DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, BOARD OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, A BODY CORPORATE AND POLITIC UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLANT,
v.
MICHIGAN MUTUAL LIABILITY COMPANY, A MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY ORGANIZED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, HARNETT, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, AND GEORGE INSURANCE AGENCY, INC., A FLORIDA CORPORATION, APPELLEES
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The Florida Supreme Court addressed a Justice's recusal request, which was based on a prior Attorney General opinion. The Court approved the Justice's decision to not recuse himself, emphasizing that prior professional opinions should not automatically disqualify a judge.
No, a Justice should not automatically recuse himself in such circumstances. The Court approved the Justice's declination to recuse.
“The suggestion is that during my term as Attorney General of the State of Florida I rendered an opinion pled by the appellees in the complaint on one of the points involved in this litigation.”
This quote explains the basis for the recusal suggestion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceThe appellant, Dade County Board of Public Instruction, suggested that Justice Ervin should recuse himself from the case. The basis for this suggestio…
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There has been filed in this cause a suggestion of recusal by the attorneys for appellant. The suggestion is that during my term as Attorney General of the State of Florida I rendered an opinion pled by the appellees in the complaint on one of the points involved in this litigation. During the fifteen years which I served as Attorney General of Florida I rendered several thousand opinions. Obviously my services on the Court as an incumbent Justice thereof would be greatly impaired if it were incumbent upon me to disqualify myself in cases where issues were raised concerning the same subjects on which I expressed opinions while Attorney General. Accordingly for these reasons I must, and do, decline to recuse myself. See Section 30-A Am.Jur., Judges, Sections 169 et seq., and 48 C.J.S. Judges §§ 82, 83, 89, pages 1062, 1063, 1068, 1069, 1076 and 1077.
The foregoing declination to recuse himself filed in this cause by Justice Ervin is hereby agreed to and approved.
It is so ordered.
DREW, C. J., and THOMAS, ROBERTS, THORNAL, O’CONNELL and CALDWELL, JJ., concur.
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Dep't OF Revenue of the State of Fla. v. Golder, 322 So. 2d 1 (Fla. 1975)…y developed or expressed legal expertise. This view is consistent with the view of this Court regarding the responsibility of a judge in like circumstances under prior judicial canons. See Dade County Bd. of Pub. Instr. v. Michigan Mutual Liab. Co., 169 So. 2d 483 (Fla.1964). Beyond the specific and the general standards of judicial conduct codes, or any express laws on the subject,15 the matter of judicial disqualification necessarily involves personal, judgmental considerations. I suppose these concerns ar…
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State of Fla. ex rel. Richard E. Gerstein v. Honorable Carling Stedman, 233 So. 2d 142 (Fla. 3d DCA 1970)…tant State Attorney, he followed a policy of refusing to grant immunity to witnesses.” In reference to the latter affidavit, see the opinion authored by Justice Ervin in Dade County Bd. of Public Instruction v. Michigan Mutual Liab. Co., Fla. 1964, 169 So. 2d 483, where he declined to recuse himself merely because, during the fifteen years he served as attorney general, he had expressed an opinion on an issue raised in the instant case.…