Tanenbaum Tapped for Supreme Court

By Dara Kam, The News Service of Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday appointed Adam Tanenbaum, a 1st District Court of Appeal judge, to the Florida Supreme Court.

Tanenbaum, a former general counsel for the Florida House who was tapped by the governor to serve on the Tallahassee-based appeals court in 2019, will replace former Justice Charles Canady, who stepped down to join the University of Florida as director of the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education.

During his two terms as governor, DeSantis has chosen six of the seven current justices — and two other justices who were later tapped by President Donald Trump to serve on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Tanenbaum’s appointment cements DeSantis’ legacy of reshaping the court with conservative justices who have reversed years of precedent established by more left-leaning justices on issues such as the death penalty and abortion rights.

Tanenbaum, one of six finalists selected by the Florida Supreme Court Judicial Nominating Commission to succeed Canady, has the “courage” and “warrior spirit” to make tough decisions “regardless of the blowback,” DeSantis said during Wednesday’s announcement at Seminole High School, where Tanenbaum graduated at the top of his class in 1989.

“He has the intangibles of being somebody who is really going to fight for what is right. He’ll fight for the Constitution and fight for the people, even when it’s not easy,” the governor said.

Tanenbaum said he “wholeheartedly” embraced DeSantis’ vision for the court and praised the governor for “boldly and relentlessly pursuing a vision for a state judiciary that respects the rule of law and the separation of powers … reflects and respects the values shared by Florida citizens … and understands its place in the constellation of sovereign powers set out in the Florida Constitution.”

Tanenbaum was active in student government and Florida Blue Key as an undergraduate at the University of Florida, graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and held a variety of positions in state government and private practice before joining the appellate court in 2019. From 2016 to 2019, Tanenbaum served as House general counsel under former Speaker Richard Corcoran, who is now the president of New College of Florida, and former Speaker José Oliva.

Laying out his textualist judicial philosophy on Wednesday, Tanenbaum said he subscribes to “the fixation thesis and the constraint principle.”

“The meaning of a text is fixed at the time of its ratification or enactment, and that original meaning does not change over time,” he added.

Tanenbaum also defended the court’s duty to revisit earlier decisions.

“Our goal as judges is always to find the correct original meaning of the law. To instead follow and replicate erroneous interpretations of the past is essentially to make the law, usurping in the process the Legislature’s and the people’s authority. If we as judges profess to apply the law and not make it, then the imperative at all times is to recognize what the law is,” Tanenbaum said.

Underlying that approach “is the concept of judicial humility, not judicial supremacy,” Tanenbaum added.

“What the judges say about the law is not the law. It is merely evidence of the law. We as judges do not declare the law for the state. We seek to find the objectively true meaning of the law,” Tanenbaum said.

The newly appointed justice also said judges “constantly must be studying” the nation’s history, custom and tradition when scrutinizing laws.

“If, in the process, we discover through additional evidence that our predecessors have missed the mark, we are duty-bound to say so and seek to correct the deviation. If we come across a demonstrably erroneous interpretation of the text, as (U.S. Supreme Court) Justice (Clarence) Thomas says, we should not follow it,” he said.

Tanenbaum also pledged “to stay true to the vigorous, mission-based jurisprudential approach I’ve taken for the past six years as a district court of appeal judge, and I pledge to work tirelessly to pour everything I have into promoting the rule of law, fostering the judiciary’s respect for the separation of powers, preserving our current Constitution, and seeing to it alongside my soon-to-be colleagues, that Florida’s judiciary becomes a national model for excellence.”

Based on the Florida Supreme Court’s current composition, the person appointed to replace Canady must be a resident of Florida’s Second Appellate District at the time of appointment. The district includes DeSoto, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Sarasota counties.

Tanenbaum has been part of the Tallahassee-based appeals court, but his roots are in the Tampa Bay region, where he held a number of legal posts before joining the Florida attorney general’s office in 2014.

“Seminole is where I grew up, and I’m thrilled to be living here again,” Tanenbaum said.

William Large, president of the business-backed Florida Justice Reform Institute, called Tanenbaum “an exceptional choice” for the Supreme Court.

“Governor DeSantis continues to show bold and consistent leadership in reshaping Florida’s court system more so than any previous governor. Throughout his term, Governor DeSantis has appointed judges and justices who embrace textualism, and the notion that our courts should interpret our laws, not write them,” Large said in a statement.

But the Courts Matter Florida Coalition, which said it “advocates for a judiciary that reflects the diversity of our nation” and “promotes independent, fair and qualified judges who are committed to the constitution,” criticized the appointment.

“Judges should act as an appropriate check and balance to the executive and legislative branches, but Adam Tanenbaum has clearly been chosen to tip the scales of justice against the freedom to control our own bodies and futures,” Laura Lee Rodriguez, chairwoman of the coalition, said in a statement.

DeSantis, an attorney, said that with the pick, six of the seven current justices “will have been appointed by yours truly, so that’s, uh, pretty good,” especially because some governors do not have an opportunity to appoint anyone to the Supreme Court.

“These cases come up and you’ve got to render a judgment, and you have to be willing to apply the law as it’s written, and apply the Constitution as it’s properly understood. You don’t have license to change the Constitution or to change statutes because you don’t like them,” DeSantis said. “Pretty much anybody who believes in in that traditional understanding of the role of the courts would say that the appointees I’ve had have improved the court, and improved their product, and certainly the predictability, and you don’t have these things happening like we did in the past, and so, so that’s really, really good.”

— News Service Assignment Manager Tom Urban contributed to this report.