Restore Justice 2012

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Comment by Don Forward on September 24, 2012 at 12:30pm

This is really good news in the Miami Harold:
"In surprise move, Florida GOP opposes Supreme Court justices’ retention in November"
 
"In a unanimous vote of its board, the Florida Republican Party took the unprecedented move Friday of opposing three Supreme Court justices because of a nine-year-old ruling in a murder case.
BY MARY ELLEN KLAS
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
TALLAHASSEE -- The Republican Party of Florida waded into a traditionally apolitical fight Friday, announcing it will oppose the retention of three state Supreme Court justices on the November ballot.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/21/3014793/in-surprise-move-flor...

Comment by Don Forward on September 19, 2012 at 2:37pm

Op-Ed: What makes a good judge?

 

     When I started this effort to educate voters on the records of Supreme Court Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis, I had one underlying assumption: educating voters so they can make informed decisions on Election Day is a good thing.

 

     That concept is so basic I didn't think anyone could argue with it, as the defenders of the Justices are now doing. So I wrote an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel to lay out the Justices' r... and why it matters.

 

     We're reaching a point in the campaign when most voters are just beginning to think about Election Day. The vast majority of Floridians have not been following the campaigns closely and will only start their research in remaining weeks before November 6th.

 

     As the merit retention vote draws near, many of your friends and neighbors are going to be asking themselves, "what makes a good judge?" How would you answer them?

 

     My answer is simple: you have to look at their records. The op-ed in the Sentinel makes this point, and lays out their records succinctly and clearly.

 

     This article is designed to help the average voter who is just beginning to think about Election Day.It's a tool that you can use to share with your friends and encourage everyone you know look at the how the decisions made by Pariente, Quince and Lewis have affected health care, property rights, the right to vote, criminal justice, education and frivolous lawsuits.

 

     Please share this op-ed with your friends to help them know how to think about the upcoming vote on the Justices. Also give them this Score Card so they can learn about some of their decisions in more detail.

 

     Also, if you are able, donate $10, $25, $50 or more to help me meet my go.... Think about it--you could help introduce 100,000 people to Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis for the first time.

 

     Can I count on you?

 

--

Jesse Phillips

President

Restore Justice, Inc.

 

Comment by Don Forward on August 25, 2012 at 9:05pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JcDMgSv6T4&feature=youtube_gdat...

Comment by Don Forward on August 9, 2012 at 10:12am

Well, there you have it. Just like that a Judge in Leon County ruled that as citizens, we do not have legal standing to challenge whether a justice to the Supreme Court properly qualified for the ballot.

Jesse Phillips

President

Seriously? We have NO LEGAL RIGHT to challenge Supreme Court Justices.

            We are disappointed to learn that a circuit court judge threw out a case and denied two Floridians their right to verify that Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis had properly qualified to be on November's ballot. While opinions vary as to whether the Justices committed a misdemeanor in filing their campaign documents, sweeping the issue under the rug has undoubtedly shaken the public trust in our high court.

 

            The legal community has raised an unprecedented one million dollars to discredit anyone engaging in open dialog about the decisions and actions of Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis. Today Judge Lewis inexplicably told two citizens that they did not have the right to even challenge whether a public official followed the law in filing campaign documents.

 

            Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the law has been skirted in effort to circle the wagons and protect the aspiring Justice's political campaigns:

• A Democrat State Attorney acknowledged that the law may have been broken, but excused it by saying "the law does not concern itself with trifles."

• Freedom Of Information Act requests were apparently stonewalled by the court, denying Floridians our right to transparent government.

• The Court Marshal allegedly blocked witnesses from being served subpoenas, violating state law in order to protect the Justices campaigns.

            Battening down the hatches is not the pattern of behavior we expect from transparent government officials with nothing to hide. There is nothing to be lost by allowing the Justices to be vindicated and exonerated from wrongdoing through the public testimony of witnesses in court. Now voters cannot have such assurance that Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis properly qualified for November's ballot.

 

            There is nothing more fundamental to democracy than the voter's confidence in a fair and accurate ballot.  And yet the court has a long history of meddling in the democratic process and tampering with this cherished right:

• In 2000, the US Supreme Court found that the Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis violated the 14th Amendment and devalued each voter's ballot by arbitrarily re-writing election laws to favor one party over another.

• In 2010, Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis again disenfranchised every voter in Florida by denying the Constitutional right to vote on ballot questions, again devaluing each ballot cast.

• Today the court again devalued the ballot by undermining the public trust in three candidate's qualifications. How can we be confident that the ballots we cast in November are legitimate when the court prematurely cancelled the process that would have proven it? 

            Democracy is at stake in this election, and Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis have repeatedly undermined it by disenfranchising voters and devaluing our ballot. Although the court's pattern of judicial activism makes this turn of events unsurprising, it does nonetheless cast a shadow of doubt over the legitimacy of Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis' candidacies.

 

Comment by Don Forward on July 27, 2012 at 8:52am

Update on the case to remove the three activist judges from the ballot.

HEARING SET ON SUPREME COURT ELECTION CASE
A Leon County judge is set to hear arguments on Aug. 8 about whether a lawsuit looking to toss three Supreme Court justices from the ballot should go forward, reports the News Service of Florida. Circuit Judge Terry Lewis has ordered the hearing to consider a motion to dismiss the case by lawyers for Justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and Fred Lewis, who is not related to Terry Lewis. The judge will also hear arguments on the three justices' attempts to block the Southeastern Legal Foundation, the conservative group that filed the lawsuit, from carrying out 22 depositions. The case revolves around whether the justices broke the law by having court employees notarize some of their qualifying papers.
Reprinted from: http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=ew7fl7cab&v=...

Comment by Don Forward on June 12, 2012 at 6:50am

Blog from RedState on 12 June:
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/06/12/remember-the-democrat-just...

Pretty much everyone except the most hard charging partisans have finally conceded that, despite the United States Supreme Court’s involvement in Bush v. Gore, George Bush did win Florida by just over 500 votes in 2000. In fact, in a nonpartisan media backed recount effort, George Bush would have won by every standard demanded, including Al Gore’s standard, except ironically George Bush’s preferred standard.

While everyone largely now accepts that George Bush won Florida, Democrats still hold hard hearts toward the supposed partisan hacks on the United States Supreme Court. They choose to ignore the even more clearly partisan Justices of the Florida Supreme Court who became, during their hearings in the recount matter, national embarrassments.

Three of the Justices, Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis, and Peggy Quince are back in the news for, yet again, being an embarrassment. Their high handedness from the 2000 election seems to have continued.

According to Florida Today the three Justices seemed to think they were immune to the laws of Florida and did not have to qualify for re-election.

The three justices nearly missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in April. The seven-member court abruptly put a hearing on hold for more than an hour to allow the justices to finish their paperwork and turn it in to state elections officials with just minutes to spare.

Rep. Scott Plakon, a Longwood Republican, wrote a letter to Gov. Rick Scott alleging that Justices Barbara Pariente, R. Fred Lewis and Peggy Quince violated the law by using court employees to notarize their paperwork for this year’s vote. Violations are a misdemeanor.

Maybe Florida voters should consider sending these three out to the pasture and spare the state further embarrassment.

Comment by Don Forward on May 23, 2012 at 5:21pm

Supreme Court Justices fail merit retention straw poll

A straw poll taken at a Hillsborough GOP event asked whether Florida Supreme Court Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis should be retained. All three Justices failed to garner the requisite 50% needed to stay in office. The results are as follows:

Justice Yes No
Lewis 34% 66%
Quince 28% 72%
Pariente 27% 73%

 This poll shows a healthy dissatisfaction with the rulings of Florida's Supreme Court Justices. Although no Justice has ever failed retention in Florida, a growing number of voters are researching the decisions of three Justices who have each presided on a court some analysts describe as one of the most activist in the nation.
Campaign Trail Update (April & May)


Restore Justice just completed its first sweep of the state. Our informational tour engaged with voters in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and Coral Springs. We discussed the merit retention system and the importance of responsible research into the records of the Justices up for retention this November. At each stop along the way concerned citizens joined what is quickly becoming one of the most energetic state-wide grassroots campaigns this election cycle. 

We also held our first Statewide Conference call with 800+ supporters and released our first video. The Justices made headlines by setting fundraising records and then almost disqualifying themselves by missing the filing deadline, raising legal questions as to whether they violated state law. 

In June campaign stops are planned for Volusia, Seminole and Martin counties. Details will be posted on the campaign calendar.

Comment by Don Forward on May 22, 2012 at 9:29am

Here are the results from a Hillsborough GOP straw poll…

Link here: http://www.restorejustice2012.com/2012/05/pariente-quince-lewis-str...

Supreme Court justices fail merit retention straw poll

A straw poll taken at a Hillsborough GOP event asked whether Florida Supreme Court Justices Pariente, Quince and Lewis should be retained. All three Justices failed to garner the requisite 50% needed to stay in office. The results are as follows:

(Results rounded to nearest percentage point)

Justice Yes No
Lewis 34% 66%
Quince 28% 72%
Pariente 27% 73%
This poll shows a healthy dissatisfaction with the rulings of Florida’s Supreme Court Justices. Although no Justice has ever failed retention in Florida, a growing number of voters are researching the decisions of three Justices who have each presided on a court some analysts describe as one of the most activist in the nation.



Jesse Phillips (President, Restore Justice) speaking to supporters in Broward County on May 19th, 2012
Restore Justice just completed its first sweep of the state. Our informational tour engaged with voters in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and Coral Springs. We discussed the merit retention system and the importance of responsible research into the records of the Justices up for retention this November. At each stop along the way concerned citizens joined what is quickly becoming one of the most energetic state-wide grassroots campaigns this election cycle.

We also held our first Statewide Conference call with 800+ supporters andreleased our first video. The Justices made headlines by setting fundraising records and then almost disqualifying themselves by missing the filing deadline, raising legal questions as to whether they violated state law.

In June campaign stops are planned for Volusia, Seminole and Martin counties. Details will be posted on the campaign