Governor Charlie Crist today selected Charles Canady to the Florida Supreme Court. Canady will fill the vacancy left by Justice Raoul Cantero III, who has served on the Florida Supreme Court since 2002. (roll tape#1 o.q.”and great humility”)

The former GOP Congressman is best known as being among those who prosecuted President Clinton in the 1999 Senate impeachment trial. He later served as general counsel to Governor Job Bush and defended Bush’s school voucher program, which let children from failing public schools switch to private schools at taxpayer’s expense. Canady has since served as a judge on the Second District Court of Appeals since 2002 . He thanked the Governor today (roll tape#2 o.q.”I make”) The Lakeland native graduated from Yale Law School in 1979 and went on to a career in public and private practice, working for law firms including Holland & Knight and Greenberg Traurig. He then served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1984 to 1990. He was elected to Congress in 1992, representing Lakeland until he stepped down in 2000. Adam Putnam has since held the seat since then. Conservative groups hailed the decision. John Stemberger, President of the Florida Family Action, the organization behind Amendment 2, which would ban same sex marriage in Florida, called Canady one of the finest judges in the state, and said Governor Crist should be ‘applauded and thanked for his outstanding selection.’.

The Florida Chamber of Commerce also came out in support of the decision. As did Howard Coker, the Past President of the Florida Bar and Past President of the Florida Academy of Trial Lawyers. He said Canady is “imminently qualified to serve. “ Former Tampa area Democratic Representative Jim Davis served with Canady in Congress from 1996 to 2000 (roll tape#3 o.q.”apply the law”) Governor Crist still needs to select another Justice to the Court. There are currently 3 finalists for that seat – Ricky Polston, Peter Webster and Waddell Wallace.