Updated: 8/12/2012 9:18:46 PM EDT

Lawsuit Against Justices Rejected

 

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by Rick Flagg and Alan McBride

TALLAHASSEE, FLA. -- A circuit judge in Tallahassee has dismissed a lawsuit that could have resulted in the removal of three judges from the Florida Supreme Court.

Three of the seven justices are up for merit retention in November... you can vote to keep them for six more years or give them the boot.

Shannon Goessling, who represented the Southeastern Legal Foundation in its suit, says their qualification papers are invalid because they were notarized by employees at the Florida Supreme Court.

Circuit Judge Terry Lewis rejected the lawsuit.

He did not delve into the nuances of who signed which papers and when.

Lewis simply ruled that the people who filed the lawsuit don't have standing.

"If you were the opponent, perhaps," he told Goessling, "If your clients were the opponent of a judge, that would be a different story. You'd have an interest that was different from the rest of the public. But I don't think your clients get to speak for everybody."

In other words, Lewis ruled that this group lacked the legal authority to file the challenge.

Goessling says they will appeal the decision and take it all the way to the US Supreme Court if they have to.

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