Politics

Rick Scott Foils Liberal Activists, Appoints Alan Forst to 4th District Court of Appeal

By: Eric Giunta | Posted: March 7, 2013 4:00 PM

Around the State

Gov. Rick Scott and Alan Forst

In a rebuke of liberal-justice activists, Gov. Rick Scott has appointed conservative jurist Alan Forst to the Florida 4th District Court of Appeal in West Palm Beach. Forst fills the seat vacated by retiring Judge Fred Hazouri, husband of Florida Supreme Court Justice Barbara Pariente.

Sunshine State News was made aware of the appointment by a high-ranking official in the state judicial system who would only speak on background. Scott is expected to announce the appointment today.

Forst did not return requests for comment.

As Sunshine State News reported this morning, Forst's candidacy had been opposed by the Palm Beach Post and by “Democracy at Stake,” a left-wing organization founded to support the retention campaign of Justices Pariente, Peggy Quince, and R. Fred Lewis. The Post and Democracy at Stake attacked Forst's credentials, saying he was unfit for the position because of his lack of trial court experience.

None of the three justices for whom Democracy at Stake campaigned had trial court experience before their appointment to an appeals court, and Lewis himself had no judicial experience at all before his appointment to the Supreme Court by Gov. Lawton Chiles in 1998.

More to come ...

Reach Eric Giunta at egiunta@sunshinestatenews.com or at (954) 235-9116.

Tags: activist judges, Alan Forst, Barbara Pariente, Democracy at Stake, Florida 4th District Court of Appeal, Florida Supreme Court, Fred Hazouri, Judicial Activism, Lawton Chiles, News, originalism, Palm Beach Post, Peggy Quince, R. Fred Lewis, Rick Scott, Politics

Comments (8)

María del S. Orantes, Opera & Zarzuela Foundation 2 vice

11:23AM MAR 9TH 2013

Our congratulations to our brother in law and to Governor Rick Scott for his asertiveness and long term view regarding this appointment, but more important, to the citizens of the state of Florida for having a judge with his professional qualifications and impartiality attributes.

Mary Geisler

11:45PM MAR 7TH 2013

I applaud you Gov. Scott. I have been so dismayed with our Justice System with all of the activists that are now sitting in various positions within our Courts. We voters have expressed our positions on matters at the polls only to see them overturned by these leftist activists and have discouraged many of us to participate in efforts to turn their agenda around to a Constitutional Government as it intended to be! Keep up the fight Governor and know that we have your back.

iVote

8:54PM MAR 8TH 2013

Please provide specific examples of judicial activism. We can't continue to make blanket assertions without seeming to be alarmist.

iVote

8:44PM MAR 7TH 2013

Thanks, but I am having trouble find what county Judge Forst served as a jurist. What court did he serve in and what was his record?

RepublicanConscience

7:28PM MAR 7TH 2013

Rick Scott's stock keeps going up. Keep up the good work Scott. Drive a stake through the hearts of liberalism, socialism, communism and the Democrat Party.

Joanne Walczak

7:06PM MAR 7TH 2013

Governor Scott Thank you for this appointment.Too bad for Florida liberals/progressives.There are too many already in Judgeships.

Repubtallygirl

5:41PM MAR 7TH 2013

Thank you Governor Scott for not pandering to the liberal leftists.

Zenobia Davis

5:38PM MAR 7TH 2013

Governor Scott did the right thing...We need more conservative judges.

Politics

Rick Scott Foils Liberal Activists, Appoints Alan Forst to 4th District Court of Appeal

Around the State

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