Florida Supreme Court allows judicial candidates to declare political ideology

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Opinion

The Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for judicial candidates across the state to openly declare their political ideology — as long as they don’t disclose their party affiliation.

The high court’s decision was tucked in a ruling over how to penalize a St. Johns County judge who told potential voters in a 2022 campaign voicemail that she was a conservative. Judicial races are supposed to be nonpartisan, but the high court ruled her statement was ethically permissible.

“To describe oneself as a ‘conservative’ does not signal bias, pro or con, toward anyone or on any issue,” the justices ruled, overriding the findings of the Judicial Qualifications and the admission of the judge facing discipling, County Court Judge Casey L. Woolsey.

Judges have been publicly scolded for even admitting their political party registration in response to questions from the media. But Woolsey never said she was a Republican. “The statement ‘I am a conservative’ is not partisan, either inherently or, as the JQC believed, when made during an election campaign in a predominantly Republican community,” the court ruled.

“Our judicial code does not prohibit a candidate from discussing his or her philosophical beliefs,” the justices wrote, citing an earlier decision.

In South Florida, lawyers and legal experts called the ruling “bizarre” and predicted it would usher in an era of nakedly partisan judicial campaigns.