Cases and background information for

Justice Charles T. Canady

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About this Court Position
About this Court Position

Candidate Background

Judicial Background

  • 2008 - present: Justice, Florida Supreme Court. Appointed by Governor Charlie Crist. He won the retention vote by 68.01% in 2016 and 67.5% in 2010.
  • 2002 - 2008: Judge, 2nd District Court of Appeal. Appointed by Governor Jeb Bush. In 2004, he won the retention vote by 74.6%.

Additional Background

Before he became a judge, Canady had experience as an attorney and a politician.

He had about 15 years of experience as an attorney. He has never tried a case to completion. For the first 13 years, he practiced real estate law in private firms.

Canady held a political office twice and ran unsuccessfully twice. When he started his political career, he ran as a Democrat, then he switched to the Republican Party.

  • 1993 - 2001: United States House of Representatives, District 12. He ran as a Republican. He was elected by 52.1%. He was re-elected two times with 65.0% and 61.6% of the vote. He then ran unopposed to serve a 4th and final term. In this role, he developed the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 1995. In 1999, he was also one of 13 U.S. House managers who prosecuted President Clinton in the Senate impeachment trial. (Read Canady's impeachment arguments.)
  • 1990: Unsuccessful run for Florida Senate, District 12. He lost in the General Election. He switched parties from Democrat to Republican while campaigning for the seat.
  • 1984 - 1990: Florida House of Representatives, District 44. He ran as a Democrat. He won the Primary by 68.2% (uncontested in the General election). He was re-elected twice with 71.2% and 68.9% of the vote.
  • 1982: Unsuccessful run for Florida House of Representatives, District 44. He ran as a Democrat. He lost in the Primary Election.

After retiring from politics, he returned to law. He was General Counsel to Governor Jeb Bush. In this role, he acted as legal advisor, supervising the department's litigation in state and federal courts around the country. He left the role after about 2 years, when Governor Bush appointed him to be judge.

Before starting his legal career, he was a summer associate at two law firms.

In 2018, he was on President Trump's list of potential candidates for the U.S. Supreme Court to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy. He was on the Board of Directors of Care Net (1996 -2000) and HUG (Home for Unwed Girls, 1980s).

This judge is a member of the Federalist Society.

Expected Retirement

2029

This judge is a textualist, who uses an interpretation of the Constitution that is advocated by the Federalist Society.

additional resources

Note: Some sources, like the Orlando Sentinel, Florida Today, and Tampa Bay Times, have a limited number of free articles.

* Appointed instead of running for election because of a vacancy between election cycles.