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In the early 1970s, more than half the justices resigned over various corruption probes.<ref>Judges, with Hat in Hand; by the Editorial Board, 19 January 2015, New York Times</ref>
In 1975, Florida Supreme Court justice [[David L. McCain]] tampered with a lower court decision on behalf of campaign supporters. Faced with impeachment proceedings, he resigned.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/27/us/around-the-nation-ex-florida-court-justice-accused-in-drug-case.html|title=AROUND THE NATION - Ex-Florida Court Justice Accused in Drug Case - NYTimes.com|date=27 September 1982|publisher=|accessdateaccess-date=12 January 2015}}</ref><!---actually a nasty series of ole boy politics. But all that coupled together forced the state back to appointed judges--><ref>[http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0LEVjnvRbRURfsALfEPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByZHI5MXByBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDNgRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--/RV=2/RE=1421129327/RO=10/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.floridabar.org%2fcmdocs%2farchive%2fpi003_2011.nsf%2fc5aca7f8c251a58d85257236004a107f%2f1451907c5e72176485257868004f5d7f%2f%24FILE%2f4-13-11%2520The%2520shoddy%2520history%2520of%2520politicized%2520courts%2520St.%2520Pete%2520Times.pdf/RK=0/RS=vZfTQT_MuBDqPgD0gU0gHXLF2hE-]</ref>
In 1976, the state returned to appointed justices when the current merit retention system was put in place.<ref>{{Cite news | first=David | last=Royce | title=Ex-high justice, 85, dies | url=http://www.newsserviceflorida.com/| work= | newspaper=[[Florida Today]] | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages= 10B | date=January 1, 2013 | id= | accessdate=}}</ref><!---soft copy does not match hard copy nor does it provide detail - subscription req-->
In 2004, the court had a backlog of 1,544 cases. In 2011, there was a backlog of 881 cases.<ref>{{Cite news | first= | last= | title=Editorial:Crushing the courts | url=http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20110403/OPINION/110401023/Our-views-Crushing-courts-April-3-| work= | newspaper=[[Florida Today]] | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages= 18A | date=April 3, 2011 | id= | accessdate=}}</ref>
==Powers==
[[File:Florida-Supreme-Court-Justices-2019.jpg|thumb|Florida Supreme Court justices in 2019 under Chief Justice Charles Canady.]]
{{Florida Supreme Court}}
<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Leander Shaw Florida first African American Chief of Justice dies at 85|url=http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/id=1202744805640/Leander-Shaw-Floridas-First-AfricanAmerican-Chief-Justice-Dies-at-85&curindex=6|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2 September 2020|website=Dailybusiness Review}}</ref>{{notelist}}
{{See also|List of justices of the Florida Supreme Court}}
[[File:Election2000news.jpg|thumb|Close-up view of satellite trucks parked at the [[Florida State Capitol]] near the Florida Supreme Court during the 2000 presidential election vote dispute]]
{{See also|Terri Schiavo}}
In 1999, a dissenting opinion by Justice [[Leander J. Shaw Jr.]] sparked a worldwide debate over the use of [[Old Sparky]], Florida's [[electric chair]], which helped lead to events that caused the [[Florida Legislature]] to adopt [[lethal injection]] as the state's method of execution only a few months later.<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=|title=Leander Shaw Florida first African American chief of Justice dies at 85|work=Daily business Review|url=https://www.dailybusinessreview.com/id=1202744805640/Leander-Shaw-Floridas-First-AfricanAmerican-Chief-Justice-Dies-at-85&curind|url-status=live|access-date=2 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Saunders|first=Jim|title=Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Leander Shaw dies at 85|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-ap-leander-shaw-20151214-story.html|access-date=2020-10-02|website=sun-sentinel.com}}</ref>
In 2004, the Court struck down another piece of legislation from the Florida Legislature that was designed to reverse a lower court decision in the [[Terri Schiavo case]].
In 2006, the Court struck down a law passed by the [[Florida legislature|Florida Legislature]] that had created the first statewide [[education voucher]] program in the United States. That same year in [http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/briefs/03/03-1856/Filed_07-06-2006_Opinion.pdf Engle v. Liggett Group], it also ordered decertification of a class action lawsuit against big tobacco companies that effectively reversed the largest punitive damage jury award, $145 billion, in U.S. history.
In 2013, Governor [[Rick Scott]] signed the ''Timely Justice Act'' (HB 7101)<ref>{{cite web|title = HB 7101 |url = https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2016/7101/BillText/er/PDF|publisher = [[Florida State Senate]]|website = Flsenate.gov|accessdateaccess-date = March 15, 2016}}</ref> which overhauled the processes for [[Capital punishment in Florida|capital punishment]].<ref>{{cite news|title = Gov. Rick Scott signs bill to speed up executions in Florida|first = Mary Ellen|last = Klas|newspaper = [[Miami Herald]]|accessdateaccess-date = October 15, 2016|url = http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/article1952487.html|date = June 14, 2016}}</ref> The [[United States Supreme Court]] struck down part of this law in January 2016 in ''[[Hurst v. Florida]]'', declaring that a judge determining the aggravating facts to be used in considering a death sentence with only a non-binding recommendation from the jury based on a majority vote was insufficient and violated the [[Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Sixth Amendment]] guarantee of a jury trial.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/13/us/politics/supreme-court-death-penalty-hurst-v-florida.html|first = Adam|last = Liptak|title = Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Florida Death Penalty|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|date = January 12, 2016|accessdateaccess-date = February 3, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/03/us/supreme-court-ruling-has-florida-scrambling-to-fix-death-penalty-law.html|first = Lizette|last = Alvarez|title = Supreme Court Ruling Has Florida Scrambling to Fix Death Penalty Law|newspaper = [[The New York Times]]|date = February 2, 2016|accessdateaccess-date = February 3, 2016}}</ref> The [[Florida legislature|Florida Legislature]] passed a new statute to comply with the judgement in March 2016, changing the sentencing method to require a 10-juror supermajority for a sentence of death with a life sentence as the alternative.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/03/07/florida-death-penalty-officially-revamped-after-supreme-court-struck-it-down/|title = Florida death penalty officially revamped after Supreme Court struck it down|last = Berman|first = Mark|date = March 7, 2016|newspaper = [[Washington Post]]|accessdateaccess-date = August 3, 2016}}</ref> This new sentencing scheme was struck down by the Florida Supreme Court in a ruling 5–2 in October 2016, which held that a death sentence must be issued by a unanimous jury.<ref>{{cite news|title = Court again tosses state death penalty; ruling raises bar on capital punishment|first1 = Mary Ellen|last1 = Klas |first2 = David|last2 = Ovalle|date = October 14, 2016|url = http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article108231392.html|newspaper = [[Miami Herald]]|accessdateaccess-date = October 15, 2016}}</ref> The United States Supreme Court later left this decision undisturbed.<ref>{{cite news|title = Justices Reject Florida Appeal Over Death Penalty|date = May 22, 2017|url = https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/florida/articles/2017-05-22/justices-rejects-florida-appeal-over-death-penalty|newspaper = [[U.S. News & World Report]]|accessdateaccess-date = June 15, 2017}}</ref> Governor Scott in early 2017 signed a new law requiring a unanimous jury.<ref>{{cite news|title = Florida Tightens Death Penalty Law to Require Unanimous Jury Recommendation|date = March 13, 2017|url = https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2017-03-13/florida-tightens-death-penalty-law-to-require-unanimous-jury-recommendation|newspaper = [[U.S. News & World Report]]|accessdateaccess-date = June 15, 2017}}</ref>
===2000 presidential election===
{{Main|Bush v. Gore}}
{{See also|Gore v. Harris}}
In the [[U.S. presidential election, 2000|2000 presidential election controversy]], the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] overturned the Florida Supreme Court after it had ordered a statewide recount. Notably, arguments before the Florida Supreme Court in the 2000 presidential election cases were the first appellate court proceedings in history broadcast live in their entirety on major television networks in the United States and throughout the world. An estimated one-quarter of the entire fleet of satellite trucks used by broadcasters in North America was present in Tallahassee at the height of the controversy.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/documents/2008_Bush_Gore_Article.pdf|title=Technological Transparency|publisher=|accessdateaccess-date=17 December 2016}}</ref> These events later were dramatized in the 2008 HBO movie ''[[Recount (film)|Recount]]''.<ref>[http://www.hbo.com/movies/recount/index.html#/movies/recount/synopsis.html HBO: Recount: synopsis] ''Home Box Office''</ref>
Former chief justice [[Charles T. Wells]], who presided over the two historic cases argued at the state highest court, wrote a first person account of the controversy,
''Inside Bush v. Gore'', published in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insidebushvgore.com/|title=Inside Bush v. Gore|publisher=|access-date=12 January 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220031502/http://www.insidebushvgore.com/|archive-date=20 December 2014|df=}}</ref>
==Library==
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