We all know that Florida is a land of political madness.
Here, politicians mix with prostitutes; legislators routinely try to usurp the Constitution; and corruption is systemically fertilized with campaign checks.
In fact, in recent years, one of the few things standing between Floridians and full-on insanity was the court system.
You can see why legislators want to change that.
So they have launched a war — against courts and justices who have dared to stick up for your rights and demanded that legislators play by the rules.
On this year's ballot, they are trying to unseat justices they don't like and give the Legislature some rule-making power over the courts.
It's all part of a dangerous new trend: attacking bedrock principles upon which this country was founded, principles such as checks and balances, and separation of powers.
These protections were established by our Founding Fathers to prohibit any one branch from steamrolling its citizens or the Constitution.
And for generations, they have worked.
For instance, when legislators tried to deny Fair Districts — an effort to end gerrymandering that was overwhelmingly supported by a broad, bipartisan mix of Floridians — it was the courts that stuck up for the citizens and demand that their voice and votes be heard.
And when legislators tried pandering to gun extremists who wanted to regulate free speech between doctors and their patients — among the most private and protected of relationships — it was the courts that said they could not.
That ruling wasn't handed down by some "liberal-activist judge." It was a federal jurist who had been appointed to the bench by George W. Bush and who had worked for Jeb Bush before that.
This judge wasn't an activist. She was simply following the law.
Yet legislators have become increasingly angry about not getting their way. So they vowed to exact revenge and reshape the state's entire court system.
They became petulant boys trying to undo generations of work by great men.
After House Speaker Dean Cannon lost an argument in front of the Supreme Court, Cannon actually tried to break apart the state's highest court.
He wanted to split the court in two, paving the way for new justices more to his liking.
His proposal was ultimately watered down. What's left is Amendment 5, which, among other things, would give the Legislature the power to overrule the courts on certain rules and procedures.
You'll have the chance to vote that down in November.
And now, Cannon's Republican Party of Florida has upped the stakes, launching a battle to remove members of the Supreme Court whom it doesn't like.
You see, for some people, the definition of an "activist judge" is simply one who makes a ruling with which they disagree.
It's a simple-minded and dangerous way of thinking.
It's worth noting that, though this war is being waged by Republican legislators, it does not reflect true conservative values — or, I believe, the sentiments of most respectable Republicans.
In fact, in recent years, my in box has been filled with missives from rock-solid conservatives who are ashamed of their party's efforts to tear the courts apart.
All of us have court decisions with which we disagree. Personally, I believe our country's highest court got it wrong in the case of Citizens United, when justices equated free speech with campaign donations.
But my proposed course of action wasn't to break up the court and replace the justices.
You see, most of us have more respect for the system of government established by our forefathers.
We believe in separation of powers and checks and balances — specifically to protect us from the power-hungry and petulant politicians who do not.
smaxwell@tribune.com or 407-420-6141
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