Name: Barbara Lagoa’s rise to Trump’s Supreme Court short list showcases conservative Federalist Society’s sway in Florida
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Barbara Lagoa’s rise to Trump’s Supreme Court short list showcases conservative Federalist Society’s sway in Florida

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AdvertisementBy South Florida Sun-SentinelSep 24, 2020 at 6:45 amIt’s a box aspiring judges need to check more than ever if they want to get ahead in Florida’s present political climate — membership in the libertarian-minded Federalist Society.Miami-born Judge Barbara Lagoa’s affiliation with the conservative legal group helped her land on President Donald Trump’s short list for the open Supreme Court seat.AdvertisementHer fast rise from a mid-level state judge to a potential Supreme Court pick is another example of how influential the Federalist Society has become. It’s a group that many Floridians have heard of only in passing, if at all, but it has played a starring role in a judicial transformation that could have big ramifications for the environment, abortion rights and health care for years to come.The Federalist Society holds immense influence on the nation’s highest court. Five U.S. Supreme Court justices have . Leonard Leo, the former executive vice president of the Federalist Society, played a key role in securing the appointments of justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the high court.Advertisement“Trump has basically subcontracted the selection of federal judges to the Federalist Society,” said Michael Avery, who co-authored the book “The Federalist Society: How Conservatives Took the Law Back From Liberals.”“No other interest group in our country’s history has ever had that level of influence over the Supreme Court and therefore American law,” he added.Judge Amy Coney Barrett, another leading contender on Trump’s Supreme Court list, has been a member of the Federalist Society.The Federalist Society’s influence is found at the state level, too. Last year, Lagoa and four other state Supreme Court justices during the Federalist Society’s Florida state conference at Walt Disney World. A majority of the seven-member state Supreme Court was scheduled to attend the reception and fireworks display at an exclusive members-only club at Epcot.A group of conservative students at Yale Law School and the University of Chicago Law School started the Federalist Society in 1982.The group’s mission: Offset what they considered to be a liberal bias in the nation’s courtrooms and law schools. Landmark decisions on abortion rights, civil rights and other social issues had led to criticism from conservatives that activist judges were writing laws instead of strictly interpreting the original intent of the law.The Federalist Society has flourished since its founding. The group has chapters at law schools across the country, bountiful financial support from conservative donors, and a powerful network of members at all levels of the judicial system.Five Supreme Court justices have been identified as having ties to the Federalist Society: Trump appointees Kavanuagh and Gorsuch, along with Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts. Roberts has said he has no recollection of being a member, but his name appeared in the group’s 1997-98 leadership directory, .AdvertisementCharlton Copeland, a constitutional law professor, sees the Federalist Society at work at the University of Miami School of Law. The group is the most active and best-funded legal group on campus, hosting debates and other events for law students.Copeland said he’s participated in Federalist Society debates, challenging some of their views on the law.“They are almost like Jehovah’s Witnesses," he said. "There is a proselytized kindness. They invite you to their events. They want you to come.”The American Constitution Society provides an alternative for liberal law students, but it doesn’t have the funding or the influence that the Federalist Society wields, Copeland said.Federalist Society members are predominantly white men, Copeland said, but South Florida’s chapters do include members from some of the area’s diverse communities.Lagoa is Cuban-American. DeSantis this year tried to install Renatha Francis, a Caribbean-American member of the Federalist Society, on the Florida Supreme Court. Ultimately, she was blocked from being seated because she didn’t meet the constitutional requirements of the job. Francis, a Palm Beach County circuit judge, was a few months shy of the required 10 years of legal experience when she was appointed.AdvertisementLagoa, 52, who grew up in Hialeah the daughter of Cuban exiles, joined the Federalist Society in 1998. The group’s debates and events sparked her interest, Lagoa wrote in her written answer to questions from U.S. senators.Lagoa is married to Paul Huck Jr., an attorney who former state Rep. José Félix Díaz described as the “godfather of the Federalist Society in Miami” in .During her formative years, Lagoa worked in private legal practice, as a federal prosecutor and then spent 13 years as a judge on the state appeals court.The election of Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2018 catapulted her from a mid-level state judge to a contender to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a liberal icon.Lagoa’s judicial philosophy aligns closely with DeSantis' views.DeSantis was a member of the Federalist Society when he was a student at Harvard Law. All six of the state Supreme Court selections he has made as governor have ties to the group.AdvertisementDeSantis appointed Lagoa and two other judges to the state Supreme Court in January 2019 when he became governor, fulfilling a campaign promise to shift the court to the right.During the vetting process, Leo, the Federalist Society’s executive vice president, flew to Orlando to interview Lagoa and other finalists. Lagoa spent less than a year on the state Supreme Court before Trump appointed her to serve on the federal appeals court. Trump also appointed another DeSantis Supreme Court pick and Federalist Society member — 41-year-old Robert Luck Jr. — to the federal bench.Democratic senators pressed Lagoa on her ties to the Federalist Society during the confirmation process. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois inquired whether Federalist Society donors or others with business before the state Supreme Court had attended the VIP reception at Epcot.Lagoa wrote in her that business wasn’t on the reception’s agenda.“To the best of my recollection, I spent most of my time at the dessert reception speaking with lawyers and other judges, as well as their children, about non-legal matters (e.g., our children, our day on the rides at other theme parks at Walt Disney World),” she wrote. “I do not know if any of the people I spoke with were donors to the Federalist Society, nor do I know who the donors to the Federalist Society are.”The concerns didn’t derail her confirmation. She sailed through with .AdvertisementThe Federalist Society’s influence has reached a new pinnacle with DeSantis in the governor’s mansion and Trump in the White House, said Bob Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University.“One thing the federalist society has been successful with, especially during the Trump presidency, is putting lots of Federalist Society judges on the bench, where they will be for decades," Jarvis said.The liberal-leaning Florida Supreme Court has been transformed into one of the most conservative state supreme courts in the nation under DeSantis' leadership.DeSantis outlined his philosophy on the law during a speech he delivered at the Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention in 2019.In his view, judges should interpret the law as it’s written on the page based on what its authors intended at the time. It’s an approach called originalism, which is one of the bedrock tenets of the Federalist Society.“You have to have some objective measure to go by," DeSantis said. "It can’t just be flying off the seat of your pants, philosophizing and imposing whatever idiosyncratic views you have on society under the guise of constitutional interpretation.”AdvertisementTwice-weeklyA lunch-hour look at what's trending in Florida politics. &gt; Avery, who has been critical of the Federalist Society, said that view doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.“No other interest group in our country’s history has ever had that level of influence over the Supreme Court and therefore American law.”Conservative judges have been willing to exercise judicial power if it benefits powerful corporate interests, he said.“The value that is paramount for people in the Federalist Society is the protection of private property and the ability of people who are fortunate enough to control private property to do whatever they want with it," said Avery, a former president of the progressive National Lawyers Guild. "That’s why they oppose big government, because big government regulates private property to protect the environment or consumers.”DeSantis forged ahead with Francis' nomination despite her lack of meeting the qualifications outlined in the state constitution, specifically 10 years on the Florida Bar, leading to criticism that he was being hypocritical.The battle of ideas will continue, but the Federalist Society is winning the fight, Avery said."They are very, very effective in what they are doing,” he said.AdvertisementSkyler Swisher can be reached at , 561-243-6634 or @SkylerSwisher. Advertisement

AdvertisementBy South Florida Sun-SentinelSep 24, 2020 at 6:45 amIt’s a box aspiring judges need to check more than ever if they want to get ahead in Florida’s present political climate — membership in the libertarian-minded Federalist Society.Miami-born Judge Barbara Lagoa’s affiliation with the conservative legal group helped her land on President Donald Trump’s short list for the open Supreme Court seat.AdvertisementHer fast rise from a mid-level state judge to a potential Supreme Court pick is another example of how influential the Federalist Society has become. It’s a group that many...

Barbara Lagoa’s rise to Trump’s Supreme Court short list showcases conservative Federalist Society’s sway in Florida

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