What the Florida Supreme Court did Tuesday was — Justice Jorge Labarga’s garment-rending dissent notwithstanding — a minor thing. A minor thing that was also prudent and well overdue, perhaps, but in the grand scheme, a minor thing nonetheless.
Henceforth, Sunshine State judges seeking approved courses to meet their continuing education requirements will have to get along without classes in “fairness and diversity.”
The horror.
The Supreme Court, which determines rules for the system, issued a decision that revised continuing-education requirements. Part of the decision dealt with a requirement that judges receive training in judicial ethics.
In the past, the rule said, “Approved courses in fairness and diversity also can be used to fulfill the judicial ethics requirement.”
The revised rule says, “The portions of approved courses which pertain to judicial professionalism, opinions of the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, and the Code of Judicial Conduct can be used to fulfill the judicial ethics requirement.”
The decision, shared by Chief Justice Carlos Muñiz and Justices Charles Canady, Ricky Polston, John Couriel, Jamie Grosshans and Renatha Francis, said the “pre-amendment rule text was overbroad, because course content about ‘fairness and diversity’ might or might not pertain to judicial ethics.”
To the extent there is a “however” lurking in the weeds, it is a declaration by the court that “civility and equal regard for the legal rights of every person are at the heart of judicial professionalism.”
Civility and equality before the law? What brazen concept will those far-right radicals in Florida endorse next?
As noted, Justice Labarga (appointed in 1996 by the “ole he-coon,” as Lawton Chiles famously described himself) is, well, alarmed. The revised policy “paves the way for a complete dismantling of all fairness and diversity initiatives in the State Courts System.”
“As stressed by the majority, the canons in the Code of Judicial Conduct do prohibit bias and prejudice in their various forms,” Labarga wrote. “However, the purpose of providing express consideration to fairness and diversity education has been to complement the canons, and in the hopes of addressing the extremely complex issue that is discrimination, to educate the judiciary on strategies for recognizing and combating discrimination. For these reasons, such a decision at this level of institutional gravity is, in my opinion, unwarranted, untimely, and ill-advised.”
In short, Justice Labarga does not trust Florida judges to carry out their solemn oaths without the reinforcement of woke training. Wonder how that will go down in the judges’ chambers of courthouses across the state’s 67 county seats.
The backdrop against which this welcome little drama is playing out bears acknowledgment: Gov. Ron DeSantis, making good on his Inauguration Day pledge to extend Florida’s status as the place “where woke goes to die,” lately has been incandescently active in pursuit of smothering critical race theory as well as diversity, equity and inclusion programs in Florida’s public colleges and universities.
Only days ago, DeSantis scored another blow against the forces of woke when the College Board (but not in any way responding to Florida’s pressure; oh, no) deleted the activist portion of the curriculum for its AP African-American Studies Program.
Similarly, the Court insisted its decision regarding continuing-education courses was organic among the justices, not reacting to a petition or outside pressure. It’s worth noting, however, that four of the justices — Muñiz, Couriel, Grosshans, and Francis — were appointed by DeSantis. So: Elections matter.
To reiterate: This is a small thing, a minor victory in the ongoing campaign to truly see and embrace each other as individuals, not members of groups (aggrieved or otherwise).
Step by step, inch by inch, block by block, incrementalism lasting decades is what brought us full-blown wokeism; incrementalism may be the best prescription for its cure.
In Florida, rollbacks of our fuzzy, pop-culture approach to public policy, in which all issues are viewed through the lens of group identity, are coming. Faculties and administrators overseeing education from kindergarten to post-graduate degrees are being encouraged in a fresh direction. Florida judges are being summoned to honor their better angels. In the best possible Florida, we who helped choose this path all shall follow their lead, rising to the ideals laid out in our founding documents.
Ultimately, the Jenga tower that is DEI will, and must, tumble.
