TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Charlie Crist, who has been in office for little more than a year, will get a rare opportunity in the next few months to completely reshape the Florida Supreme Court.

Four sitting Supreme Court justices will step down between now and March, including two appointed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.

The latest to announce his departure, Justice Kenneth Bell, said Friday he wants to return to Pensacola to spend more time with his family.

Bell's decision is significant because it means Crist will get a chance to appoint a majority of the justices who sit on the powerful seven-member panel. While the state's highest court has been unified in many cases, it has split on key decisions, including when it ordered a statewide recount of ballots in the 2000 presidential election -- later halted by the U.S. Supreme Court -- and when it struck down Bush's private-school voucher program in 2006.

This is believed to be the first time in state history that any governor will have so much sway over the state's highest court in such a short time.

''I think it's a remarkable event,'' said Dexter Douglass, who served as general counsel for Gov. Lawton Chiles, who picked five justices, including a joint appointment with Bush, over an eight-year period. ``Whatever selections he makes will have a long-term effect on how the Florida Constitution and the issues revolving it turn out.''

Bell, 52, told Crist on Friday that he would step down from his post in October. His resignation comes a month after Raoul Cantero, a Cuban American from Miami and the state's first Hispanic justice, announced he is stepping down this fall. Two other justices, Charles Wells and Harry Lee Anstead, will be forced to leave office early next year when they reach the mandatory retirement age of 70. That will leave three veterans on the high court: Peggy Quince, Fred Lewis and Barbara Pariente. Pariente and Lewis were named by Chiles. Quince was a joint appointment by Chiles and Bush.

The departures come at a time when the court has yet to rule on several major decisions, among them whether Crist had the right to negotiate a compact with the Seminole Tribe of Florida that lets the tribe set up slot machines and other types of table gambling such as blackjack and baccarat.

Until the 1970s, Floridians directly elected Supreme Court justices. Now justices are appointed by the governor to a six-year term. At the end of the six years, the justices are subjected to an up or down merit-retention vote.

FROM A LIST

Crist doesn't have the power to choose whoever he wants. He must select appointees from a list given to him by a nine-member nominating commission responsible for screening applicants. But Crist names the members of the nominating panel. In recent months Crist has placed a law partner of his former chief of staff on the nominating commission, as well as a former president of the Academy of Florida Trial Lawyers, and the husband of Bush's 2002 campaign manager. Crist will get a chance to appoint three more commission members this summer.

Crist, an attorney himself, has handled other judicial appointments differently than Bush. For example, he has allowed Democrats such as House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber to take part in informal interviews with candidates seeking spots in the Miami-Dade circuit bench.

''He has been very nonpartisan about this issue,'' said Gelber, who expects Crist to seek advice from Democrats on his appointments to the Supreme Court. ``I think he realizes the Supreme Court is a court for everyone. He has taken advice from me and lots of other Democrats who are defined less by their party and more by their desire to have a strong independent judiciary.''

AT ODDS

Both Bell and Cantero were appointed by Bush and many times found themselves at odds with many of the judges appointed by Chiles. The two justices, for example, opposed the decision to undo Bush's private-school voucher program. The two also unsuccessfully argued in 2006 that Bush should have been given the power to appoint jurists to 55 new judgeships created by the Legislature instead of having the judges elected.

Last year, Bell authored a controversial decision that required that cities and counties hold referendums prior to pledging property taxes for certain types of construction projects. After an outcry from local governments, the court later clarified the ruling to make it clear the decision would not affect completed construction projects.

In 2005, Bell wrote the 4-3 opinion to uphold a state law that requires sexual predators to register with the state.

Bell was also among the four justices who in 2004 upheld the state's ''three strikes'' law that mandates longer prison terms for repeat felons.

''Justice Bell's tenure on the Florida Supreme Court is to be commended,'' said Crist in a statement about the resignation. ``He will be remembered for his firm belief in the separation of powers and the system of checks and balances on which our nation was founded.''

Join the discussion

Note: If this is your first time using our NEW commenting system, you will have to LOG OUT and then LOG BACK IN.

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.CommentBody@

@Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@