MIAMI, Florida — A Palm Beach County judge will become the first Caribbean-American to sit on the Florida Supreme Court, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday in Miami, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported on May 26.
DeSantis appointed Jamaican-born Renatha Francis and John Couriel, a Miami lawyer, to the state’s seven-justice high court.
“Caribbean-Americans should know in Florida the sky is the limit,” DeSantis said, noting that Francis could be the first Caribbean-American to sit on any state Supreme Court.
Renatha Francis was appointed to the Florida Supreme Court, although she will not begin her service until September, when she reaches her 10th year as a lawyer.
The openings occurred when two justices previously appointed by DeSantis — Robert Luck and Barbara Lagoa — were confirmed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by the U.S. Senate.
Francis, 42, received her bachelor’s degree from the University of the West Indies in 2000 and immigrated to Florida as an adult. In Jamaica, Francis operated a bar and trucking company while attending college in Kingston and caring for a much younger sibling.
Francis said she grew up the daughter of a single mother who never finished high school.
“From very humble beginnings to standing before you all today, I am truly the epitome of the American dream,” she said.
She earned her law degree from Florida Coastal School of Law in 2010 and worked about seven years as a law clerk and attorney with the First District Court of Appeal. She joined Shutts & Bowen in 2017, where she represented insurance providers in personal injury protection litigation and specialized in the interpretation of automobile policies. See full Florida Sun Sentinel story at https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-ne-desantis-supreme-court-appointments-20200526-gfrhmlr2zndgfo7yj2g46h3mh4-story.html?fbclid=IwAR0nBY0c5SbyL-j9sGuyKkpYYuzcsVqlFtTTUK6o2TZvwDbOglsARHRFvjo
