Florida Supreme Court Demands State Bar Stop Working With ABA Because… LOL, Screw This ‘Rule Of Law’ Stuff

Yesterday, the Florida Bar opened a letter from their friends over at the state supreme court and were likely surprised to learn that — absent any formal order, hearing, or opportunity to comment — they were being ordered to sever ties with the American Bar Association. I mean, if the people don’t deserve due process, why should the bar association?

What brought on this drastic turn of events?

Well, the ABA has chastised the Trump administration for its attacks upon the rule of law and former Florida AG Pam Bondi has exiled the ABA to the netherworld on judicial nominations so the Florida justices — loyal Republican politicians that they are — understood the assignment and flexed their power to chip away at the ABA by forcing the Florida Bar to quit.

I’m sorry… I thought this was America!

Justice Labarga didn’t get the opportunity to pen a dissent but one suspects it would read, “are you kidding me with this?” Labarga is one of the two remaining jurists not appointed by Ron DeSantis. Fun fact: Charlie Crist became a Democrat because the GOP got too crazy for him and the crazy Republican that Crist last beat, David Jolly, is… now a Democrat because the GOP got too crazy for him.

[Off-key Lion King voice] THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIFFFFE!

Many of the ABA’s policies take positions on contested political and policy disputes over which reasonable people can and do disagree.

People can and do disagree, but this sentence is doing a lot of violence to the word “reasonable.” Chief Justice Muñiz refrains from offering any, you know, specifics because doing so might underscore how much of a naked hack he is. If he had to write, “we don’t approve of the ABA making controversial statements like ‘attorneys should stand for the rule of law‘” he would rightly be laughed out of the profession. Better to leave it vague!

To stay focused on its mission, and out of respect for its members, the Bar strives to avoid entangling itself, even indirectly, in contentious policy debates. The Bar’s practice of making appointments to the ABA’s House of Delegates is inconsistent with that goal.

You know, if someone actually cared about the state bar hewing to an apolitical line, they’d want their state bar to have representation in the House of Delegates and vote against bold statements like “maybe rule of law is good.” But that would be “democracy” which isn’t a high priority in GOP circles these days.

Therefore, on behalf of the Court (not including Justice Labarga), I ask that The Florida Bar (1) immediately cease making appointments to the ABA House of Delegates; (2) rescind or withdraw any existing appointments to the House of Delegates (of course, affected individuals are free to seek appointment by entities other than The Florida Bar); and (3) make changes to The Florida Bar’s policies and practices (including to Standing Board Policies 1.40 and 1.41) as necessary to implement this directive.

Now… the court makes an “ask” before calling it a “directive.” Methinks they might need a dictionary to understand what “ask” means. But it seems as though the Florida Bar is going to be walking out on the American Bar.

I feel like Florida’s tried to secede from America before. Hopefully this turns out about the same as last time.

Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter or Bluesky if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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