Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “YES” for Judge Stevan T. Northcutt for 2nd District Court of Appeal | James Patrick Guerrero

Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Judge Stevan T. Northcutt

Appellate Judge

Judge Northcutt attended the University of South Florida in Tampa, where he received a B.A. degree in mass communications in 1975. He earned his J.D. degree from the Florida State University College of Law in 1978.

In the early and mid-1970s Judge Northcutt worked as a journalist, both free-lance and in the employ of The Tampa Times, The Tampa Tribune, and the Washington, D.C., bureau of The Chicago Tribune.

In 1976 Judge Northcutt was awarded a Florida Legislative Fellowship, and for the next two years he served on the staff of the Florida House Judiciary Committee. From 1978 to 1986 Judge Northcutt practiced law, first as an associate and then as a partner, with the law firm of Levine, Freedman, Hirsch & Levinson, P.A., in Tampa. From 1986 to 1997 he was a shareholder in Levine, Hirsch, Segall & Northcutt, P.A., in Tampa.

Governor Lawton Chiles, Jr., appointed Judge Northcutt to the Second District for a term beginning January 6, 1997. The voters of the district retained him in office in the general elections of 1998 and 2004. Judge Northcutt served as the Second District’s chief judge from July 2007 through June 2009. During the same period, he was chair of the state’s District Court of Appeal Budget Commission, which oversees the budgets of Florida’s five district courts. He continues to serve on the Budget Commission. In the summer of 2010 Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady appointed Judge Northcutt to three-year terms as a member of the Florida Courts Technology Commission and as chair of the Appellate Courts Technology Committee. Judge Northcutt is president-elect of the Florida Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges.

Throughout his career as an attorney, Judge Northcutt concentrated his practice in the field of appellate advocacy, both civil and criminal, state and federal. He developed a statewide practice and lectured and published often on topics related to appellate practice and family law. He is a long-standing member of the Appellate Court Rules Committee of The Florida Bar. He was a charter member of the Appellate Practice and Advocacy Section of The Florida Bar and was the first chairman of the section’s Civil Appellate Practice Committee.

Other of Judge Northcutt’s professional activities have included membership in The Florida Bar Public Interest Section and the Florida Academy of Public Interest Lawyers, service on The Florida Bar’s Journal-News Editorial Board, and membership on The Florida Bar’s Young Lawyers’ Section Legislation Committee. He is a member of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and has served on its Family Law Section Executive Council, on its Appellate Court Liaison Committee, and in its Appellate Practice Section. Judge Northcutt is a member of the Family Law Inn of Court in Tampa.

His civic activities have included participation in the Hillsborough County Commission’s Charter Review Board and its Citizen’s Advisory Committee, and the Arts Council and Law Library Boards of Hillsborough County. He has served as a board member and president of Older Adult Services, Inc., of Tampa and as a board member and as chairman (1994-96) of Hospice of Hillsborough, Inc.
Judge Northcutt was born in Tallahassee, Florida, in 1954. He has one child.

Commentary: I will have to merit retention vote “YES” for Judge Stevan T. Northcutt on the 2^nd District Court of Appeal.

via Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal’s Website.

Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “YES” for Judge Robert J. Morris, Jr. for 2nd District Court of Appeal | James Patrick Guerrero

Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Judge Robert J. Morris, Jr.

Appellate Judge

Judge Morris graduated from Tarpon Springs (FL) High School in 1971 and received the Chamber of Commerce Award for Outstanding Service. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Florida College of Journalism in 1975 and was inducted into Florida Blue Key. Prior to law school, he worked for a major national financial institution in Chicago, where he became a registered principal with the National Association of Securities Dealers. While in law school, Judge Morris was a law clerk to the Illinois Attorney General, working on appeals in both state and federal courts. He obtained his J.D. degree from DePaul University College of Law in 1980 and received an American Jurisprudence Award for scholarship. He became a member of The Florida Bar in 1980.

From 1980 to 1997 Judge Morris practiced law and received an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell. His experience as a lawyer includes: assistant state attorney in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, partner and Florida Committee member at Foley & Lardner (Tampa), and principal in his own law firm. While in private practice, he concentrated in complex commercial litigation and transactions. He also served on the boards of directors of both a bank and a hospital. In addition, he was the founding chair of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Tampa) Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Gender Bias (1990-93).

Governor Lawton Chiles, Jr., appointed him to the county court of Pinellas County in June 1997. Governor Jeb Bush appointed him circuit judge of the Sixth Judicial Circuit for the term beginning January 1, 2002. The sixty-nine judges of the Sixth Judicial Circuit unanimously elected him chief judge in 2007 and 2009. Governor Charlie Crist appointed him to the Second District Court of Appeal, commencing on August 1, 2009.

Chief Justice Barbara Pariente appointed Judge Morris chair of the Supreme Court Committee on Families and Children (2004), and Chief Justice Fred Lewis appointed him to the Trial Court Budget Commission (2006). In 2008 he received the William J. Castagna Award for Judicial Excellence from the Barney Masterson Inn of Court. He has been a frequent instructor and presenter including: The Florida Judicial College, Advanced Judicial Studies, judicial conferences, Stetson University College of Law, St. Petersburg College, the University of Tampa, bar associations, civic groups, and high schools.

Judge Morris was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953. One of eight children, he was raised in Florida and the Bahamas. In 1976 he married Anne Cullen of Wall Springs, Florida, and they have three adult children. In 2005 he graduated from the Lay Pastoral Ministry Institute of the Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg.

Commentary: I will have to merit retention vote “YES” for Judge Robert Morris on the 2^nd District Court of Appeal.

via Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal’s Website.

Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “NO” for Judge Nelly Khouzam for 2nd District Court of Appeal | James Patrick Guerrero

 Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Judge Nelly Khouzam

Appellate Judge

Judge Khouzam received her B.A. degree in history from the University of Florida in 1979. She received her J.D. degree from the University of Florida College of Law, with honors, in December 1981.

Following law school, Judge Khouzam served as a law clerk to the Honorable Jack R. Schoonover of the Second District Court of Appeal. After completion of her clerkship, she entered private practice where she became a shareholder at Fowler, White, Gillen, Boggs, Villareal and Banker, P.A., and later a shareholder at Silberman and Khouzam, P.A. While in private practice, she received an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell, which is the highest rating given to attorneys. Prior to joining the Second District Court of Appeal, she served for fourteen years as a circuit court judge in the Sixth Judicial Circuit, which is comprised of Pinellas and Pasco counties.

Judge Khouzam was appointed to the Second District Court of Appeal by Governor Charlie Crist and began serving as a member of the court on August 1, 2008.

A frequent author and lecturer, Judge Khouzam has written articles for The Florida Bar Journal, Nova Law Review, Litigation Magazine, and the Trial Advocate Quarterly. She is a frequent lecturer at judicial conferences and is a faculty member of the Florida Judicial College and the Florida College of Advanced Judicial Studies. She is a past chair of the Florida Conference of Circuit Judges.

Judge Khouzam has received the following awards: the A.B.O.T.A. “Florida Jurist of the Year Award” (2002); the William Castagna Award for Judicial Excellence for displaying the highest standards of judicial excellence in knowledge of the law, ethics, civility, professionalism, and demeanor (2006); and the John U. Bird Distinguished Jurist Award presented by the Clearwater Bar Association in recognition of extraordinary service as a Trial and Appellate Judge (2008). She has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (A.B.O.T.A.) since 1993, and is past president of the Barney Masterson Inn of Court. She was nominated Great Woman of the Year for 2008 by the American Biographical Institute.

Judge Khouzam was born in November 1958. She is married and has one daughter.

Commentary: I will have to merit retention vote “NO” for Judge Nelly Khouzam on the 2^nd District Court of Appeal.

via Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal’s Website.

Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “YES” for Judge Patricia Kelly on 2nd District Court of Appeal | James Patrick Guerrero

Florida Second District Court of Appeal

Judge Patricia J. Kelly

Appellate Judge

Patricia J. Kelly was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 25, 1956 and received her J.D. from the University of Florida College of Law in 1986 and her B.A. degree in political science from the University of South Florida in 1983. In 2001, Governor Jeb Bush appointed Judge Kelly to the Second District Court of Appeal. Before being appointed to the court, Judge Kelly practiced law with firms in West Palm Beach and Tampa before leaving private practice to serve as a staff attorney to the Honorable James E. Lehan at the Second District Court of Appeal. After returning to private practice, Judge Kelly limited her practice to appellate matters and in 1998, she obtained board certification in appellate law from the Florida Bar. Judge Kelly has served on various committees including the Appellate Court Rules, the Pro Se Appellate Handbook, CLE, and Publications Committees of the Appellate Practice and Advocacy Section of the Florida Bar, and the steering committee for the 2007 Florida Appellate Justice Conference. She is also a member of the Bruce R. Jacob Inn of Court. Judge Kelly and her husband, Mark, have two children, Mark Patrick and Megan Elizabeth.

Commentary: I will have to merit retention vote “YES” for Judge Patricia Kelly on the 2^nd District Court of Appeal.

via Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal’s Website.

Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “NO” for Judge Marva L. Crenshaw on 2nd District Court of Appeal | James Patrick Guerrero

CRIST NAMES CANADY REPLACEMENT TO SECOND DCA

Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Marva L. Crenshaw was tapped Wednesday by Gov. Charlie Crist to replace Charles Canady on the Second District Court of Appeal. Canady was named last year to the state Supreme Court. Crenshaw, 57, has been on the circuit bench since August 2000 and was a county judge before that. She was also an assistant state attorney for the Miami-Dade County State Attorney’s Office from 1976 to 1978 and served as attorney and deputy director for Bay Area Legal Services in Tampa from 1978 to January 1989. Judge Crenshaw earned a bachelor’s degree from the Tuskegee Institute in 1973 and graduated from the University of Florida College of Law in 1975. “Judge Crenshaw is a distinguished jurist of high integrity. She has served as a role model of fairness and hard work not just in legal circles, but in the community, where she speaks to youth groups about the importance of education,” said Crist. “With her nearly three decades of experience handling a variety of cases, I am confident she will make a wonderful addition to the Second District Court of Appeal.”

Commentary: I will have to merit retention vote “NO” to Judge Marva L. Crenshaw on the 2^nd District Court of Appeal.

via http://www.newsserviceflorida.com/cgi/as_web.exe?rev2009+D+169955.

Quick Pick – Vote “YES” to Amendment 2 | James Patrick Guerrero

AMENDMENT 2: MILITARY TAX BREAKS SPUR LITTLE OPPOSITION | News Service of Florida

THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE,October 8, 2010……. U.S. military personnel serving outside the United States would be eligible for an additional property tax break under a proposed constitutional amendment facing voters Nov. 2.

Amendment 2 would provide an additional property tax exemption based on the number of days a member of the armed services spends outside the country during the tax year.

Commentary: Any homestead property tax exemption is good, and a property tax break for military personnel who serve overseas is twice as good. I will have to vote “YES” to Amendment 2.

via http://www.newsserviceflorida.com/cgi/as_web.exe?rev2010+D+8763094.

Quick Pick – Vote “YES” for Shopping Convenience at Estates Shopping Center | James Patrick Guerrero

Commentary: Collier residents vote “YES” to shopping convenience in Golden Gate Estates. Congratulations to the Estates Shopping Center Political Action Committee who were forthright in their provision for 300 potential jobs within a short time in contrast to Jackson Lab which might bring 200 jobs in 10 years albeit a higher cost. Households don’t see Fred Coyle’s name on the work of the direct mailers. Probably not desired. I will have to vote “YES” to Estates Shopping Center.

Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “NO” for Justice James E. C. Perry on Supreme Court | James Patrick Guerrero

Image via Wikipedia

 

Justices Jorge Labarga (second from the left) and James E. C. Perry (fourth from the left) will be on the ballot. It’s called a merit retention vote. If a simple majority of Floridians vote no, these two activist judges will be removed from the court, paving the way for us to vote on a health care freedom amendment in 2012.  

via Defend Health Care Freedom This November.  

Commentary: Governor Charlie Crist appointed Justice James E. C. Perry to the Florida Supreme Court and took office there on March 11, 2009.  

Quick Pick – Merit Retention Vote “NO” for Justice Jorge Labarga on Supreme Court | James Patrick Guerrero

Image via Wikipedia

Justices Jorge Labarga (second from the left) and James Perry (fourth from the left) will be on the ballot. It’s called a merit retention vote. If a simple majority of Floridians vote no, these two activist judges will be removed from the court, paving the way for us to vote on a health care freedom amendment in 2012. 

via Defend Health Care Freedom This November. 

Commentary: On January 1, 2009, Governor Crist appointed Jorge Labarga to the Florida Supreme Court, where he presently sits as the 84th Justice to take office at the Florida Supreme Court since statehood was granted in 1845. 

Quick Picks – Vote “NO” on Amendments 5 & 6 | James Patrick Guerrero

Commentary: Amendments 5 and 6 attempt to put the policy of redistricting into the Constitution to control the way the representatives of Florida figure redistricting. FairDistricts Florida, whose $3.2 million financing came largely from Democratic allies, including the Florida Education Association and Service Employees International Union, are citizen-group initiatives that take politics out of gerrymandering. In other words, the liberals outside of the normal Democratic and Republican representation process are making a push to put the gerrymandering process into the Constitution. More rules, regulations and cost, just like the socialist agenda – to regulate it to death so no one can understand and the liberals can have abusive power. No solution, liberals. I will have to vote NO to amendments 5 and 6.