Gov. Ron DeSantis worked with Leonard Leo to flip Florida Supreme Court
John,
Ron DeSantis worked with Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society, whose dark money network helped put into place the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, to help him similarly transform the Florida Supreme Court.
Leo quietly vetted judicial nominees in an Orlando conference room three weeks before the governor’s inauguration, and within just two weeks of his inauguration, DeSantis appointed three new justices – vetted and picked by Leo – flipping the court to a conservative majority.
CREW reported last December that Leo’s dark money network was valued at more than $1 billion and was diving into culture war battles and leading efforts to remake federal elections. This story in Florida is another example of Leo’s influence.
Leonard Leo has not been elected by voters — but he has a massive network of secretive dark money groups to help influence policy and the judicial system. In Ron DeSantis, he also has a powerful ally, who reportedly defers to him on judicial nominations. Unelected operatives like Leonard Leo should not have this kind of power in our elections or our judiciary.
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Back to Ron DeSantis and the panel he relied on to reshape Florida’s Supreme Court:
“So what I do is I convene a group of people that I trust — some people in Florida, some people outside of the state who you would know, who I’m not going to say, because you know, it’s private.”
– Ron DeSantis
John, Ron DeSantis let Leonard Leo choose who would be on Florida’s Supreme Court.
Since then, DeSantis has been able to pass his own political agenda: The court let him erase a congressional district with a large Black electorate. It opened the door to a law making it easier to impose the death penalty. Now, it’s poised to rule on the governor’s plan to outlaw most abortions in the third-most-populous state.
We’re fighting to bring transparency to our elections and to keep the government accountable to the people, rather than shadowy, deep-pocketed interests.
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