What cracks me up about this list is that one of the spots is to replace Jorge Labarga. Labarga was on the 4th DCA for what, about 23 minutes? He still gets his picture there with the plaque though, right?

My top pick is Judge Jon Gerber. He’s always professional, treats everyone with respect, is very smart and remembers everybody’s name. There’s nothing so precious to a person as their own name. Gerber has a reputation for being a little tough on sentencing. However, after being up in Indian River county and St. Lucie county lately, Gerber seems like a liberal compared to those right-wing nuts.

Florida is the only state that the further north you go, the further south you are.

Jon Gerber is going places. He has the right politics (he was a Jeb Bush appointee) so Crist will like him. However, to me, it’s not a conservative/liberal thing. It’s who is the best person for the job.

Anyway, here are the final nominees that will go to Gov. Crist according to the Florida Bar website:

After careful consideration and pursuant to Article V, Section 11 of the Florida Constitution, the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission has certified the following nominees to Gov. Charlie Crist for the District Court of Appeal vacancies resulting from the resignations of Judge Larry Klein and Judge Jorge Labarga. The nominees are as follows:

Judge Jack Schramm Cox
Judge Jonathan D. Gerber
Judge Alfred J. Horowitz
Judge Janis Brustares Keyser
Spencer Levine, Esq.
Judge Elizabeth Maass
Judge William Roby
Judge Robert A. Rosenberg
Jane Kreusler-Walsh, Esq.

If there are any questions, please contact Kara Berard Rockenbach, Chair of the Fourth District Court of Appeal Judicial Nominating Commission, at (561) 640-0330, or by e-mail at krockenbach@gprmpa.com.

Grey Tesh is a board certified criminal trial lawyer in West Palm Beach, Florida. http://www.aaacriminaldefense.com