Charles T. Canady

Charles Canady
Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
Assumed office
September 8, 2008
Preceded by Raoul Cantero
Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
In office
July 1, 2010  June 30, 2012
Preceded by Peggy Quince
Succeeded by Ricky Polston
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 12th district
In office
January 3, 1993  January 3, 2001
Preceded by Tom Lewis
Succeeded by Adam Putnam
Personal details
Born Charles Terrance Canady
(1954-06-22) June 22, 1954
Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
Political party Democratic (Before 1989)
Republican (1989–present)
Alma mater Haverford College (BA)
Yale University (JD)
Website Official website

Charles Terrance Canady (born June 22, 1954) is a Justice of the Supreme Court of Florida[1] having previously served as Chief Justice from July 1, 2010 until June 30, 2012. Canady has been a Justice on the court since taking his seat in 2008. He was a judge on the Florida Second District Court of Appeal from 2002 to 2008 and a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1993 to 2001.

Life and career

Born in Lakeland, Florida, Canady graduated with a B.A. from Haverford College in 1976 and a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1979. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began his practice in Lakeland. In 1983, he was hired as the legal counsel for the Central Florida Regional Planning Commission. From 1984 to 1990, Canady served as a member of the Florida House of Representatives, initially elected as a conservative Democrat, he switched parties in June 1989. The change created many hard feelings as it happened after he accepted Democratic money for his re-election campaign. He ran for the Florida State Senate in 1990, but was unsuccessful.

In 1992, Canady made a successful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, narrowly defeating his Democratic opponent Tom Mims. In Congress, Canady was credited for coining the term "partial-birth abortion" while developing the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995.[2][3] According to Keri Folmar, the lawyer responsible for the bill's language, the term was developed in early 1995 in a meeting among herself, Canady and National Right to Life Committee lobbyist Douglas Johnson.[4] Canady could not find this particular abortion practice named in any medical textbook and therefore he and his aides named it.[5] He was one of the managers appointed to conduct the impeachment proceedings of President Bill Clinton. He did not seek re-election to a fifth term in 2000, keeping a term limits pledge he made in 1992.

After leaving Congress, Canady served as general counsel for Florida Governor Jeb Bush before he was appointed a judge on the Second Florida District Court of Appeal in 2002, taking seat in November of that year. On August 27, 2008, Governor Charlie Crist appointed Canady to the Supreme Court of Florida to replace Justice Raoul Cantero, who was returning to private practice. He became the 82nd Associate Justice of the Florida Supreme Court on September 6, 2008.[6]

In 2013, Governor Rick Scott signed the Timely Justice Act (HB 7101)[7] which overhauled the processes for capital punishment;[8] the United States Supreme Court struck down part of this law in January 2016 in Hurst v. Florida,[9][10] leading the Florida legislature to pass a new statute.[11] The new sentencing scheme came before the Florida Supreme Court in October 2016, which held that a death sentence must be issued by a unanimous jury.[12] Canady was one of two justices to dissent from this opinion, with coverage noting his inclusion amongst Donald Trump's list of potential US Supreme Court nominees[13] which was released less than a month earlier.[14]

References

  1. "Chronology of the Chief Justices of Florida" (PDF). The Office of Public Information, State of Florida. 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2010-11-15.
  2. Gordon, Alex. "The Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003". Harvard Journal on Legislation. Volume 41, Number 2, Summer 2004. (see footnote 15)
  3. H.R.1833. To amend title 18, United States Code, to ban partial-birth abortions.
  4. Gorney, Cynthia. Gambling With Abortion. Harper's Magazine, November 2004.
  5. Simon, Adam. "Elite Discourse, Programming and Survey Response in the Partial Birth Abortion Debate" (March 2003).
  6. "Justice Charles Canady: Starting a New Career" The Ledger, September 7, 2008.
  7. "HB 7101". Flsenate.gov. Florida State Senate. Retrieved March 15, 2016.
  8. Klas, Mary Ellen (June 14, 2016). "Gov. Rick Scott signs bill to speed up executions in Florida". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  9. Liptak, Adam (January 12, 2016). "Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Florida Death Penalty". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  10. Alvarez, Lizette (February 2, 2016). "Supreme Court Ruling Has Florida Scrambling to Fix Death Penalty Law". The New York Times. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  11. Berman, Mark (March 7, 2016). "Florida death penalty officially revamped after Supreme Court struck it down". Washington Post. Retrieved August 3, 2016.
  12. Klas, Mary Ellen; Ovalle, David (October 14, 2016). "Court again tosses state death penalty; ruling raises bar on capital punishment". Miami Herald. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  13. Farias, Cristian (October 25, 2016). "Florida's Death Penalty Law Is Ruled Unconstitutional Again". Huffington Post. Retrieved October 15, 2016.
  14. Flores, Reena (September 23, 2016). "Donald Trump will expand list of possible Supreme Court picks". CBS News. Retrieved September 23, 2016 via MSN.
United States House of Representatives
Preceded by
Tom Lewis
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Florida's 12th congressional district

1993–2001
Succeeded by
Adam Putnam
Legal offices
Preceded by
Raoul Cantero
Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
2008–present
Incumbent
Preceded by
Peggy Quince
Chief Justice of the Florida Supreme Court
2010–2012
Succeeded by
Ricky Polston
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