Commission studies how many justices are enough.

Expanding the Florida Supreme Court from seven to nine members might help with writing opinions but probably would delay decisions as well as be more expensive, according to the chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court.

Chief Justice Richard P. Guy spoke by telephone to the November 17 meeting of the legislature's Supreme Court Workload Study Commission. The commission also heard from First District Court of Appeal Judge Marguerite Davis on the history of the Supreme Court's jurisdiction and from the chair of The Florida Bar's Appellate Practice Certification Committee.

Members also discussed a report on the court's caseload and about beginning to make recommendations at their next meeting, tentatively set for January.

"The advantage to having nine [justices] is if you have a large caseload, you can distribute the workload, and so perhaps it is done more quickly," Guy said. "From a purely administrative standpoint, it takes longer to get cases out the more judges you have," because it's harder to get the increased number of judges to agree on an opinion.

He noted he's sat pro tem on a three-judge intermediate court of appeal panel, and it was much easier and faster to get consensus.

Commission Chair Stephen Grimes, a former Florida Supreme Court justice, asked Guy if he would recommend a nine-or seven-justice court for Florida.

"If you're talking about from an administrative standpoint, I would stay at seven," he replied. "It's a lot easier to work together collegially."

Guy touched on several other issues, including death penalty cases. He prompted chuckles when he said Washington has 13 people on death row. Commissioners were told at their last meeting that Florida has more than 370 death row inmates, and handling their cases takes 30 to 40 percent of the Florida Supreme Court's time.

"We'll trade you," Grimes dryly told Guy.

While complex, Guy said, death appeals, both direct and collateral, don't take up an inordinate amount of the court's time, and it handles an average of six such appeals a year. He also said the average time to handle a direct appeal is a year and about six months for a collateral appeal. Guy noted that if the justices don't handle an appeal within a year, they are required to explain why to the governor's office. In the report presented to the commission, statistics showed the typical direct appeal takes about two years and nine months in Florida, and the average collateral appeal takes about 18 months.

In...