com has concerns regarding the nominee - Mr. Cromartie - see below for details This article will question and explore whether the public's interest is best served with gubernatorial appointments of county and circuit court judges? Would the public's interest be better served with ALL county and circuit court judges being elected by the citizenry? Within Florida's twenty-six (26) JNCs - twenty (20) of them cover the twenty (20) judicial circuits and sixty-seven (67) county court jurisdictions - while five (5) JNCs are assigned to each of Florida's five (5) district courts of appeal (DCA) - the final JNC covers the Florida Supreme Court. These JNC commissions are required under Article V of the Florida Constitution, and therefore any changes to the current process would require a modification to the state's constitution. "I don't see why we need to stand by and watch a country go communist due to the irresponsibility of its people. The issues are much too important for the Chilean voters to be left to decide for themselves." ~ Henry Kissinger, American Statesman As is discussed in a recent Sun-Sentinel editorial - Florida already selects all of it's DCA judges and Supreme Court justices via the JNC / gubernatiorial appointment process - subject to subsequent merit retention elections. However, the Sun-Sentinel editorial further enlightens the public to the fact that the Florida Constitutional Revision Commission wishes to amend the Florida Constitution (via proposal 58) to allow ALL Florida judges (adding county court and circuit county judges) to be gubernatorial appointments, rather than being elected by the people of the State of Florida. Currently - open county court and circuit county judicial positions can be filled by the JNC / gubernatorial appointment process - ONLY if the judicial opening transpires during a certain time frame from the next pending election cycle - absent that - the judicial opening is filled via the election process. Here is the rub - there are members within the Florida power structure that hold the belief that the voting public can NOT be relied upon to properly select county and circuit court judges. An example of this - is how Volusia County Circuit Judge Joe Will manipulated his 2016 retirement - thus insuring that his seat would be fill by gubernatorial appointment. In our April 22, 2016 article titled - "JUDICIAL DIRTY DEEDS - Done Dirt Cheap !- THE DISENFRANCHISEMENT OF THE LOCAL ELECTORATE we (VolusiaExposed.Com) provided the public with Judge Joe Will's internal email and resignation letter that plainly documents his "conspiracy" (our OPINION) with the governor's office to retire in a manner that would insure a gubernatorial appointment. Judge Will's April 8, 2016 internal email to his fellow judges clearly states - "Ultimately, I have decided to resign in such a manner that the seat known as Group 8 will be filled by appointment, not election". We (VolusiaExposed.Com) agree with the Daytona Beach News Journal's April 17, 2016 editorial which stated - "You don’t have to read anything into the timing of Circuit Judge Joseph G. Will’s resignation to understand its intent. He has admitted he doesn’t trust voters to choose his replacement, and is willing to game the system to ensure he gets his way".. Apparently, within proposal 58 - the Florida Constitution Revision Commission (FLCRC) is attempting to concrete in Judge Will's desire that ALL judicial seats be filled by gubernatorial appointments. VolusiaExposed.Com has examined both the Florida Constitution Revision Commission & the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission - the body that allegedly ensures judicial ethics - and we found both government bodies lacking. In fact these two governmental bodies, in our OPINION are two of the biggest frauds being placed upon the citizenry of Florida. VolusiaExposed.Com has published previous articles in which we detail our particular concerns regarding these two government entities - and we invite you to review them from our web links listed at the bottom of this page. |
His High Tolerance Level Regarding False Information By Law Enforcement Officers Back on February 24, 2016 - Mr. Cromartie, a local assistant state attorney - interviewed with the JNC. During this interview the JNC expressed a concern that Mr. Cromartie had an apparent tolerance level for false testimony by law enforcement officers. They (JNC) did not forward Mr. Cromartie name to the governor's office for consideration for judicial appointment. Last October (2017) - Mr. Cromartie also applied for Judge Kellie Miles' open circuit court seat. Judge Miles died last summer leaving a vacancy in the circuit court. VolusiaExposed.Com via an August 30, 2017 letter to JNC Commissioner Chris Greene reminded the JNC of their February 2016 concern regarding Mr. Cromartie. Our concerns are further outlined within our March 20, 2017 article. During Mr. Cromartie's October 5, 2017 interview - the JNC did question Mr. Cromartie regarding our concerns (see minute 5.00 of the 10-5-2017 interview - see right of page). In preparation for the JNC's December 11, 2017 interviews - VolusiaExposed.Com sent JNC Commissioner Mr. Greene our November 27, 2017 letter in which we repeated our concerns regarding Mr. Cromartie - and in addition - we documented concerns attached to applicants J. Ryan Will and Steven de Laroche. During the December 11, 2017 interviews - the JNC addressed the concerns attached to Mr. Will and Mr. de Laroche - but did not re-address our concerns attached to Mr. Cromartie. Mr. Will and Mr. de Laroche did NOT make the nominee list that was forwarded to the governor's office for the judicial appointment. Mr. Cromartie did make the December 2017 nomination list. (see our December 13, 2017 article for particulars) Further, Mr. Cromartie also made the January 12, 2018 (see above right) nomination list that was forwarded to the governor's office. We opine that Mr. Cromartie's tolerance for law enforcement false reporting should preclude his judicial appointment. With that said - we suspect that his high tolerance level for police misconduct will serve him well with the power brokers - and with his scheduled interview in the governor's office. |
2-24-2016 Interview Judicial Nominating Commission Meeting February 24, 2016 David Cromartie
In February 2016 - Prosecutor David Cromartie interviewed in front of the local Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC). The JNC was tasked with forwarding the (6) six best candidates to Governor Rick Scott - so he could appoint our next circuit court judge. The local JNC opted NOT to forward Cromartie's name to the governor's office. VolusiaExposed.Com suspects that the rationale for the JNC's decision not to forward his name - can be found within minutes 6:55 and 8:50 - 11:45 of the above video recording of his JNC interview. 10-05-2017 Interview |
The Secretive Nature Of JNC Deliberations & Voting At the bottom of this page - our readers can watch and listen to the videos VolusiaExposed.Com secured of JNC interviews of the judicial nominees. While the JNC interview process is open to the public - the deliberations and voting portions of the JNC process are NOT open to the public / media. We (VolusiaExposed.Com) forward the OPINION that the secretive deliberations and voting aspects of the JNC can easily cause the public / media to question whether certain biases and conflicts of interest have infected the overall veracity of the JNC process. VolusiaExposed.Com developed such concerns attached to the JNC meetings of December 11, 2017 and January 12, 2018. During these hearings - Attorney Arthur Miller interviewed and made both JNC nomination lists that were forwarded to the governor's office. Our concern centers on the fact that JNC Commissioner Katherine Miller is the spouse of Nominee Arthur Miller - and whether this relationship influenced his inclusion on the nomination lists? While Commissioner Miller did recuse herself during both (Dec 11, 2017 & Jan 12, 2018) interviews - we (VolusiaExposed.Com) can NOT* confirm whether she recused herself from the deliberations or voting portions of the JNC process regarding her spouse's eventual placement on both judicial nomination lists. (* the deliberations and voting sections of the JNC interview process are not open to public participation or inspection) While Mr. Miller is qualified for his placements on the nomination lists - our concerns are amplified given our OPINION that other judicial applicants, that did not make the nominations lists, legal qualifications appear to be superior to that of Mr. Miller's qualifications. |
Aspect Of Becoming A Judge Are Local Power Brokers Too Influential? VolusiaExposed.Com came into existence on March 1, 2010. Shortly after that - we started to develop concerns that the Volusia County judiciary was being manipulated by the influences of local power brokers. |
In MaryEllen Osterndorf's recent JNC interview - Osterndorf openly admitted that she had sought out those influential individuals (power brokers) for their contacts with the governor, or his office - something she called "the dog and pony show". (see minutes 2:15 of attached video ---------------------->) You see there is a hard truth that must be faced (spoken in the voice of actor Morgan Freeman from the movie - Shawshank Redemption)... it's not the JNC - nor the governor - MaryEllen Osterndorf is correct - it's all really nothing more than a dog and pony show - the local power brokers are the real "judge makers". Knowing this - it's time to either get busy living (doing the dog and pony show) or get busy dying (not making the nomination list). A judicial candidate's chances of being appointed to the bench lives or dies on whether the candidate has kissed the rings of these power brokers (OPINION). If we (VolusiaExposed.Com) are correct - and the local power brokers are the "real" king (judge) makers, the following question quickly arises - once these judges are on the bench - whom will have their (judges) allegiance? Will their allegiance be to the the public - to the law, or will their allegiance be to the power brokers - damning, if necessary, both the public's interest, and the law? |
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Does our local JNC disqualify judicial applicants based on their (JNC) belief that the applicants are too confrontational with other members of the criminal justice system? VolusiaExposed.Com came to know Mr. Steven Gosney due to his past assignment as a JNC commissioner. During his January 12, 2018 JNC interview - JNC Commissioner Katherine Miller questioned Gosney on whether his past demeanor with others within the justice system has caused him to have a disadvantage in having his name forwarded for gubernatorial appointment to the bench. |
January 12, 2018 Gosney's Redacted Application Andrew WeinStock vs Judge John C. Murphy |
Alvarez's Redacted Application |
Miller's Redacted Application |
Osterndorf's Redacted Application |
Novas' Redacted Application |
Heidt's Redacted Application |
1-12-2018 Interview Cromartie's Redacted Application |
FULL DISCLOSURE: VolusiaExposed.Com has self-redacted some of the personal information contained in the above judicial applications. While the JNC advised the applicants to provide two copies of their application (one being a redacted copy) - some personal identifying information (home addresses, telephone numbers, DOBs, etc.) were identified by our staff - therefore, for safety and privacy reasons, we redacted this information. We make no assurances that we discovered and removed all redactable information - but it's better than how we received them. |