Jared Smith, the former Hillsborough County judge who was ousted by voters last year after a controversial ruling in an abortion case, is running for a Florida Supreme Court justice, according to a panel of nominations that will review applicants and make recommendations to the governor. Ron DeSantis.
The Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission announced Tuesday that it will interview Smith, now an appeals court judge, and 14 other candidates on May 3. Also on the interview list are 6th District Court of Appeal Chief Judge Meredith Sasso and John Stargel, another appeal. court judge Stargel is a former state legislator and the husband of former state senator Kelli Stargel.
The contenders are jockeying to replace Judge Ricky Polston, who announced in March that he would step down, giving DeSantis another vacancy to fill as he reshapes the state’s highest court.
Smith lost her county court seat in the August 2022 election after an unusually contentious race in which abortion was a key issue. The controversy arose from a case in which Smith denied a judicial waiver to a 17-year-old girl for having an abortion without her parents’ consent, concluding that she did not demonstrate the maturity, intelligence and other necessary qualities to make the decision. An appeals court overturned Smith’s decision, saying he abused his judicial discretion.
But Smith was not long off the bench. In December, Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed Smith to the newly created 6th District Court of Appeals, based in Lakeland.
Jared Smith, former Hillsborough County Circuit Court Judge. [ Courtesy of Jared Smith ]
Later this year, the Florida Supreme Court is expected to hear arguments in a lawsuit over the state’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case is expected to prompt the court to reevaluate, and possibly reverse, its own precedent that previously barred most state restrictions on abortion.
When applications opened for the Supreme Court vacancy created by Polston, only three candidates initially filed. On April 4, the commission announced that it was extending the deadline.
Judge Stargel was on the appeals court that heard the challenge to Smith’s decision in the abortion case. He was the only judge to dissent from overturning Smith’s decision.
Another 6th District Court of Appeals judge, Joshua Mize, filed a request, as did Thomas McHugh, chief judge of the 20th Judicial Circuit, and Judge Bruce Kyle, who also serves on the Fort Circuit Myers. Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Thomas Palermo and 9th Judicial Circuit Judge Tarlika Nunez-Navarro also appeared.
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Other nominees include Roger Gannam, assistant vice president of legal affairs at Liberty Counsel; Derek J. Angell, an Orlando attorney with the Roper, PA firm; Victoria J. Avalon, appellate and civil litigation director for the 10th Judicial Circuit; Woody Robert Clermont, Assistant City Attorney of Miami Beach; Autumn M. Miller, Assistant Regional Counsel in Panama City for the Civil and Disputes Regional Council, 1st Circuit; Bryan Edward Sarabia, Assistant Solicitor for the 6th Judicial Circuit; and Spring Hill attorney Scott Toner.
After this next appointment, five of the seven Florida Supreme Court justices will have been chosen by DeSantis.
Polston, who was considered a reliable conservative on most issues, is now the general counsel of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp.
Information from the Florida News Service was included in this report.
