Saturday, November 19, 2016

PICKING FLORIDA SUPREME COURT JUSTICE IN LOBBYIST OFFICE? UNSEEMLY.

In the immortal words of the late Secretary of State and Secretary of War Elihu Root to his corporate clients, "You're damned fools and you should stop."

UPDATE:  I wrote Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission Chair JASON UNGER on Saturday morning, November 19, 2016:


-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: Jason.Unger
Cc: richard.corcoran ; scottopengov ; pat.gleason ; judgelitt10 ; yttapatty ; nildapedrosa ; cynthiagangelos ; karlinskyf ; dnordby ; jpanuccio ; ireyes ; jeanne smaxwell
Sent: Sat, Nov 19, 2016 9:35 am
Subject: Re: Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission meeting in office of corporate law firm, GrayRobinson; Open Records request

Dear Chairman Unger:
1. Please respond to my questions about your scheduling the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission meeting at GrayRobinson offices.  
2. GrayRobinson is a 300 lawyer corporate law firm that represents government contractors, various seekers of government favors and alleged polluters, fraudfeasors, oligopolists, white collar criminals and other influential special interests who dominate our government.
3. Picking the next Florida Supreme Court Justice in a meeting in your Orlando GrayRobinson law firm office shows very poor judgment. Your venue selection is, at best, unseemly.  Can you imagine how your six Supreme Court Justice recommendations to Governor Scott might be viewed by all of the people who are plaintiffs or defendants in cases where GrayRobinson represents a party?  Put yourself in their shoes. Show transparency, please.  Show empathy, respect and consideration for the majority of the people in the State of Florida, who are not rich, powerful or corporate officers.
4. As our Florida House of Representatives Speaker-elect Richard Corcoran has said, it is a "disgrace" that Florida city and county governments hire lobbyists in Florida, or to feel that they are obliged to hire a bagman-fundraiser-lobbyist-bundler to be heard by our legislators in Tallahassee.  
5. You, sir, are the Managing Shareholder of GrayRobinson and are the registered lobbyist for at least three (3) Florida city governments and numerous special interests, including liquor and tobacco companies.
6. For a lobbyist to chair the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission is bad enough, but holding the JNC meeting in your own GrayRobinson law firm office is a stench in the nostrils of our Nation.  It is freighted with the odor of special interest domination of the judicial selection process for the next Justice of our Florida Supreme Court.
7. Why did the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission ever even think of scheduling the meeting for a corporate law firm office instead of a public building, like a Courthouse?  
8. Who authorized it in the Governor's office?  Anyone?  Please provide documents.
9. Who suggested it on the Florida Judicial Nominating Commission?  Was it you?  Was there a vote to pick the venue, or did you decide unilaterally?  Please provide all documents on the selection of your chosen venue, which is, at best, an appearance of impropriety.
10. Will you and the other members of the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission kindly agree to relocate the November 28, 2016 meeting of the Commission to an actual Courthouse or other suitable government building, regardless of your assertions about alleged "logistics?   
Please call me to discuss.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998

1 comment:

Warren Celli said...

Comment repeated from below post on JASON UNGER...

From sell out Pam Trump Bondi's web site; "Open Government - Frequently Asked Questions":

http://myfloridalegal.com/pages.nsf/Main/321B47083D80C4CD8525791B006A54E3

• What is the difference between the Sunshine Amendment and the Sunshine Law?
The Sunshine Amendment was added to Florida's Constitution in 1976 and provides for full and public disclosure of the financial interests of all public officers, candidates and employees. The Sunshine Law provides for open meetings for governmental boards.

We need pictures of ALL of these turkeys; financial disclosure and financial interests...

This is the crooked piggy rich hammering on the rest of us!