Bush Gang May Appoint Terrorist to Fla Supreme Ct Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit [The Miami Herald Story referred to follows Jane Franklin's note]. On June 8, 2002, The Miami Herald reported that Raoul G. Cantero III, grandson of former dictator Fulgencio Batista, is one of five men being considered by Jeb Bush as a Florida Supreme Court justice. One might think we should not judge him on the basis of his grandfather's politics, but unfortunately there is more: Raoul Cantero III was one of the lawyers for Orlando Bosch in 1989 when there was a campaign to get Bosch, a terrorist even in the annals of the FBI and CIA, released from jail. That campaign succeeded. siempre, Jane Franklin * The Miami Herald - June 8, 2002 http://www.miami.com Exiles' son among five on high court shortlist by Peter Wallsten TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush will pick Florida's next Supreme Court justice from a list of five nominees that includes two conservative and two moderate judges and a young Cuban-American attorney. A nominating commission of nine lawyers and lay people sent the list Friday to Bush, who now gets to make his first appointment of a justice to the court with the final say on civil and criminal cases in Florida, from abortion to the death penalty, family law and utility regulation. The new justice will replace Major Harding, considered a moderate, who is retiring in August. Bush has 60 days to make the appointment. The nominations present "a real choice to the governor," said Miami lawyer Andrew Grigsby, the Republican chairman of the Judicial Nominating Commission that spent two days interviewing 21 applicants and winnowing the list to five. "Now he can sit down with each one of them and decide for himself." The list was notable for who was not included. Of three women who applied, none made the cut. And former U.S. Attorney Kenneth Sukhia, whose 2001 nomination to the federal bench by President Bush has been stalled by opposition from congressional Democrats wary of his conservative politics, won't be an option for Gov. Bush. Special interest groups and ethnic activists will be watching Bush's choice closely. The current court, which has no Hispanic justices, is considered politically centrist. Six of the seven members were appointed by Democratic Gov. Lawton Chiles. Business lobbyists and conservatives view the court as too liberal and are pushing Bush to name a conservative justice. Bush, who attended Harding's retirement ceremony Friday, told reporters that when it comes to appointing judges at any level he seeks people "who have a judicious temperament, that work hard, that represent the diversity of the state." He said he would not ask any nominees about politics or specific rulings. INTERVIEWS NEXT Bush said his general counsel, former U.S. Rep. Charles Canady, himself a friend of religious conservatives, would select a team to interview the nominees within the next month. The five finalists are: o Second District Court of Appeal Judge Chris W. Altenbernd, 53, a moderate who was a finalist for a previous high court vacancy; o Pensacola Circuit Court Judge Kenneth B. Bell, 46, a charismatic, conservative former real estate lawyer who set a precedent by soliciting public support for his candidacy on a website; o Miami corporate lawyer Raoul G. Cantero III, 41, son of Cuban exiles, grandson of former dictator Fulgencio Batista and Harvard law graduate who rose fast in his firm and now heads the appeals division; o First District Court of Appeal Judge Philip J. Padovano of Tallahassee, 55, an affable moderate who once represented murder defendants and Death Row inmates; o First District Court of Appeal Judge Peter D. Webster of Tallahassee, 53, a stern, conservative jurist who voted in 2000 to uphold Bush's school voucher program. REELECTION IN SIGHT Given the widespread speculation that Bush might lean toward appointing the high court's first Hispanic justice -- a move that could give the governor's reelection campaign a boost with a key voting bloc -- Cantero could emerge as a front-runner. Bush said Friday that looking for a Hispanic justice is not his only criteria, but, "It's one of the many qualities we'll look at." Cantero declined Friday to speculate about whether his Cuban roots make him a leading choice. During his nominating commission interview this week, Cantero faced questions about whether his youth made him ill-suited for such a coveted post. "Age is not a factor," said Cantero. "Age is only an imperfect indicator of experience." UNAFFILIATED Cantero lists no party affiliation, but was named by Bush in 2000 to be a member of the judicial nominating commission for the 11th Circuit. He met Bush briefly when he interviewed in 2000 to be the governor's general counsel. Meanwhile, Altenbernd and Padovano may emerge as favorites of moderates and liberals. Altenbernd was a finalist in 1999 when Bush, then governor-elect, and Chiles cooperated in naming Quince, one of Altenbernd's appellate court colleagues. Altenbernd has won widespread praise from colleagues across the political spectrum, and told the nominating commission that he believes court opinions need to be written in a way the public can relate to. "In the end, appellate judges are just salesmen," he told interviewers. "We're selling justice to the public." Padovano, who as a lawyer worked pro bono representing Death Row inmates but does not oppose the death penalty, said Friday that his belief in "judicial restraint" should be appealing to Bush. "I'm not an activist in any way," he said. A CONSERVATIVE Webster, considered by legal experts to be a conservative, has handled some of the state's more politically charged issues. He wrote a 1994 opinion for a panel ruling that the First Amendment protected a person's right to burn a cross. During his interview, Webster was asked what he would do if he were forced to rule a law constitutional that he considered "immoral and repugnant to society." Without pause, he responded: "The only real choice you have is to resign your office." Bell's is the Cinderella story of the nominating process. A circuit judge from the western Panhandle and a registered Republican, he is known as a religious Christian and a fair-minded jurist. He told the nominating commission: "I believe in the fundamental values and teachings of the Bible but I am not a fundamentalist." Bell also took the unusual step of posting an extensive, political campaign-style website containing his court application, a biography and a handsome photo of the judge in his robes sitting on the bench. The site also includes a section called "How You May Help," listing names and phone numbers for members of the nominating commission and telling supporters that it is "wholly proper for you to contact any member" of the panel. Asked if he thinks the odds are stacked against him because he is not Hispanic, Bell said he should get a favorable look because the high court has no representative from west Florida. "Geography and other issues are more important than racial issues at this point." Herald staff writers Joni James and Lesley Clark contributed to this report. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytcari-06.13.02-07:24:48-3747