Charles Canady, a 71-year-old justice on the Florida Supreme Court, will be stepping down at the end of 2025 to become a professor at the University of Florida. Canady will teach at UF’s Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education. His departure was announced in November, and will take effect on Thursday.
“It has been my great privilege to serve the people of Florida as a justice of the Supreme Court for the last 17 years,” Canady said in a prepared statement. “I will always deeply value my years on the Court. But the time has come to move on to another position of public service.”
Appointed in 2008, Canady is the current longest-tenured member of the Florida Supreme Court. Along with Jorge Labarga, he is one of two justices out of seven not appointed by current Governor Ron DeSantis. If and when DeSantis is able to successfully nominate a successor, his picks will account for all but one seat on Florida’s highest court.
Interim UF President Dr. Donald Landry applauded the appointment of Justice Canady to his new professor role. “Justice Canady’s vast experience and thoughtful jurisprudence make him an exceptional selection for this position,” Landry said. “I have the utmost confidence in his ability to lead the Hamilton School.”
“I’m very grateful to UF Board of Trustees Chairman Mori Hosseini and Interim President Don Landry for this opportunity,” Canady continued. “And I am eager to begin my work with the outstanding students and faculty at the Hamilton School.”
Path to the Florida Supreme Court
The lengthy state judicial career of Justice Canady began in November 2002, when Governor Jeb Bush appointed him to the Second Florida District Court of Appeal. In 2004, Florida voters chose overwhelmingly to retain him. In August 2008 Governor Charlie Crist appointed him to the Florida Supreme Court to replace the outgoing Raoul Cantero.
Three times since Crist appointed him, Florida voters kept Canady in office for additional six-year terms. In Florida Supreme Court elections, justices do not run against challenger candidates but instead appear on the ballot either to be retained or not retained. Floridians voted in favor of Canady by 67.5% in 2010, 68.0% in 2016, and 64.0% in 2022.
Canady was reportedly included on a 2016 shortlist for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court by soon-to-be President Donald Trump to replace the late Antonin Scalia. He ultimately chose Neil Gorsuch instead, after the U.S. Senate declined to consider a nomination from the outgoing President Barack Obama.
Political Career and Court Tenure
Prior to becoming a Florida Supreme Court justice, Canady served six years in the state House of Representatives. He ran unsuccessfully for Florida Senate in 1990, but then served for eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives. A Republican, Canady was perhaps most well-known for his role as an impeachment manager in the proceedings against President Bill Clinton in 1999.
Among the most impactful issues Canady handled on the Florida Supreme Court was the death penalty. In 2020 he was among a majority who ruled that proportionality was not to be considered in death sentences, upholding the sentence of a man with mental health issues convicted in a 1998 murder. Canady and the majority found that the Florida Constitution does not require sentencing to take into account the relative severity of other sentences in comparable cases.
Chris Gollon is a Flagler County resident since 2004, as well as a staple of the local independent music scene and avid observer of Central Florida politics, arts, and recreation.
