Florida: State launches investigation of three Supreme Court justices (Updated)

June 11, 2012

Governor Scott asked a state law enforcement agency to decide if an investigation is warranted into whether the three justices standing for retention in November violated state law by seeking assistance from court staff in filing election-related paperwork, and two citizens filed a lawsuit asking the secretary of state to remove the three justices from the ballot. A spokeswoman for the justices argued that asking state employees to notarize documents during working hours does not constitute campaign activity and was not unlawful, and some legal experts agreed. Other critics suggested that the justices are violating judicial ethics rules by raising money and campaigning to keep their seats.