VOLUSIA EXPOSED

"Every organization rests upon a mountain of secrets." - Julian Assange

Did Governor Scott's office request that the Seventh (JNC) Judicial Nominating Commission waive their Constitutional discretion to him?

Last month (October 2012), the Seventh Judicial Nominating Commission (JNC) convened in order to interview judicial candidates to fill a vacancy within the Seventh Judicial Circuit. The Seventh JNC submitted the below four candidates to Governor Scott's office.

The Florida State Constitution, as modified in 1968, governs the authority and responsibilities of both the Judicial Nominating Commission and the Governor.

In the particular, Article V, Section 11, of the Florida State Constitution, defines this process of nominating and appointing judges.

The Florida State Constitution clearly defines, that the JNC must forward at least three (3), and no more than six (6), nominees to the governor for his consideration in the judicial appointment.

This discretion (the number of nominees) is clearly vested with the JNC, and not with the governor.

Therefore, we question, under what rationale did Governor Scott's General Counsel, Jesse Panuccio, think he had the discretion, or authority to request that the JNC provide a total of six (6) judicial nominees?

We invite you to review General Counsel Jesse Panuccio's October 25, 2012 letter to JNC Chairperson Chris Greene.

To the Seventh JNC's credit, and in compliance with Florida law, their chairperson advised media outlets of their pending October 25, 2012 hearing to discuss General Counsel Panuccio's request.

VolusiaExposed.Com attended the public part of that meeting and shared our concerns with the JNC Chair.

However, to the JNC's further credit, they were already in tuned to our concerns.

In short, while the State Constitution empowers the governor with the discretion to appoint judicial candidates under certain conditions, the JNC has the discretion to send between three (3) to six (6) judicial nominees for the governor's consideration.

In a democracy, the separation of powers is a very important concept, and it's worth protecting.

While initially, VolusiaExposed.Com's article were critical of some of the JNC's actions (both 7th Judicial and 5th DCA JNC), we have slowly become more appreciative of their service to the community.

The citizens of the Seventh Judicial Circuit and the Fifth District Court of Appeals can feel confident that their JNC commissioners are protecting their rights and best interests.

We are happy to report, that YOUR Seventh JNC stood their ground, and kept to their principles, by resubmitting the original list of four (4) nominees back to Governor Scott's office.

FLORIDA CONSTITUTION

Vacancies
(a) Whenever a vacancy occurs in a judicial office to which election for retention applies, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointing for a term ending on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the year following the next general election occurring at least one year after the date of appointment, one of not fewer than three persons nor more than six persons nominated by the appropriate judicial nominating commission.

(b) The governor shall fill each vacancy on a circuit court or on a county court, wherein the judges are elected by a majority vote of the electors, by appointing for a term ending on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of the year following the next primary and general election occurring at least one year after the date of appointment, one of not fewer than three persons nor more than six persons nominated by the appropriate judicial nominating commission. An election shall be held to fill that judicial office for the term of the office beginning at the end of the appointed term.

(c) The nominations shall be made within thirty days from the occurrence of a vacancy unless the period is extended by the governor for a time not to exceed thirty days. The governor shall make the appointment within sixty days after the nominations have been certified to the governor.

(d) There shall be a separate judicial nominating commission as provided by general law for the supreme court, each district court of appeal, and each judicial circuit for all trial courts within the circuit. Uniform rules of procedure shall be established by the judicial nominating commissions at each level of the court system. Such rules, or any part thereof, may be repealed by general law enacted by a majority vote of the membership of each house of the legislature, or by the supreme court, five justices concurring. Except for deliberations of the judicial nominating commissions, the proceedings of the commissions and their records shall be open to the public.

A THANK YOU GOES OUT TO THE SEVENTH JNC

Any future information obtained will be posted for public review.

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If you found this article to be thought provoking, we (VolusiaExposed.Com) invite you to review, the below linked, Special Investigative Report, exposing law enforcement corruption with the State of Florida.

SARASOTA HERALD-TRIBUNE'S
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE SERIES ON LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRUPTION

by Matthew Doig and Anthony Cormier

Additional concerns surrounding the
Volusia County Sheriff's Department

We look forward to your comments on this situation.
Drop us a line to let us know what you think.

EMAIL US

Sex Crimes
and
VCSO Press Releases

The VCSO issued a press release on the Stewart-Marchman molestation incident - but did not issue a press release of a jail rape - why not?

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DID A CONFLICT OF INTEREST
INFLUENCE THE JAIL'S
RAPE INVESTIGATION?

Assistant County Attorney, Nancye Jones handles many of the litigations coming out of the Volusia County jail.

Nancye Jones' husband, VCSO Major Robert Jones, supervises the deputies that investigate possible criminal violations within the county jail.

We have concerns that several criminal investigations have been possibly manipulated, in order to reduce the County of Volusia's civil liability.

Our concern includes this particular in-custody sexual battery investigation, and the below listed situations.

We invite you to review our concerns.

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The Failure of the FMJS Jail Inspection Process, Florida needs to return to the independent FAC 33-8 Inspection Process.