NORTH MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed Judge Robert Luck to the Florida Supreme Court.
Florida's new governor made the announcement Monday morning at Scheck Hillel Community School in North Miami Beach, where Luck grew up and went to school.
Luck has served on Florida's Third District Court of Appeal since 2017. The North Miami Beach Senior High School and University of Florida law school graduate also served as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida and was a circuit court judge in Miami-Dade County.
"Judge Luck has a public service heart," DeSantis said. "He has a deep understanding of the constitutional separation of powers and the proper role of the courts. He knows that courts can legitimately exercise neither force nor will, but merely judgment."
DeSantis spoke about an incident in which Luck was physically assaulted by a defendant in open court to demonstrate his appointment's judicial temperament.
"After he was beaten and after the bailiffs finally got the defendant under control, Judge Luck immediately dusted himself off, retook the bench, recounted what happened for the record and then recused himself from that defendant's case," DeSantis said. "Not very many of us would have that type of coolness under that type of pressure."
Luck becomes DeSantis' second Supreme Court pick from Miami-Dade County. DeSantis appointed Judge Barbara Lagoa, who grew up in Hialeah, last week.
Lagoa is the first Cuban-American woman to serve on the Supreme Court, while Luck is the first Jewish justice appointed in more than 20 years.
"I cannot imagine a higher level of service to our state than giving all I have to give to its highest court," Luck said.
Luck also praised DeSantis' pro-Israel, "and by extension pro-Jewish," stance, touting the former congressman's efforts to help President Donald Trump select the site for the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem and campaigning on a promise of providing public funding for security at Jewish day schools in the state.
"I think my faith, like the governor and his faith, and like many that are here in this room, take their faith and use it in a way to guide their moral principles, their ethical decision-making, but I think it's very different from my job as a judge," Luck said.
DeSantis has wasted little time putting his stamp on the Sunshine State.
Less than a week into office, DeSantis has already announced the appointment of two justices to the Florida Supreme Court, issued an executive order to help with Everglades restoration and create an algae task force, pardoned the "Groveland Four" and followed through on a campaign promise to suspend Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel in the wake of last year's Parkland school shooting.
DeSantis has said he intends to announce his final appointment to the Supreme Court soon.