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,
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comments.
Follow
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