On November 6th, voters will decide whether to keep three justices on the Florida Supreme Court. It's turning into a battle over dueling versions of an independent judiciary.
The Orlando-based group Restore Justice is working to get Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente, and Peggy Quince off the high court.
It's put out a "score card" flunking the trio for rulings on school vouchers, tort reform, and the new federal health care overhaul.
On Tuesday a bipartisan group of defenders responded. They included former Miami legislator Alex Villalobos, former American Bar Association president Sandy D'Alemberte, former state Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero, and former Orlando lawmaker Dick Batchelor.
Batchelor called the Restore Justice campaign an effort to undermine the judiciary.
"People do not, I think, want to depend on the executive fiat of the executive branch of government,” said Batchelor. “To me, watching the legislative process over the years, a lot of their actions have simply miniaturized the influence of the individual over the moneyed interests, so it's very hard for somebody to get to those two branches of government and have their cases heard, unlike it is for the court."
Florida's GOP lawmakers have been unhappy with the state Supreme Court. Outgoing House Speaker Dean Cannon last year backed a constitutional amendment to divide the high court, including giving the governor the authority to appoint all judges.