Bush clarifies stand on JNC independence.

Gov. Jeb Bush wants to make it clear: He fully supports the independence of the judiciary and never supported or endorsed a plan to exclude or favor any judicial candidates applying to Florida's judicial nominating commissions.

He does, though, want to see more diversity in nominees from JNCs and supports efforts to attract a wider variety of candidates. Bush said all Floridians have an obligation to encourage qualified lawyers to apply for judgeships, and he intends to encourage citizens to do exactly that.

The Governor is making those points in an open letter to The Florida Bar's membership. Bush prepared the letter after conferring with Bar President Edith Osman. Osman approached the Governor's office after meeting with the Bar Executive Committee on a series of news articles over judicial appointments.

The articles and resulting editorials dealt with an e-mail from Deputy General Counsel Frank Jimenez to Bush in which Jimenez was quoted as suggesting setting up "regional panels" to encourage "ideologically compatible" people to apply to JNCs for judicial vacancies.

The stories produced a storm of editorials saying that politics should be kept out of the JNC process as much as possible and there should be no litmus tests for prospective judges.

Bush said that was never the idea and he had no intention of supporting any plan to do so.

"The idea was to have individuals be on the lookout for good judicial candidates and encourage them to apply to the JNCs. We never discussed imposing an ideological litmus test, prescreening candidates or in any way interfering with the decision-making process of the JNCs," said Jimenez. "The Governor wants all types of diversity on the bench, diversity in race, gender, geography and viewpoints. The Governor and his staff still believe that excellent lawyers should be sought out and encouraged to apply to the JNCs."

In his letter, Bush said competence, integrity and diversity would be the most important factors in weighing his judicial and other appointments. But, he added, "the people of Florida did not elect me to leave my values at the door when making appointments." When all else is equal, the Governor said he intends to appoint judges who share his belief in judicial restraint, limited government, a respect for the will of the people and full application of the criminal law.

Osman, who was barraged by phone calls, letters and personal inquiries from lawyers concerned about the JNC process, said she was heartened after meeting with Jimenez October 11 and having a lengthy telephone conference with Bush October 18.

Osman said she was extremely pleased with the Governor's willingness to discuss the subject with her.

"We had an open and forthright dialogue about the issues," she said. "I told the Governor that the Bar's greatest concern is that the independence of the...