TALLAHASSEE The longest-serving current member of the Florida Supreme Court, Justice Charles Canady, is leaving the bench to join the University of Florida as director of the Hamilton School for Classical and Civic Education. Canady whose wife, state Rep. Jennifer Canady, is in line to become state House speaker in 2028 announced his departure Monday, calling it a “great privilege to serve the people of Florida as a justice” for the past 17 years. “I will always deeply value my years on the court. But the time has come to move on to another position of public service,” Canady, 71, said in the statement, adding that he will begin as director and a tenured professor at the Hamilton School in 2026. Canady’s departure will give Gov. Ron DeSantis who has appointed five of the seven current justices an opportunity to name a replacement. Canady was appointed in August 2008 by then-Gov. Charlie Crist, who months later appointed Justice Jorge Labarga. Canady, who served as chief justice three times, is a Lakeland native and former lawmaker. Canady served in the state House from 1984 until 1990 and was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1992. He served four terms in Congress before deciding not to seek reelection in 2000, after promising not to serve more than eight years. He returned to Florida and joined former Gov. Jeb Bush’s administration as general counsel. Bush appointed Canady to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, where he worked until Crist tapped him for the Supreme Court. Crist at the time was a Republican but later became a Democrat. For years, Canady and other conservatives frequently dissented on what was a liberal-leaning court. But that changed with DeSantis’ conservative remake of the court that started in 2019, after the mandatory retirements of former Justices Barbara Pariente, Peggy Quince and R. Fred Lewis. As a lawmaker, Canady earned a reputation as a conservative, including as an outspoken opponent of abortion. Canady is even credited with coining the politically charged term “partial birth abortion” and writing the original legislation that attempted to ban the practice while he was in Congress. Canady also was a key player in one of the most partisan moments in modern American history, helping prosecute former President Bill Clinton during the president’s 1999 impeachment trial. Canady’s wife, Jennifer, was elected to the state House in 2022 and is on track to become speaker after the 2028 elections. Charles Canady was born into a politically connected Polk County family his father, Charles E. Canady, was a longtime aide to the late Sen. and Gov. Lawton Chiles. Canady’s appointment to the Hamilton School will fulfill an old flirtation of pursuing a career in academia, which he abandoned after attending law school. “I had an interest in political science and I thought about pursuing an academic career in that arena, but I didn’t quite have the passion for that that I thought would be necessary to do that. The law seemed to be always what I came back to,” Canady told The News Service of Florida in a 2010 interview in advance of his first stint as chief justice. “And I’m very glad that I did. I have never one day in my life as a lawyer regretted my decision to become a lawyer.” At the time, Canady said his political past had not shaped his outlook as a judge but might have given him a particularly strong appreciation for the separation of powers. “My approach to deciding cases is I look at the law, I look at the facts and I do my best to apply the law to the facts and make a decision based on the law and the facts,” he said. Canady will be able to flex his conservative credentials at the Hamilton School, which is part of Republican state leaders’ efforts to replace such things as diversity, equity and inclusion efforts with more traditional instruction. The school is “leading a higher education revolution,” according to its website. “Now more than ever, the world needs critical thinkers filled with fresh ideas and the courage to ask bigger questions. At the Hamilton School, we prepare you to think deeply, explore widely, speak with conviction, and lead with purpose,” the website says. “Our world-class researchers, who are just as passionate about mentoring students, teach the ideas and habits of thought that founded our country and sustain our free society.”.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2025/11/17/florida-supreme-court-justice-resigning-to-take-job-at-uf/
Tag Archives: longest-serving
Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor leads in Santa Clara County Assessors race
Santa Clara County’s first open assessor’s race in more than three decades saw Los Altos Vice Mayor Neysa Fligor leading after the first returns on Tuesday night. Four candidates are vying to fill the seat vacated by longtime Assessor Larry Stone.
The special election was triggered by Stone’s decision to step down from the role in July, ahead of the expiration of his term in December 2026. The 84-year-old Stone was first elected as assessor in 1994, making him the longest-serving elected official in the county.
The assessor oversees an $8 billion public enterprise that assesses the value of more than 500,000 properties in Santa Clara County.
As of just after 8 p.m., Fligor led with 40% of the vote. Former Saratoga Councilmember Rishi Kumar trailed behind her with 24%, followed closely by Saratoga Councilmember Yan Zhao with nearly 21%, and East Side Union High School District Trustee Bryan Do with 15%.
If no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, the two leading candidates will compete in a runoff election scheduled for December.
Greg Monteverde, who previously served as assistant assessor, is currently acting as the interim assessor.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
https://www.mercurynews.com/2025/11/04/los-altos-vice-mayor-neysa-fligor-leads-in-santa-clara-county-assessors-race/
Man pleads guilty to Japan ex-prime minister’s murder: “Everything is true”
The gunman accused of killing Japan’s former prime minister Shinzo Abe pleaded guilty Tuesday, three years after the assassination in broad daylight shocked the world. The slaying forced a reckoning in a country with little experience of gun violence and ignited scrutiny of alleged ties between prominent conservative lawmakers and a secretive sect, the Unification Church.
“Everything is true,” Tetsuya Yamagami said at a court in the western city of Nara, admitting to the murder of the country’s longest-serving leader in July 2022. “There is no doubt that I have done all this,” Yamagami added, according to the Japan Times.
The 45-year-old was led handcuffed into the room with a rope around his waist. When the judge asked him to state his name, Yamagami, who was wearing a black T-shirt and had his long hair tied back, replied in a barely audible voice. His lawyer said they would contest certain charges, including violations of arms control laws for allegedly using a handmade weapon.
More than 700 people lined up to be one of the 32 allowed in a lottery to sit in the courtroom’s public gallery for the trial, the Japan Times reported. Yamagami pleaded guilty on the same day that two of Abe’s former allies, incumbent Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and visiting U.S. President Donald Trump, met in Tokyo.
Yamagami’s trial had been a long time coming after the discovery of a suspicious item—later found to be harmless—caused its last-minute cancellation and the evacuation of the Nara court building in 2023.
One issue central to the case was whether extenuating circumstances applied due to “religious abuse” in Yamagami’s childhood stemming from his mother’s extreme devotion to the Unification Church, according to Japanese media reports. In a recent interview with TBS News, cited by the Japan Times, she said her faith grew even stronger after her son assassinated Abe.
Prosecutors told the court that Yamagami started building up resentment toward the church, which he thinks derailed his life. “He began to think he needed a gun” to attack church executives, but having failed to procure one, “he decided that he had to make one himself,” a prosecutor said.
Yamagami “thought he could draw public attention to the church if he killed someone as influential as Abe,” the prosecutor added.
Some Japanese expressed sympathy for Yamagami, especially those who also suffered as children of followers of the Unification Church, which is known for pressuring adherents into making large donations and is considered a cult in Japan. The former prime minister had spoken at events organized by some of the church groups and received some criticism for doing so.
“Life was ruined by the church.” Yamagami reportedly resented Abe for his perceived ties to the Church, which was established in South Korea in 1954 and whose members are nicknamed “Moonies” after its founder Sun Myung Moon. The Church has been accused of fomenting child neglect among its members and financially exploiting them—claims it denies.
Yamagami’s lawyers on Tuesday said his life collapsed because of the sect, with his mother convinced that “throwing all her money and assets into the Church will salvage her family” after the suicide of her husband and the illness of one of her sons. In the end, she donated around 100 million yen ($1 million at the time) to the sect, the lawyer said.
Yamagami gave up on advancing to higher education and joined the military instead, while his mother declared bankruptcy, according to the lawyer. He also attempted suicide in 2005.
“He began to think his whole life was ruined by the church,” the lawyer said.
Investigations after Abe’s murder led to cascading revelations about close ties between the Church and many conservative lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, prompting four ministers to resign. Earlier this year, the Tokyo District Court issued a dissolution order for the Church’s Japanese arm, saying it caused “unprecedented damage” to society.
The assassination was also a wake-up call for a nation with some of the world’s strictest gun controls. Gun violence is so rare in Japan that security officials at the scene failed to immediately identify the sound made by the first shot and came to Abe’s rescue too late, a police report after the attack said.
The debacle prompted lawmakers to pass a bill in 2024 further strengthening arms controls to prevent people from making homemade guns. Under the new rules, uploading tutorial videos on making firearms and propagating information about gun sales on social media can result in a fine or imprisonment of up to one year.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/shinzo-abe-murder-suspect-pleads-guilty-japan/
Mitch McConnell, 83, Falls in Senate Office Hallway [WATCH]
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate’s longest-serving party leader, fell in a hallway of a Senate office building on Thursday as he was heading to the Capitol for votes. The incident was captured on footage by a left-wing activist group, the Sunrise Movement, and reported by the New York Post.
The 83-year-old senator was seen reaching toward an aide moments before losing his balance and falling to the ground. The aide and a security guard immediately helped him back to his feet. McConnell appeared to wave to bystanders before continuing down the hallway with assistance. The video showed the fall taking place just outside his office.
McConnell has previously suffered multiple falls and health-related incidents over the past few years, which have drawn attention to his mobility issues. Earlier this year, he announced that he will not seek re-election in 2024. Since early 2023, he has dealt with a series of injuries and hospitalizations. He briefly used a wheelchair following several falls and has experienced public freezing episodes during press appearances.
A spokesperson for the senator said earlier this year that the effects of childhood polio have occasionally affected McConnell’s balance. “Senator McConnell is fine,” the spokesperson stated. “The lingering effects of polio in his left leg will not disrupt his regular schedule of work.”
McConnell’s recent health incidents include a sprained wrist and facial cuts sustained in December 2024 after slipping during a Capitol lunch. Months earlier, in March 2023, he was hospitalized following a fall that resulted in a concussion and fractured rib. After that incident, he underwent rehabilitation before returning to his Senate duties.
Despite these challenges, McConnell has remained active in Senate proceedings, playing a key role in negotiating government funding measures and judicial confirmations.
The Kentucky senator was first elected in 1984. He has served seven terms and has been the Senate Republican leader since 2007, making him the longest-serving party leader in Senate history. He is set to step down from his leadership position at the end of his current term.
As of now, McConnell’s office has not commented on Thursday’s fall or indicated whether he required any medical evaluation following the incident.
https://www.lifezette.com/2025/10/mitch-mcconnell-83-falls-in-senate-office-hallway-watch/