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Judges Meredith Sasso and Renatha Francis are in line for retention

Supreme Court Justices Meredith Sasso and Renatha Francis are on the retention ballot in Florida.

Voters in Volusia and Flagler counties, as well as the rest of the state, will have a chance this election to give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to some of the state's top judges.

Two Florida Supreme Court justices are on the retention ballot. One of those is Judge Meredith Sasso, who some local jurists may remember from her service on the 5thTh District Court of Appeals in Daytona Beach.

The other is Judge Renatha Francis, who served in Palm Beach County before being appointed to the state Supreme Court.

Supreme Court justices decide death penalty appeals. They also oversee the administration of Florida's court system and sanction lawyers and judges who violate professional rules. Judges also hear appeals from appellate court decisions.

What is performance conservation?

So what is performance conservation? That is, if you vote “yes,” you want the judge to remain on the court for another six years, but if you vote “no,” you want the judge no longer on the court. In other words, you can vote out the judiciary. But you can't elect a judge.

The merit protection system is also applied to judges of district courts of appeal. Seven 5th District Court of Appeal judges are on the retention ballot in parts of the state.

Who is Judge Meredith Sasso?

Governor Ron DeSantis appointed Sasso to the Florida Supreme Court on May 23, 2023. Rick Scott appointed her to the 5th District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach in January 2019. Sasso was later reappointed to the newly created 6th District Court of Appeals by DeSantis on January 1, 2023, before being appointed to the state Supreme Court.

Sasso grew up in Tallahassee and received her law degree from the University of Florida. During her legal career, she worked in private practice and represented clients in complex commercial cases and other legal matters. She served as a guardian ad litem and represented children in cases of abuse or neglect. She also worked in Scott's Office of General Counsel. She is a member of the Federalist Society.

Who is Judge Renatha Francis?

Francis was appointed by Gov. Rick Scott to serve as circuit and district court judge in Miami-Dade's 11th Judicial District from 2017 to 2019. She was later appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to the 15th Judicial Circuit Court in Palm Beach County. On the bench, she “presided over numerous trials and resolved hundreds of cases in family, civil, probate and criminal law,” according to the Florida Supreme Court website. DeSantis appointed her to the Florida Supreme Court in August 2022.

DeSantis originally chose Francis to fill another Supreme Court vacancy in 2020, but the court rejected his choice because she did not have 10 years of experience as a lawyer at the time, a requirement for the job.

“Judge Francis is the first Jamaican-American to serve on the Florida Supreme Court,” the court’s website states.

Previous decisions

To see how Francis and Sasso decided cases, visit the Opinions page on the Florida Supreme Court website. Important decisions can also be viewed on the Florida Bar website.

Do judges or judges campaign or explain their positions?

No. Canon 7 of the Florida Code of Judicial Conduct prohibits judges and judges from discussing how they would decide future cases.

So how would a new justice be chosen?

If voters do not vote to keep a judge on the court, a Judicial Nominating Commission accepts applications, conducts interviews and then submits the names of three to six finalists to the governor, who then appoints a new judge.

USAToday reporter CA Bridges contributed to this report.

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