Scott initiates JNC process to replace retiring justices.

Gov. Rick Scott has called on the Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission to begin the process of selecting replacements for three retiring Supreme Court justices and said he expects to work with his successor to select the new justices.

The action has kicked off a new legal challenge to Scott's choosing the replacements for Justices Barbara Pariente, Fred Lewis, and Peggy Quince. Each has reached the constitutional retirement age for judges and their terms end in January.

As this News was going to press, the League of Women Voters had just filed a quo warranto petition against the governor and the Supreme Court JNC. (An updated version of this story is available online.)

The JNC is charged with selecting three to six finalists for each vacancy and forwarding those names to the governor.

Citing the governor's declared intent to pick the three new justices, the League of Women Voters and Common Cause last year sought a quo warranto ruling from the court declaring that Scott's successor is the one who gets to choose the new justices.

The court ultimately dismissed that petition as untimely without reaching the merits of the argument.

In his September 12 release, Scott said it was important to begin the appointment process, which involves background screening and interviews by the JNC, because it can take several months. His press release noted that, "Three vacancies on the Florida Supreme Court for such an extended period would place a burden on the remaining justices and would risk delays in the Court."

The release said that when a vacancy occurred in January 1999, at the end of then-Gov. Lawton Chiles' term, Chiles and incoming Gov. Jeb Bush cooperated and interviewed the JNC's nominees and agreed to appoint Quince to the court.

"Governor Scott intends to follow this precedent and will invite the governor-elect to conduct his own interviews of the nominees following the general election. The Governor's expectation is that he and the governor-elect--like Governor Chiles and then Governor-elect Bush--will agree on the selection of three justices who will serve with distinction," Scott's press release said. It also stated, "Governor Scott will not appoint any justice to the Florida Supreme Court until the governor-elect has had an opportunity to interview the nominees and review their references and...