'Meritocracy and diversity' are key to judicial legitimacy.

The Florida Bar Board of Governors has unanimously approved the report and recommendations of the President's Special Task Force to Study Enhancement of Diversity in the Judiciary and the Judicial Nominating Commissions. The report presents 10 recommendations to increase diversity among JNC members and appointed judges.

The report, recommendations, and appendices are posted on the Bar's website at www.floridabar.org.

President Eugene Pettis said the 11-member task force was comprised of people committed to ensure that improvements are made without any consideration of partisanship, and that the members brought valuable perspectives and experience to the effort.

Pettis appointed the task force earlier this year after a review showed declining diversity both on the bench and the JNCs. Its members included representatives recommended by the Governor's Office, former judges, JNC members, and members of voluntary bar associations.

"It is now time for bold leadership to stay focused and advance this issue," Pettis said.

The first recommendation encourages Gov. Rick Scott to fill the 78 vacancies on JNCs next month with diverse appointments. The second recommendation calls for the Bar to work with the governor to let JNC appointees know that diversity matters. Additionally, the report urges the governor not to reject slates of nominees the Bar recommends from its rigorous review and selection process.

Since the JNC process was changed in 2001 giving the governor more control of appointments, Scott is the first governor to reject the nominees provided by the Bar, which he has done 18 times. The statute governing JNC appointments does not require him to give a reason.

Frank Scruggs, task force chair, who previously chaired a Supreme Court study commission on racial and ethnic bias in 1990, presented the report and recommendations to the board on May 23 in St. Augustine.

"The theme of this report is expressed simply. It is that meritocracy and diversity are twins. The legitimacy of the judicial system is founded both on meritocracy and diversity," Scruggs said.

Of the upcoming 78 JNC appointments, he said, "This is not a time for incrementalism, for a minor adjustment. This is a time to signal a clear break from the past with a dramatic and substantial honoring of the statute [governing JNC appointments] and the process by which The Florida Bar has forwarded the nominations.... Seize this golden opportunity and make substantial and dramatic numbers...