Canady Named State Supreme Court Justice

Charles T. Canady has been appointed a state Supreme Court justice, Gov. Charlie Crist’s office announced Thursday.

Canady, a Lakeland native, is current an appellate court judge with the 2nd District Court of Appeal.

Lakeland Appellate Judge Charles Canady was among five nominees to fill an at-large seat on the Florida Supreme Court being vacated by Justice Raoul Cantero.

Canady, 54, is a Lakeland native who graduated for Yale Law School in 1979. He worked for several law firms including Holland & Knight and Greenberg Traurig. In 1984 he was elected to the Florida Legislature as a Democrat, serving six years as a Democrat in the Florida Legislature before becoming a Republican.

As a Republican, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 and was one of the Republican House floor managers in the Senate impeachment trial of President Clinton.

Keeping a campaign promise to serve no more than eight years, Canady left the U.S. House in 2001.

He served as general counsel to Gov. Jeb Bush. In late 2002 Bush appointed Canady to the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland.

Canady and his wife Jennifer, a science teacher, live in Lakeland with their two daughters aged 9 and 7.

Cantero’s is one of two vacancies on the state’s high court. The other is for Justice Kenneth Bell’s seat. Bell’s seat must be filled by a resident from within the First District Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction, as required by state law.

“Mom (Delores) and I are just so pleased for Charles, Jennifer, Julia and Anna,’’ said Canady's father, Charles E. Canady.

Charles T. Canady will take office Sept. 7 with the formal investiture to take place at a date that is still undetermined.

“As happy and grateful as I am, there is still a little sadness about leaving Lakeland,” the younger Canady said Thursday from Tallahassee.